Cristina- sleep it off
Two things I noticed before I even played the album (for the first time). One, the original album has a different tracking order than the 16 track edition. I guess that would be confusing for a purist like me but, ultimately, it comes down to the songs, whatever the tracking order.
Two, wiki seems to compare Cristina to Blondie or Madonna. Now I love Blondie, but I find Madonna a bit, well, pretentious. Plus, the two sounds are significantly different. Maybe the Cristina-Madonna comparisons are more about both being solo artists, and maybe Cristina was on the Madonna like stardom track, perhaps.
Okay, so I play the album and it definitely is much more like Blondie. Frankly, I don’t hear much of Madonna at all. To me, that’s a good thing.
Okay, so the 16 track album starts off with the single, What’s a Girl To Do. Very new wave, sort of like one of those girl bands that were coming out of England circa 1979. An absolutely classic track. I kind of hear a poppier version of Siouxsie on this track. This should have been a big hit.
And the rest of the album continues in this vein. It’s pure pop without falling into the saccharine trap. The Lie of Love has a bit of a calypso feel to it. Definitely feeling Blondie on Quicksand Lovers. Does an awesome cover of Blue Money guaranteeing Van Morrison hater Trollheart will pan the album
And anything with a title like Don’t Mutilate My Mink (Bet Madonna never had a song title like that) definitely deserves a listen. Some of the extra tracks aren’t so bad either, though I’d rate Deb Behind Bars a little over Things Fall Apart.
So, yeah, I really like this album. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s the best album I’ve heard on the album club so far. Makes me look forward to your next choice, Marie.
9/10 (The Word has spoken
)