{"id":39671,"date":"2006-03-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/eat-to-the-beat\/"},"modified":"2006-03-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-03-08T00:00:00","slug":"eat-to-the-beat","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/eat-to-the-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat To The Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Riding high from the success of the trashy disco
\nclassic “Heart Of Glass,” and its album Parallel Lines<\/i> on
\nboth sides of the Atlantic, Blondie turned in their fourth album
\nthat followed the same exact blueprint as their last three.<\/p>\n

Eat To The Beat<\/i> is nearly a clone of its
\npredecessor, with the same amount of songs, the same average song
\nlength and the same sort of feel that pervaded the last album — a
\nunique New Wave\/bubblegum pop hybrid that foreshadowed a lot of 80s
\npop music. To their credit, Blondie never sounded like anyone else,
\nbut they often sounded like themselves, with only basic variations
\nin the sound.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, a few flourishes here and there keep the
\nrecord from being Parallel Lines 2<\/i>. Deborah Harry
\nmulti-tracks her voice and puts plenty of echo on “Dreaming,” which
\nsounds like it could have come right out of Phil Spector’s 1965
\ngirl-group phase — it was deservedly a hit, and Harry knows
\nexactly how to sing a pop song. She falters slightly on “The
\nHardest Part,” which tries for a David Bowie-circa-Lodger<\/i>
\nbeat but doesn’t have the lyrics to back up the authority of Clem
\nBurke’s drums (which carry “Dreaming” as much as Harry does.)<\/p>\n

One wouldn’t expect music this frothy and
\npop-oriented to have lyrics, and Harry doesn’t disappoint. The
\nplatinum blonde writes stuff that occasionally boggles the mind,
\nbut her voice sounds so natural with the music that it’s forgivable
\n(kind of like Jon Anderson and Yes). This is noticeable on “Union
\nCity Blue,” the best marriage of doo-wop and new wave on the record
\n— while it musically succeeds, Harry sings words like “Arrive,
\nclimb up four flights \/ To the orange side \/ Rearrange my mind.” If
\nyou say so.<\/p>\n

The band is at its best on the quicker songs, like
\nthe grrl-power punk of “Accidents Never Happen” (Harry was more
\npunk than they gave her credit for) and “Slow Motion.” They falter
\non “Shayla” and “Sound-a-Sleep,” neither of which retain any
\nemotion — and, on that note, what the hell is “Victor?” Harry
\nscreams over top of a fuzzed-out guitar while the background
\nsingers moan occasionally. By no means is it a good song, but it’s
\nso curiously different that it warrants a listen (but no more than
\none).<\/p>\n

But just when the album seems to be destined for
\nmediocrity, along comes “Atomic,” far and away the band’s best song
\nand the one they deserve to be remembered for. The band sets the
\nmood with a simple four-note riff and an excellent bass riff, while
\nHarry wails at the top of her vocal range something about beautiful
\nhair (in fact, the pre-chorus bit about “your hair is beautiful”
\nmade the song work, according to the band’s liner notes in the
\nPlatinum Blonde<\/i> collection). After the first verse, the band
\nbreaks into an instrumental piece — at one point, everything drops
\nout but the drums and bass — and then goes into the verse and
\ncoda, with Harry repeating “Oh oh, atomic” over a crescendo of pop
\nmusic madness.<\/p>\n

Eat To The Beat<\/i> turned out to be the last good
\nrecord from the band, although they stuck it out for a couple more.
\nOne can start to hear the signs of fraying here, as if the band
\nrealized they were running out of ideas, but there is enough to
\nmake this work, and like most Blondie works it has held up better
\nthan it should have. And, it gets a higher grade just for having
\n“Atomic.”<\/p>\n

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