{"id":41529,"date":"2009-05-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-good-the-bad-and-the-funky\/"},"modified":"2009-05-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-28T00:00:00","slug":"the-good-the-bad-and-the-funky","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-good-the-bad-and-the-funky\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good The Bad And The Funky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk about coming full circle. On Tom Tom Club\u2019s presumably final album, The Good, The Bad And The Funky<\/i>, it\u2019s all about playing to one\u2019s strengths. As they go back to their island roots, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth seem intent on ending as solidly as they started nearly two decades earlier. The most noticeable improvement is in Tina\u2019s voice, which has been transformed into a soft and sexy purr throughout her portion of the album\u2019s thirteen tracks. Yes, there\u2019s a lot of material to sift through here, but for once it doesn\u2019t feel like work.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Donning some more incredible colorful artwork (which has become something of an iconic representation of the band), this record is one of those that demands to be turned up loud either at a party or on a pair of headphones. This Tom Tom Club entry is their strongest since their 1982 debut. You immediately get the sense that things just clicked this time around, with each song flowing effortlessly into the next.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

They also aren\u2019t afraid to share the lead vocal duties in an attempt to mix it up and keep things interesting. There\u2019s a guest vocalist by the name of Mystic Bowie who sounds like a cross between Bob Marley and Shaggy on the dancehall\/reggae cuts \u201cTime To Bounce\u201d and \u201cSoul Fire,\u201d not to mention Charles Pettigrew, who is a dead ringer for Jermaine Jackson on the loose jam \u201cHoly Water.\u201d\u00a0 More than any other Tom Tom Club release, this one is packed tight with as many live musicians as it can possibly hold.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With so much going on, they almost didn\u2019t need extra sound effects, but even those are thrown into the mix just to make each song emphatically stand on its own. A fun track like \u201cShe\u2019s A Freak\u201d wouldn\u2019t have been the same without those \u201cpinging\u201d sounds you hear going off.\u00a0 After an exciting and breathless first half, the tempo slows down with the smooth number \u201cC\u2019mon Surrender,\u201d which is salvaged by some spacey effects and minimalist vocals by Pettigrew. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The shimmering electro vibe supplied by Tina Weymouth is at its best on \u201cWho Feelin\u2019 It\u201d and the remake of Donna Summer\u2019s \u201cLove To Love You Baby.\u201d We didn\u2019t know you had it in you, Tina! Things take another retro turn on the equally sexy \u201cHappiness Can\u2019t Buy Money,\u201d especially with the \u201880s-style scratching in the background. Tom Tom Club tips their hat in the B-52\u2019s direction with a classic title like \u201cLesbians By The Lake,\u201d while \u201cLet There Be Love\u201d is the perfect message to send out to anyone who might be listening. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, The Good, The Bad And The Funky <\/i>didn\u2019t make much of a ripple when it was originally released. As one of the few TTC discs still available, this album is worth buying. In the world of Tom Tom Club, it\u2019s never too late for a party!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":29907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8350],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-41529","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tom-tom-club","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41529"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41529"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}