Lorde "Virgin" (2025)

Virgin

release date: Jun. 27, 2025

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]

producer: Lorde & Jim E-Stack

label: Universal Music New Zealand - nationality: New Zealand

Track highlights: 1. "Hammer" - 2. "What Was That" - 4. "Man of the Year" - 6. "Current Affairs"

4th studio album by New Zealand pop artist Lorde, aka Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor. The album follows four years after the album Solar Power (Aug. 2024), which received positive reviews, some found it a shiny, yet formless affair, and others saw it as a potential masterpiece. In that regard, Lorde has devided fans and critics since her international debut with the album Pure Heoine (Sep. 2013), which attracted some attention, although, her follow-up Melodrama from 2017 is widely regarded as her actual breakthrough album, which both peaked on album lists world-wide and secured the artist various international music awards but also was such a massive success that Lorde vanished from the spotlight for a period of time. She has already experienced the kind of success many dream of but few ever experience and the short journey to the top in pop surely has its toll.

Personally, I'm not in the target group, and I have lukewarm feelings regarding the type of music she has produced, so far. Lorde is a name that is impossible to neglect and that's the only reason I listened to her albums. Again: I'm not part of the target group and I simply don't enjoy this album that much. To me, it's generic pop music, sounding like much else out there that I don't find any enjoyment in. It's definitely uptempo, it's lush, and it's primarily held in a positive vibe - there's just too many things about it, I don't like. The arrangements are too heavily crammed up - effects to fill in gaps to avoid boredom or blanks? Then: many tracks sound alike, and I guess that's a good parameter telling you, it's not your style like when I'm trying to understand a Wagner opera: I get bored and think it's touching on obnoxious.

Then why 3/ 5 instead of below 2,5, you may ask? Well, I acknowledge the inert qualities, I guess. It's not like I feel exposed to harmful matter and there's definitely good energy in the music, which I also find shaped for physical movement as I probably would even appreciate this at the local gym. Especially "Hammer" is a quite catchy electropop tune. Just as quite decent background muzak. And I'm not really on par with any of the critics, as they mostly praise this as her second best album. So, it should be good, only not for me, and if this is a genuine contender to her best ever, I kind of get the hint: I shouldn't look down this alley for hidden gems - possibly making this my only comment on the music by this contemporary giant pop star.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10 stars ]

The B-52's "Wild Planet" (1980)

Wild Planet
release date: Aug. 27, 1980
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Rhett Davies, B-52's; Chris Blackwell (exec. pro.)
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Party Out of Bounds" - 2. "Dirty Back Road" - 3. "Runnin' Around" (live) - 4. "Give Me Back My Man" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Private Idaho" - 6. "Devil in My Car" (live) - 9. "53 Miles West of Venus"

2nd studio album by The B-52's follows closely on the same path laid out on the debut from '79 with an uptempo new wave with strong bonds to the 1960s surf rock - especially thanks to the guitar-sound as played by Ricky Wilson. The strong musical and stylistic resemblance with the debut may be explained by the fact that the band already had "too many" songs in its repertoire when they began recording songs for the debut album, and instead of releasing an unlikely double album for its debut, the band just shelved these songs for a later release. This is a documented fact as The B-52's played most of these songs at concerts as early as 1978.
The album cover nearly duplicates the debut cover as it's held in the same style depicting the band members in what seems an early 1960s time bubble.
Wild Planet is a strong album without any fillers, and it's really an astonishing thought if they had actually pulled it off and released all songs on a double album in '79. They really could have, and it only makes it so much more reasonable to listen to these two albums at the same time.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Robyn "Honey" (2018)

Honey
release date: Oct. 26, 2018
format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Joseph Mount (primary)
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Missing U" (live on Later) - 2. "Human Being (feat. Zhala)" - 3. "Because It's in the Music" - 4. "Baby Forgive Me" - 6. "Honey" (live on Later) - 7. "Between the Lines" - 9. "Ever Again"

6th studio album by Robyn released some 8 years following her previous studio album Body Talk from 2010. The album has various producers - with Joseph Mount as the album's main producer on 6 out of 9 tracks, and with Klas Åhlund (Robyn's main co-writer on 5 tracks), as producer on 4 of the songs.
The album spawned the two singles, "Missing U" released in August and the title track released the following month reaching number #13 and #23 respectively on the Swedish singles charts. The album topped the charts in Sweden and it's her best-faring album on the US albums chart list as number #40, and it was soon attributed positive reviews from major music magazines and sites world-wide, which I fully understand.
A first listen doesn't necessarily convince the listener of a major development when comparing to her previous albums, but already on a second or third confrontation I notice how the songs are composed with a slower and more progressive approach where the single songs stand out as near-monumental compositions - musically as well as lyrically. There's a presence of maturity all over the album - something one cannot ascribe her previous seven albums, and the sensation is more indirect but perhaps more life-strong as contrary to her bolder dance-floor hits.
Honey is no less than one of Robyn's best and most coherent albums to date, as well as a major album of the year. For a year or so, I had this at a first spot, but in retrospect I found two albums bettering another really strong release by Robyn. She dunnit again!
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5, 👍NME, Q Magazine, The Times 4 / 5 stars ]

2018 Favourite releases: 1. Jon Hopkins Singularity - 2. The Fratellis In Your Own Sweet Time - 3. Robyn Honey

Beth Ditto "Fake Sugar" (2017)

Fake Sugar [debut]

release date: Jun. 16, 2017

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,60]

producer: Jennifer Decilveo

label: Sony Music - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1."Fire" - 2. "In and Out" - 3. "Fake Sugar" - 5. "We Could Run" (4 / 5) - 6. "Oo La La" - 8. "Oh My God" - 9. "Love in Real Life"

Full-length studio album debut by Beth Ditto (aka Mary Beth Patterson) following more than six years after her solo EP debut EP (Jan. 2011). Since then, she released A Joyful Noise (May 2012) with Gossip, and then around 2016 she publically announced than she would concentrate on her solo career and her clothing line - meaning we should not expect any new albums from Gossip.

Fake Sugar is a much expected release - her EP debut was released to fine reviews, and that showed us a new side to her talent, and then people just imagined a full album was on its way, but it took much longer than anyone had foreseen. Musically, this is not styled in her new-found territory of dance-pop or electropop, but more like something following a stylistic pattern in-between the 'final' 2012 Gossip album and her EP - at times she 'goes hard rocking Gossip', whereas other songs ("Do You Want Me To") are closer to the dance-pop / electropop of EP, but no matter what: the album is held together by Ditto's wonderful vocal. In this regard the album isn't a strong coherent product that show us where she goes from here, but then again: she doesn't have to choose one style over the other 'cause she basically demonstrates that her vocal simply fits whatever she explores.

Fake Sugar is something as unusual as a synthpop, hard rock, electropop, and indie pop all-in-one album showcasing Beth Ditto as one of the most charismatic voices of modern popular music. To me, she represents a similar vocal grandiosity as Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Mariska Veres did in their time. She simply hightens the musical quality and lifts what appears as ordinary songs to something with a lasting potential. She's no less than a natural force.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, PopMatters 4 / 5, 👎Pitchfork 6,1 / 10 stars ]

Grimes "Art Angels" (2015)

Art Angels

release date: Nov. 6, 2015

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]

producer: Grimes

label: 4AD Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 2. "California" - 3. "Scream" (feat. Aristophanes) - 4. "Flesh Without Blood" - 5. "Belly of the Beat" - 6. "Kill V. Maim" - 7. "Artangels" - 9. "Pin"

4th studio album by Canadian act Grimes [aka Claire Elise Boucher].

It's a refreshing and original bubblegum and art pop album with lots of tempo.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "History of Modern" (2010)

History of Modern
release date: Sep. 20, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: OMD
label: Bright Antenna - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "If You Want It" - 3. "History of Modern (Part I)" (live) - 4. "History of Modern (Part II)" - 9. "Sister Marie Says" (live)

11th studio album by OMD is the band's comeback album and its first studio album in 14 years as the direct follow-up to Universal from 1996.
The band's disbandment in 1996 lasted 10 years, and the reformation wasn't something that was anticipated, but an invitation from a German television programme and the fact that McCluskey's wife recently had filed for a divorce and moved back to California with their two children apparently made the necessary interruption that paved the way for a re-union. This was not just any project-version of the band but the original quartet and the most acclaimed constitution of the band featuring the two songwriters Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys backed by Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper.
Prior to the works on this album the band toured in 2007 performing the Architecture & Morality album live, and a new remastered version of the album was released.
History of Modern is pure synthpop with traces of dance pop that also characterised the album Universal from 1996, and I don't think it's just coincidental that these two albums released 14 years apart sound much the same 'cause many of the album's tracks have been written by McCluskey alone or with former co-writers several years ago, so it's really a bit of an "unclean" restart.
The album harvested luke-warm reviews, some praising OMD's return, others stating that it wasn't really a great comeback; but nonetheless the album went #28 on the national albums chart list. Two singles released from the album, "If You Want It" and "Sister Marie Says" didn't fare well as they only made it to #169 on the singles charts list.
Personally, I didn't embrace this album as a fine return. I think, its biggest fault is the sense of sounding aged like something pre-2000, or: a natural follow-up to the '96 album, which it really doesn't differ a great deal from.
Not really recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Mojo 3 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Beth Ditto "EP" (2011)

EP [debut]

release date: Jan. 10, 2011

format: digital (4 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: James Ford, Jas Shaw

label: Deconstruction - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "I Wrote the Book" - 2. "Goodnight Good Morning" - 3. "Open Heart Surgery" - 4. "Do You Need Someone"

Studio solo debut by Beth Ditto, who has teamed up with producers James Ford and Jas Shaw as trio behind all four tracks. This solo effort follows two years after the acclaimed Music for Men by Gossip and it shows a new side to Ditto's talent, or: the style is different, but ultimately, Ditto contributes with her energy and brilliant vocal. Stylewise, this is uptempo dance-music - sometimes touching on alt. dance but mostly it's held in a dance-pop and electro pop universe. "Open Heart Surgery" comes closest to the music by Gossip, although, it's fused by a distinct electronic foundation.

I like it, it's goood, and it's a promising side-kick to the alt. rock by Gossip.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, SputnikMusic 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Sugarcubes "It's-It" (1992)

It's-It, remix album
release date: Oct. 27, 1992
format: cd (MRCD 3205)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: various
label: Mega Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 2. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" - 3. "Blue Eyed Pop (S1000 mix)" - 4. "Motorcrash (Justin Robertson mix)" - 6. "Gold (Todd Terry mix)" - 7. "Water (Bryan 'Chuck' New Mix)" - 11. "Hit (Tony Humphries Sweet & Low mix)"

A remix album by The Sugarcubes originally released on One Little Indian. No, it's not an original studio album of new compositions but it's neither a mere compilation of best of, left overs or rarities but an interesting remix album. The songs are taken from the band's three studio albums and most of them have been heavily remixed by various artists. Only "Regina" comes in a Sugarcubes remix, and that's also the compositions sounding most alike the original version. Some tracks have little in common with the familiar song and others still carry recognisable traits from the blue print, and then some are very fine remixes with new stylistic qualities, and yet others are too strange.
The album was the second album that I bought with the band, and perhaps the reason why I didn't bother buying the other two until later. 'Cause many of the best songs from both Here Today... (1989) and Stick Around for Joy (1992) appear on this in heavily "remixed" versions, and frankly, I found these better than the original album versions, although "Birthday" comes in two versions, none of which are better than the original. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" is an even better song here, and all remixes are composed as dance-pop or alt. dance with house as a common denominator, which only add that extra energy to some of the more ('artsy-farty') art pop original compositions.
All in all, a very fine collection.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Liberator" (1993)

Liberator
release date: Jun. 14, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,46]
producer: Andy McCluskey, Phil Coxon
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stand Above Me" - 11. "Christine"

9th studio album by OMD, which continue as McCluskey's solo-project now only featuring Phil Coxon on programming, whereas band member Nigel Ipinson only contribute on one track. All other musicians are credited as additional personnel.

Liberator takes off in the footsteps of Sugar Tax (1991) thus being synthpop and dance pop material and probably the closest to a pure europop and eurodance album.

None of the three single releases from the album were hits - with the first single release "Stand Above Me" topping at #21 on the UK singles charts list. The album peaked at number #14 in the UK.

Personally, I feel more or less as I did with Sugar Tax, it's really not an interesting release, but it's even worse than that and it may even top The Pacific Age (1986) in a negative sense by being the band's least favourable album to date. It's a task to pin out the highlights 'cause what is such a thing when it's really about being least poor of the poor?!

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Sugar Tax" (1991)

Sugar Tax
release date: May 7, 1991
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]
producer: OMD, Howard Gray, Andy Richards
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sailing on the Seven Seas" - 2. "Pandora's Box" (3,5 / 5)

8th studio album by OMD, which by now has become a solo-project by founding member Andy McCluskey. That is to say: McCluskey has teamed up with a new backing band consisting of the two keyboardists Nigel Ipinson and Phil Coxon reducing OMD to a trio - for live performances the band was extended by Abe Juckes on drums; however, the one-man project becomes more evident when looking at the songwriter credits as keyboardists Lloyd Massett and Stuart Kershaw are credited on some of the album's tracks (without participating) and with McCluskey being sole writer on half of all tracks.
Stylistically, the album was launched as a comeback after 5 years of silence with a new danceable style. The album was well-received - at least by fans, which put the album on #3 on the albums chart list in the UK, equalling the band's highest charting album Architecture & Morality. The single "Sailing on the Seven Seas" was released to promote the album and it also reached #3 on the singles chart list. Critics were split, although, several magazines welcomed the new style.
I only saw it as a confirmation on the band's detour into mainstream. I remember how a friend gladly presented the album to me, and all I could think was how in the world he was unable to hear how poor it was. To me, this certainly didn't make me want to check out new material from OMD, which I sort of continued to neglect for another decade or more.
And yes, the first two tracks suggest a much better album. But the remaining songs are so-so or just fillers to what could have been stretched to a decent ep.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Sailing on the Seven Seas" (1991) (single)

Sailing on the Seven Seas, cd single
release date: Mar. 18, 1991
format: cd
[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: OMD
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Sailing on the Seven Seas" - 2. "Floating on the Seven Seas" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Sailing on the Seven Seas (Larrabee Mix)" - 4. "Sugartax"

Single release from the forthcoming album Sugar Tax by OMD. The cd single consists of two tracks (#2 and #3), which are variations of the title track plus the track "Sugar Tax" that never found its way to the album. The style is a combo of synthpop and dance pop, which emphasises drums and keyboards in a very simple and repetitious manner.
The single sold well, positioned the band and made way for the forthcoming album. I can't say that it's a truly great track and I only bought it around 2012 in a second-hand store for next to nothing.

Kele "The Hunter EP" (2011) (ep)

The Hunter EP, ep
release date: Oct. 31, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,90]
producer: XXXChange

label: Wichita - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "What Did I Do?" (feat. Lucy Taylor) - 2. "Release Me" - 3. "Devotion" - 4. "Goodbye Horses" - 5. "Cable's Goodbye" - 6. "Love as a Weapon" - 7. "You Belong to Someone Else"

7-track ep by Kele, lead vocalist of Bloc Party with four tracks produced by XXChange (aka Alex Epton) (tracks #1, #3, #6 & #7); track #2 by RAC (aka André Allen Anjos) & QNESS (aka Qhubani Ndlovu, South African DJ); track #4 by Daniel Lindegren & Fred Falke, and track #5 by Kele. This is his second solo album not counting single releases. Style-wise, it's a move into a bolder dance-pop universe. My initial response was disorientation and a negative feeling, but as I have come to learn with Bloc Party, new releases rarely deliver the expected and The Hunter EP has something else to offer than meets the "eye". Met on its conditions as a dance music release, this is not entirely bad but it doesn't present any great tracks either.
Not recommended.

Oh Land "Wish Bone" (2013)

Wish Bone
release date: Sep. 16, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,70]
producer: David Andrew Sitek (1-3, 6-9, 13)
label: A:larm - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Renaissance Girls" (3 / 5) 3. "Cherry On Top" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Love A Man Dead" (3 / 5) - 8. "Sleepy Town" (3 / 5) - 9. "Pyromaniac" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Green Card" (3 / 5)

3rd studio album by Oh Land produced primarily by David Andrew Sitek (tracks #1-3, #6-9, and #13), Nanna Øland Fabricius (tracks #4 and #12), WNDRBRD (tracks #10, and #11), and Dan Carey (track #5). The album is more clear pop-minded, which is a bit sad, as it sort of vanishes in the huge pothole of pop releases. It falls much in the same category as Fallulah, Nabiha, Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana Del Rey as contemporary pop with hints and bits of dance-pop and electropop. It's a vast genre and it's difficult to stay original.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

M.I.A. "Kala" (2007)

Kala
release date: Aug. 21, 2007
format: cd
[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: various
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bamboo Banga" - 2. "Bird Flu" (4 / 5) - 3. "Boyz" (4 / 5) - 4. "Jimmy" - 5. "Hussel" (feat. Afrikan Boy) - 8. "World Town" - 10. "XR2" - 11. "Paper Planes" (4 / 5) - 12. "Come Around" (feat. Timbaland)

2nd studio album by M.I.A. Her debut album Arular (2005) was with reference to her father, and this is dedicated her mother, named Kala. Her third album /\/\ /\ Y /\ (aka 'Maya') (2010), succeeding this one, is literally her own.

I first came across her in 2008 after she had released the single "Paper Planes" taken from this very album. The track is (like most of her music) great uk hip hop dance-pop electropop fused with grime (making it very different from American hip hop) and some glitch pop, and then that track is very cleverly sampled from the song "Straight to Hell" by The Clash. Her style is unique, and then she utilizes her music to speak openly about Sri Lanka vs. India vs. England vs. how the world ignores the impotent political situation in her parents' foster land. Other great tracks from the album are "Bird Flu" and "Boyz", which were both composed, recorded, and arranged in the process of travelling. M.I.A. had laid the foundation of the songs at home, then left to various parts of the world and each new place she rearranged bits, wrote new stuff and added new instrumentation to the individual song making them real world tunes.

In my mind, this is her best album and also one of the most interesting releases in 2007, although, she's really a great singles artist, as her albums are more than just interesting but also lack consistency or homogeneity.

The album ended up on many best of lists including number #1 on Rolling Stone's best albums of the year. And quite deservedly, the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Robyn "Body Talk" (2010)

Body Talk (compilation)
release date: Nov. 22, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Dancing on My Own" - 2. "Fembot" - 3. "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do" - 4. "Indestructible" - 6. "Love Kills" - 7. "Hang With Me" - 9. "None of Dem" (feat. Röyksopp) - 10. "We Dance to the Beat" - 11. "U Should Know Better" (feat. Snoop Dogg) - 12. "Dancehall Queen" - 13. "Get Myself Together" - 15. "Stars 4-Ever"

5th studio album by Robyn, or: a compilation? It's released and filed by most sites as a studio album, but in reality it only contains previously released compositions all issued in the "Body Talk" series Pt. 1-3 counting two mini-albums and one ep. I prefer thinking of this as her 2010 studio album consisting of material taken from two mini-albums and an ep. This also makes sense when taking into account that she in 2014 released an ep titled Do It Again with Röyksopp containing five tracks and with a running time over 35 mins - longer than any of her two first "Body Talk" mini-albums. Five tracks here are taken from each of the three "Body Talk" albums: from Body Talk, Pt. 1 we find tracks #1, 2, 3, 9, and 12, from Body Talk, Pt. 2 tracks #6, 7, 10, 11, and 14, and from Body Talk, Pt. 3 tracks #4, 5, 8, 13, and 15 - In bold: great tracks showing that from my pov, Part 1 delivers three fine songs, Part 2 only one, and Part 3 two fine songs. But really... it's so calculated that she releases five songs from each, when that also means that three songs are left out from both Part 1 and 2, but all tracks are included from the much shorter Part 3, ep. The selection of songs could have been better, and I miss "Cry When You Get Older" from Part 1, and I could easily have thought of "Include Me Out" from Part 2 instead of the two minor fillers "Time Machine" and "Call Your Girlfriend" from Part 3.
Body Talk is a fine album regardless how you file it, but at the end of the day, I prefer to have all three "Body Talk" albums instead of just this one.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Slant 4 / 5 stars ]

2010 Favourite releases: 1. Søren Huss Troen & ingen - 2. The Chemical Brothers Further - 3. Robyn Body Talk

Robyn "Body Talk Pt. 3" (2010) (ep)

Body Talk Pt. 3, ep
release date: Nov. 22, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Indestructible" - 4. "Get Myself Together" - 5. "Stars 4-Ever"

Studio ep release and last part of the "Body Talk" series is a minimised album compared to the first two parts. Credentials for production and songwriting follows the same recipe as the other releases with Klas Åhlund as major partner and driving force. Robyn's initial announcement about releasing three mini-albums was somewhat altered after Body Talk, Pt. 2, which wasn't released until September. Instead, she now spoke of a full-length Body Talk album to end the year; however, this seems like her first take on a compromise. Part 3 is the first natural ep release as it's almost just half the length of the two first single parts with a running time below 19 mins. It contains five tracks, and it's released - on the date - simultaneously with a promised full-length Body Talk album containing selected tracks from all three mini-albums.
Part 3 full-fills her self-professed idea of releasing 3-albums-a-year in 2010, but it also seems like a compromise in the sense that it's not made as extensive as the two former releases - perhaps she was running out of time, or ideas?? Fact is, the first part wasn't released until June and it should take her another three months to release part 2, and as she was occupied doing live concerts everywhere in a year where she intended to release three albums writing and recording songs while touring... well, needless say, it would take quite an effort, and here as the calendar runs out of months, she could realise her project issuing a single ep, although that would be a bit like letting air out of a balloon, so she also handpicked songs from the three releases and issued the Body Talk album, which in essence feels like a compilation more than a studio album, but as I said, I think that explains the compromise.
After all, Part 3 sums of the year quite nicely. It continues the style of the two predecessors and basically lands somewhere in between in more than one sense. It's styled like a mix of Part 1 and Part 2 as it contains a stronger electropop-style than Part 2, and it also contains some of the same hooks and sparkle that one finds on the first part, and to end the project right, she has included the strong single "Indestructible" in the traditional dance-pop version, which is found on Part 2 in an acoustic version. All in all, it's not the blast it started out as, but it's still more than Okay. Five tracks would be an awesome release thinking of the quality from Part 1, but this ep still contains two obvious fillers, which perhaps points to the conclusion that Robyn was running out of both time and ideas.
[ SputnikMusic, Gaffa.dk 4 / 6, Express.co.uk 3 / 5 stars ]

Debbie Harry "Kookoo" (1981)

Kookoo [debut]
release date: Aug. 8, 1981
format: vinyl (CHR 1347) / digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,72]
producer: Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards
label: Chrysalis - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Jump Jump" - 2. "The Jam Was Moving" - 3. "Chrome" - 4. "Surrender" - 6. "Backfired"

Studio album debut by Blondie vocalist Deborah Ann Harry released under her stage moniker Debbie Harry. The style is rather different from what one might expect. The simplistic uptempo new wave has been exchanged with a more funky form carried out by the three prominent members of the American disco band Chic, songwriter / guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers and songwriter / bassist and producer Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson. The guest trio contributes with a disco and dance pop style and Rodgers and Edwards are the primary songwriters on four of the albums ten tracks and they are co-writers on two. The remaining four songs are written by Harry and Chris Stein with whom she mostly writes material for Blondie and who also contribute as guitarist on the album. Two of the songs (tracks #8 and #10) are credited all four main songwriters.
The two Chic songwriters are credited a vast number of classics within the world of disco, and they later on contributed with their [magic] qualities on Diana (e.g. "I'm Coming Out") by Diana Ross, "Let's Dance" (title song) by David Bowie and Madonna's Like a Virgin album - all that is part of the highs of modern popular music, but here the result is not good. Harry and Stein's punchy new wave style, their admiration for reggae and funk in a simplistic form collide with the much more orchestrated and varied sounds and shapes of disco. Or: that's how it sounds like 'cause what really lacks here is a bunch a good songs. In fact, there's hardly any. The production sound is fine, though, and initial parts of songs are truly far from bad, but the overall picture is bland and it leaves me kinda thinking "was that it?"
The best thing about the album, which puts it on the shelve among classic albums, is actually the front cover artwork made by Swiss artist H.R. Giger.
I acquired the album at some point in the mid-80s just because it was a solo album by Harry but never played it much, as I soon found it lesser album with little connection to the music by Blondie.
[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5 Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

Prince and the Revolution "Purple Rain" (OST) (1984)

Purple Rain (soundtrack)
release date: Jun. 25, 1984
format: vinyl (25110-1) / cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]
producer: Prince & The Revolution
label: Warner Bros. / WEA - nationality: USA

6th studio album by Prince, or his first as Prince & The Revolution is a soundtrack for the film "Purple Rain". Basically the backing band The Revolution had backed Prince since '79, so this is by most filed as a Prince album.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Robyn "Body Talk Pt. 2" (2010)

Body Talk Pt. 2, mini-album
release date: Sep. 6, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Include Me Out" - 3. "Hang with Me" - 4. "Love Kills" - 5. "We Dance to the Beat" - 7. "U Should Know Better" (feat. Snoop Dogg) - 8. "Indestructible (Acoustic Version)"

Mini-album by Robyn and Part 2 in her "Body Talk" trilogy is like Part 1 primarily recorded, produced and co-written by Klas Åhlund, although, the album also features Andreas Kleerup, Alexander Kronlund, and guest artist Snoop Dogg.
Stylistically, the album doesn't differ a great deal from Body Talk Pt. 1, but it feels even closer to Robyn (2005) with its equal share of dance-pop and electropop than the more electronic-founded Part 1 of the trilogy.
The album was officially promoted by the single "Hang with Me", which is found on Body Talk, Pt. 1 in an acoustic version, and this uptempo version became another major hit topping the Swedish single chart list though "only" reaching #54 in the UK. Also the album peaked at #1 in Sweden (and Denmark), and became her highest charting album on the overall Billboard 200 in the US as #41.
Despite being another top-selling victory and being positively reviewed, I don't find it near as good as Part 1.
Yes, it may be club- and dance-orientated with a certain house and disco-influence, but it simply lacks the great hooks and twists and turns of the predecessor. To me, this was a clear step down - proving how difficult Part 1 would be to follow, although, it's no near a mediocre album. Robyn is still aeons over Madonna, Lady GaGa, P!nk and everyone else in the genre. Like Part 1 this offers music at around half an hour, clocking in just over 32 mins, which makes it difficult to file as a full-length album, and some reviewers also refer to it as part 2 of her ep trilogy. Even so, it contains more than just "Hang With Me", and it still secures high expectations to the last chapter.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Slant 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Junk Culture" (1984)

Junk Culture
release date: Apr. 30, 1984
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Brian Tench and OMD
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Junk Culture" - 2. "Tesla Girls" - 3. "Locomotion" - 5. "Never Turn Away" - 8. "All Wrapped Up" - 10. "Talking Loud and Clear"

5the studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark indeed marks a change of style. The band had been experimenting with synthpop on all their previous albums and all of a sudden they release a bold pop album. The album plays with elements from reggae, dance-pop, and particularly contemporary British pop. I remember my astonishment and sheer disappointment by this album. I couldn't believe it was the same band that had released Dazzle Ships one year earlier. The explanation has probably something to do with the fact that the predecessor sold poorly, and that the band had been associated with pop star potential with the inclusion of the popular songs "Enola Gay", "Electricity", and "Joan Of Arc" on the first three albums, whereas Dazzle Ships "only" brought "Genetic Engineering", which wasn't quite as successful nor as mainstream pop-minded. Here the band secured the record sales but also (sadly) withdrew from the experimental (and artistic) side to its talent.
The album reached #11 on the national albums chart list, but one may take into account that fans in general found it difficult to the band's musical direction at the time of this release. However, the singles "Tesla Girls" and "Locomotion" fared more than well. To me, though, the album was an unexpected low point and a big disappointment from the highly original Dazzle Ships.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]