REVIEW: B-52's, Time Capsule (Reprise)
- Bob Gajarsky
Of course, it seems so obvious now that the B-52's had to succeed. A prototypical geek who couldn't sing on lead vocals, girls with bouffaint hairdos, and offering an alternative to 12 minute rock jams or 9 minute extended disco grooves proved to be the formula that would launch the B-52's off the ground and into modern rock's stratosphere.
Of course, there was no such thing as modern rock or alternative music when the B-52's broke out of Athens via CBGB's in New York's lower East Side (Blondie, Talking Heads). The guitar groove from "Rock Lobster" owed a debt to the surf instrumentals of the 60s, but what was with these lead vocals? And the backing vocals seemed like something ripped straight out of a "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" film.
There lay part of the attraction of the B-52's; irresistible hooks, but the package was wrapped with the weirdest bow imaginable - lead singer Fred Schneider. And Schneider even inspired imitators; "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Mr. Popeil" isn't too far from removed from Schneider's unique, geek-talk rapping style on "Party Out Of Bounds".
Music and fun was a serious matter to the quintet from Athens, and those who danced to songs such as "Private Idaho" and "Planet Claire" truly saw the new-wave B-52's as a cutting edge alternative to Michael Jackson and Prince. And, in that time frame, they were.
Guitarist Ricky Wilson succumbed to AIDS in 1985, and it seemed that the group was near the end of the line. The bland Bouncing Off The Satellites (1986) met with limited enthusiasm, and one could have been excused for thinking that the B-52's were finished.
However, the rocket was just getting ready for another takeoff. "Shake That Cosmic Thing" (curiously omitted here) was the track that re-introduced the band to an era of fans that were just dipping their toes in another British invasion and hadn't yet heard of the term 'grunge'. Radio programmers took note, and "Channel Z", "Deadbeat Club", "Roam" and the now-wedding classic "Love Shack" netted the B-52's their most successful album (the #4 smash Cosmic Thing), several bonafide top 40 hits, and pressure to recreate that magic once again.
It couldn't happen. Good Stuff represented a mix of the good (the title track) and the bad (much of the remainder of the disc). The underappreciated "Is That You Mo-Dean?" fits in much better on a hits collection than on its original home.
The "Flintstones" theme is wisely excluded from this set, and is instead buttressed with an unreleased mix of "Summer Of Love", and two new songs - "Debbie" and "Hallucinating Pluto" - which could also have come from the Whammy time period.
This collection is more complete than their previous (import-only) set, Dance This Mess Around, simply because it includes their comeback years. And, clocking in at nearly 80 minutes, it's hard to get upset at a song ("Legal Tender") omitted from both compilations. Good job! TRACK LISTING: Planet Claire, 52 Girls, Rock Lobster, Party Out Of Bounds, Strobelight, Private Idaho, Quiche Lorraine, Mesopotamia, Song For A Future Generation, Summer of Love (Original Unreleased Mix), Channel Z, Deadbeat Club, Love Shack, Roam, Good Stuff, Is That You Mo-Dean?, Debbie, Hallucinating Pluto
