REVIEW: Blondie, No Exit (Beyond)
- Tracey Bleile
The high priestess of never-pigeonhole-me-cause-I-won't-fit, Debbie Harry, and the original lineup of Blondie have pulled it together from the disparate corners of the earth and sound as on the edge as they were throughout their career. No Exit is far more energizing than you might expect.
There's a lot of jumpy dance numbers, as fresh and defiant of being pinned down as they were in the early 80s. There's calypso, there's ska, there's punkiness, and it's all come by as legitimately as any of their early work. It's also quite amazing how tight Blondie sounds, working together for the first time in almost seventeen years. But what is just as great, is you know who this is instantaneously, earmarked with the classic, New Wave pulsating guitar and keyboards, and that wanton/waif/tough/sweet voice that is Debbie Harry. "Nothing Is Real But The Girl" would have tidily fit into the dance groove of the end of the disco/beginning of the dance club era. "Night Wind Sent" is another great track in the same mood; Harry's smooth and gentle croon wafting up over a shimmering up-tempo beat.
Yes, the title track is an over-the-top rap featuring Coolio, a deep thundering bass and melodramatic sampling of Bach's Toccata and Fugue; a bit schticky, but not out of place. The single "Maria" is a little too processed and creamy (i.e. built for commercial success) for the rest of what's to be had here on No Exit, but hell, if Madonna can still surprise us within a dance-oriented album and Cher can breathe new life into her career for the umpteenth time doing the same, why not bring the originators up off their their laurels to see what they are yet capable of?
Hey, Blondie broke the ground, so it's their territory to move in once again. So if you want or need a reminder of where the attitude was born and how that transcends labels of "disco" or "new wave" or anything else that ever made you groove on a dance floor, No Exit evokes dance music's birthright and its ultimately pigeonholeless existence.
