Album review: "Pop Life", Bananarama

"And through my mirror I see magic multicolored painted dreams." 

in 1991 Pop Life was a much needed injection of energy into bananarama whose sound had grown too familiar even without bandmate, siobhan fahey, who was shortly replaced with jacquie o'sullivan. a mix of musical genres from flamenco, rock, house, and reggae were added to create a unique pop album that stands out among the collection of records bananarama has produced over the thirty years of their career. there is a loose unison among the eleven songs and several stand out tracks. admittingly, it's difficult to select a single favorite song, but i've found that Preacher Man, Tripping On Your Love (beautiful!) and Only Your Love have stuck with me through the years and are enduring classics in my heart and mind. i rather enjoy bananarama's cover of the doobie brother's, Long Train Running, and the records sole ballad-ish song, What Colour R the Skies Where U Live. unfortunately there isn't more of this melodic low-tempo material as Pop Life rises and falls with its fast and heavy beats like a wild roller coaster. mind you, that's not a complaint, rather a simple observation. i love Pop Life and always appreciated the fresh musical direction. though dated by today's standards in many respects, Pop Life is the type of fun record bananarama is loved for!