Saturday, July 14, 2012

Album review, "True Confessions" by Bananarama

"I'm your Venus. I'm your fire. At your desire." Venus
i resisted as long as i could, but i eventually found myself mentally crafting a review of yet another bananarama record as i eagerly await my cd/dvd set celebrating 30 years of the most successful girl group in history. check your facts, that's not hyperbole. take '86 True Confessions with nearly a half dozen hits.

this record is where i officially began my long-time love affair with bananarama. i discovered them through their hit single, Cruel Summer, of their previous album. but True Confessions Venus is positively the moment when i suddenly couldn't get enough of sara, keren, and siobhan. smart, sexy, sassy, and with their devil-may-care attitude, bananarama were the epitome of cool through the '80s and into the '90s. i was 6 when this record came out, but my mom and aunt were young enough to appreciate their pop/rock sound and originality of the 'nanas and True Confessions was played often. now as an adult i appreciate the ingenuity that went into this 11 song collection. sincere and beautiful mid-tempo songs like, Dance with a Stranger, or, Trick of the Night, stand out amid the more pop inpired songs and hold ground against crowd pleasing sex tinged tunes such as, More Than Physical, and affirming, Do Not Disturb.

26 years after its release, True Confessions is a bit dated, as much of the music from the early to mid '80s is. nonetheless, the album is a bit of pop history as it carried the girls to higher stardom. the before mentioned, Venus, is still an anthem for women and gay men to this day. i grew up with bananarama and their music became the soundtrack of my life, starting with this.

for further reviews of other bananarama albums:

Pop Life, 1991
Ultra Violet, 1996
Exotica, 2002
Drama, 2005
Viva, 2009

Wednesday, July 4, 2012