It's A Pop Life (Pop Life - Bananarama)

Member Name: benlepensive

Product:	Pop Life - Bananarama
Date:	08/09/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: some strong tracks

Disadvantages: fillers

Bananarama have a new single out this week called 'Love Comes' and it looks set to break into the top forty, which is quite suprising! This rather dubious looking album entitled 'Pop Life' collects a somewhat excessive seventeen songs.

We open with 'Preacher Man' which is part pop and part disco. The vocals are not too bad, though they do sound a bit over produced. The chorus has enough lift in it and you can picture a gaggle of girls doing the routine with lots of hand movements. 'Long Train Running' has a sumptuous latino esque beat which calls to mind the Gipsy Kings. They have tackled the Doobie Brothers classic and brought it up to date with a poppier twist. Neat backing vocals and a summer vibe, though lacks the soulful tinge of the original version.

'Only Your Love' is an intriguing number, a beat which sounds quite trippy from the outset, with funky Happy Mondays esque pianos. Vocals sound fresh and cheerful on this one. I like the ravey aspect of this song and it sounds like the kind of track that would promote free love.

'What Colour Are The Skies Where You Live' takes us on a journey into tribal rhythms and staccato pianos, before unveiling another trippy song that is more reggae than pop. I liked the direction of this, though their vocals are too wishy washy and the song lacks chorus with bite.

My next tip is 'Tripping On Your Life' where a weird gangsta rap opens proceedings, before a funky beat hits you. Rhythm is good on this one, though there are some dubious chords which do little to satisfy the casual listener. Is that a sitar in there too? There is an Indian vibe pushing through which works quite well.

There are a handful of decent pop ditties on here, with a range of styles and genres, though it is padded with some unnecessary extra versions of 'Preacher Man' and 'What Colour Are The Skies'. The album could have been trimmed by a few songs and still been effective.

Summary: not too bad