This Is... Not As Good As I Was Hoping. (This Is Alphabeat - Alphabeat)

Member Name: alf_fly

Product:	This Is Alphabeat - Alphabeat
Date:	29/08/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Opening few tracks are amazing.

Disadvantages: Peters out; missing some of the band's best songs.

This is not the album it could have been. After hearing an early preview version I was left excited and enthused about one of the bounciest, catchiest albums I'd heard in a long time, and this turned out to be the original Danish release. The version available in UK shops is not that album, having had three of its tracks replaced and the order of tracks rearranged, and it suffers for it.

Opening with Fantastic Six is a good idea, this song setting out Alphabeat's stall early - bouncy, fun pop with catchy soar-away choruses, and it's a template that serves well through the early tracks. First single Fascination is an utterly joyous pop song that could set coma victims tapping their toes, and is one of two standout tracks on the album. The second is What Is Happening, a belter of a song that starts of slowly with lovely vocal harmonies before erupting into a Lust For Life-style drumbeat that lifts the track even higher. Between those two songs is 10,000 Nights Of Thunder which, with its slightly twee lyrics, is a lightweight but ultimately fun track, and Boyfriend.

Boyfriend is the first track that suffers from its new incarnation, re-recorded with cheesy synths that transforms it from a neat indie pop song into a Stock Aiken and Waterman-style kiddy-pop number. The bridge section in the original leant the song a dark touch that emphasised the (admittedly slight) underlying menace to the lyrics; we're left with the Playschool version.

Go Go, one of the new tracks, is a passable slice of 70's disco-funk which is jolly enough but copies its influences rather than absorbing them. Touch Me Touching You, another of the new tracks, is very disappointing, though, directionless and cheesy. It's thudding 80's style synths and shouted chorus recall New Order, but this is a poor-man's copy.

The third new track is a cover of the Public Image Ltd track Public Image which reignites the album somewhat, replacing the jangly guitars of the original with whistles and swapping John Lydon's vocals for something that more resembles actual singing. It's an excellent cover, packed with enthusiasm.

That leaves the album's closer, Nothing But My Baby, and the song preceding Public Image, an odd little song called Rubber Boots which appears to be an ode to the usefulness of waterproof clothing in the form of an 80's synth ballad. Although a brave attempt to change the pace, it drags over its five minute length and you'll probably be glad to see the back of it. Placing it after two new, not-particularly-great songs leads to a chunk of the album that doesn't seem to fit with the rest, feeling out of place and obtrusive. It's worth noting that on the original version of the album it was track 5, preceded by What Is Happening and followed by Boyfriend, which seemed liked a more natural place for it.

Meanwhile album closer Nothing But My Baby is a heavy stomper with a country flavour. It's a good song but seems like an odd choice to end on, leaving the album feeling like it's missing a track.

I suspect that This Is Alphabeat could never have sustained its early energy over the length of an entire album, and it was probably wise not to try. What I don't understand is why two superior songs (Hours and Ocean Blue) have been replaced by inferior tracks (although I'd happily swap Public Image for the original album's Into The Jungle), or why the album's order has been altered to its detriment. Thankfully the early tracks are good enough to mostly make up for these weird decisions, but my lasting impression of This Is Alphabeat is of an opportunity missed.

Summary: This Is Alphabeat, but it's also a bit of a let down.