Customer Reviews

Big Trash

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is really good. It's stayed in my rotation for years. It's the next best Thompson Twins CD (I own or have owned them all). Queer is best and Quick Kick and Side Step would be a distant third. They transformed into Babble after this CD and both Ether and The Stone are up in the same class as Queer and Big Trash.

THIS IS THE TT ALBUM THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE THE TRANSITION FROM 80'S BAND TO JUST A GREAT BAND. UNFORTUNATLY IT DIDN'T. THERE ARE SOME GREAT SONGS ON HERE. SUCH AS "BOMBERS IN THE SKY" - AND IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY IT CAME OUT DURING THE GULF WAR? BUT I DO REMEMBER HEARING IT IN EVERY CLUB BACK IN '91. ANOTHER GREAT SONG HERE IS "THIS GIRLS ON FIRE"- WHICH I THINK SHOWCASES TOM BAILY'S GREAT VOCALS. "SUGAR DADDY", THE ONLY HIT SINGLE OFF THIS ALBUM IS YOUR BASIC CATCHY QUIRKY TT SONG. TO THIS DAY, I STILL LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM. BOY, DO I MISS THE THOMPSON TWINS.

Length:: 0:33 Mins

NOT THERE BEST EFFORT, BUT A WORTHY ALBUM. THERE ONLY HIT FROM THE ALBUM [SUGAR DADDY]#28 WAS QUIRKY POP SONG,AND THE BEST TUNE FEATURED HERE. SONGS LIKE [THIS GIRLS ON FIRE]AND [BOMBERS IN THE SKY]ARE PRETTY GOOD AS WELL. I THOUGHT THIS ALBUM WAS UNDERRATED AND SHOULDVE BEEN POPULAR.

"Big Trash" -- though not the Twins' best work, was a much-improved follow up to the disappointing "Close to the Bone". This CD began the transformation of Tom & Alannah actually pushing aside the record companies and popularity, and beginning to record music they enjoyed. From the catchiness & fun of the top 40 hit "Sugar Daddy", the guitar driven "Bombers in the Sky" (which cleverly sampled "Kamikaze" from their "Side Kicks" album, and used briefly in the movie Gremlins 2), the soft-core eroticism of the title track, to the exuberant bounciness of "Salvador Dali's Car" and "Wild" -- this album shows the Twins' having fun, relying less on keyboards, and returning to their guitar-based roots. Even tossing in a special appearance by Deborah Harry, who is a hoot on "Queen of the U.S.A.".

Trust me... this CD is definitely a keeper for anyone that appreciates what the Thompson Twins have to offer.

When the Thompson Twins released this album, it was right after their album "Close to the Bone", which also did not perform as well as early albums, making it the second album after the multi-hit album "Here's to Future Days" ("King for a Day", "Lay Your Hands On Me"). As if "Close to the Bone" weren't enough of a musical transition for fans to comprehend, this album took another dramatic shift -- and was even more different than "Close to the Bone". This doesn't mean, however, that this CD is not any good.

The best track (and highest chart-topper) was "Sugar Daddy", which was a very poppy, danceable number. None of the songs seem related in style -- with some of them sounding like they could belong on "Here's to Future Days" (such as "Dirty Summer's Day" and "Bombers in the Sky"). "Salvador Dali's Car" is quite a whimsical number, and possibly one of the best tracks on the disc, after "Sugar Daddy". You can hear, through instrumentation, that the Thompson Twins were trying to go off in a new musical direction...again. The vocals are dead-on "Thompson Twins", and Tom Bailey's voice is as strong as ever.

I would personally throw away the tracks "Queen of the U.S.A." and "TV On". The disc does end on a high note, with "Wild", which has a really decent call/response "anthem" feel about it. Compared to their previous four albums, however, this outting is probably my least favorite Thompson Twins album, and is the most out-of-place album in their discography. Subsequent albums made up for it, but I believe this is the album that ended their careers.

This is not one of my favorite Thomspon Twin albums- but I must say there is no such thing as a bad Thompson Twins album. This album is less new wave, less pop and more rock - yet with the definate TT sound. I think the best songs are the catchy Sugar Daddy, Bombers In The Sky, This Girl Is On Fire and my favorite Dirty Summer's Day. Dirty Summer's Day should have been a single- lots of remix potential. I only hope that the Thompson Twins or Babble or whatever they want to call themselves continue to make great music.

This is a really fun album. A definite improvement over the Close to the Bone album. There are some really inventive songs on here. My favorite one is Salvador Dali's car. It is a great driving song, with a great catchy sound and would have made an amazing video. Queen of the USA is another favorite with some vocals by the unparalleled Deborah Harry (Blondie). ([...]) It shocked me to read that it was her because I never would have guessed it, but it is a fitting tribute. Bombers in the sky shows a MUCH darker side of the twins, which is in a way refreshing because it is so different, and it has some really unique catchy instrumentation to go along with the foreboding lyrics. And of course there is Sugar Daddy, and this song is like a musical confection for the ears. Alannah adds some really fun vocals and Tom sounds quite slick. There are several songs that really didn't do much for me too. Wild, Dirty Summer's Day, and This Girl's on Fire are ok songs but not as strong as the others in my opinion. A final note: I love this album cover...very intricate , contradictory (snakes, insects and guns amidst a screen of flowers), and powerful. So, if you at all like the Twins this will be a great addition. As the title song would advocate: pay some cash for the big trash and you won't be sorry.

I'll say one thing about these Thompson Twins,they are good at creating mood with manipulating synthesizers to their advantage.The album in classic Thompson Twins,part rock,part dance.Overall its very plush and sounds like its full of MTV hits you've never heard.
It's late 1989 release didn't help it because most potential buyers
of the lp were by then in college experimenting with underground.
Great creepy-sounding title track.

It seems as if "Big Trash" has a cult reputation, and since it wasn't a big hit, the fans of the album are usually longtime fans of the band. I have to admit that I don't see it. According to interviews and press releases, Warner Brothers signed on Tom and Alannah to make "the kind of record they'd always wanted to make", and this was the result. If this was their dream record, then thank god some outside force must have been there to help shape their classic 80s albums.

In terms of production, arrangement and sheer craft, this album is exquisite. Listening to it on headphones is very cool, and you can tell they put a lot of creative ideas into the way they recorded it.

The songs, on the other hand, have the fatal "Close to the Bone" syndrome. I say that because "CTTB", aside from a few quality gems, was riddled with unbelievably bland cliches and lyrics that evaporated the moment they were out of Tom Bailey's mouth. The tracks on "Big Trash" fare no better, with about half the record coming off as a compilation of well-produced but boring B-sides.

It is not all bad. "Sugar Daddy" is nearly as good as anything else the Thompson Twins ever recorded; if the verses don't engage the listener in quite the same way as the golden hits of the mid-80s, that killer chorus and the very funky groove glosses it right over. "Queen of the USA" is another keeper, and even the awkwardly worded "Bombers in the Sky" sounds like good stuff when it's playing--although you have to wonder, wasn't 1989 a little late for songs about nuclear doom?

Then there are songs like the title track, which attempts to engage us with a chorus that vamps "Big trash, ooooo big trash...people payin' hard cash, yeah yeah, for big trash." Uh huh. There's also a song with a great title called "Salvador Dali's Car", which is literally nothing more than a great title. The whole album is this way; the trippy "psychedelic" lyrics are about as interesting as listening to someone tell you for 45 minutes all about the weird dream they had last night--you smile and nod while they ramble on, but you really don't care and you can't wait until they just shut up. It's like they made up the words to half of this stuff at the last minute and just let it fly. It's a little disconcerting, because a lot of times the music and production are so seductive that you get drawn in, but the nonsense lyrics don't hold you.