Customer Reviews

Bite

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

 

 

I had been waiting for this perfect gem, checking the "Altered Images" section at the shops for years, hoping for its reissue on CD. "Bite" was a smooth, succulent pop album with nary a misstep when it came out twenty years ago and it sounds even better today. Unlike many eighties albums that sound embarrassingly dated, "Bite" proudly retains a timeless sound. Song for song, "Bite" was as good or better than any pop album released that year or this.

Its lead single, "Don't Talk To Me About Love" is simply one of the best pop 45s ever released. It's good to have its 12" on CD here as well - both A and B side. The dance mixes for singles "Love To Stay" and "Bring Me Closer" are also welcome bonus tracks. The addition of the b-side "Surprise Me" lends a slight flavor of the "Pinky Blue" album to the proceedings, and that's a happy bonus too.

The enclosed booklet includes original album artwork and gives a nice history of Altered Images circa "Bite". The only thing that might have made this reissue "perfect-er" would have been the inclusion of the band's cover of "Little Town Flirt". If only we had Clare Grogan and Altered Images now!

It is a shame that Altered Images is so rarely remembered, and when they are, its usually for the quirky but fun song Happy Birthday. The band's music matured to fruition on their third release Bite.
The cd sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released. The rich layered production pervades each enchanting song, from the cha cha beat of Love to Stay to the haunting Now That You're Here. Don't Talk To Me About Love, the album's first single, reaches a pinnacle of true artistic expression, as heart wrenching as it is lovely. Claire Grogan's voice never sounded so luxuriously polished as it does on this collection of songs.
Sadly, this, the band's last musical effort, left fans wanting more. These years later, we finally get more with the bonus extend tracks and unreleased material. Don't miss this opportunity to hear one of the most underappreciated bands of the 1980's, if not of all time.

It's a shame that Altered Images has somehow slipped through the cracks as one of the most original, fun, sonically and visually most interesting pop bands ever (back when pop didn't mean talentless and unoriginal). Sure, they dabbled in Siouxsie-esque goth rock early on, but at their core, they were always a highly melodic, quirky pop band. This is apparent on their first two albums, "Happy Birthday" and "Pinky Blue."
With "Bite," the band underwent a makeover in image, sound and lineup, and fortunately, the new formula worked just as well.
This is polished, melody-driven 80's pop, much sleeker and more restrained than what the band had previously produced. Clare Grogan's vocals are not quite as giddy and chirpy, and the production, much of which was done by Mike Chapman, makes the songs shine.
The lead single, "Don't Talk to Me About Love," is simply one of the most beautifully arranged and performed pop songs ever. "Bring Me Closer" is a fun disco-dance number. "Another Lost Look" and "Love to Stay" are sweet, dreamy pop gems, while "Change of Heart" channels Blondie when Blondie was channeling 60's girl group. Actually, the entire album channels Blondie, which is definitely not a bad thing.
There were originally only eight tracks on "Bite," so the bonus material included on this CD is more than welcome. "Surprise Me" is manic bubblegum reminiscent of the material on "Pinky Blue." "Last Goodbye" is more fun pop that's so good you have to wonder why it wasn't originally included. "I Don't Want to Know" is yet another winner that sounds like what might have happened if the Shangri-Las were still making music in 1984.
If you love good, fun pop or new wave music, don't hesitate to pick up this CD. And while you're at it, pick up "Happy Birthday" and "Pinky Blue," and prepare to have some fun.

Although they started out as Siouxsie & the Banshees wannabe's, by this, their third and last album, Altered Images had arrived at a sophisticated yet quirky sound all their own. I think that they got better with every disc, so of course, this is my favorite. It's a romantic, glittering new wave-disco-pop confection, and not to be missed by anyone who likes atmosphere, melody and a good dash of wistfulness...

The only problem with this album is that half of the songs were produced by new wave-pop master Mike Chapman (Blondie, The Knack), and the other half were produced by disco-maniac Tony Visconti (the more disco-y outings by Bowie). So while some elements of the band are consistent from song to song (Clare Grogan's unusual but passionate vocals, Tony McDaid's ultra-clean, faux-African-High-Life guitar parts), the Chapman-produced songs lean towards Altered Images' strength, new wave pop, and Visconti's lead towards their weakness, drum-machine-fueled disco...with some notable exceptions.

Two of the four Visconti-produced tunes are the best tunes on the album, IMO, but I'll save the best for last. First: the Chapman-Produced tunes. All of these are great, from the vocal grandiosity and sweeping rush of "Don't Talk To Me About Love" (which is actually a bit disco-y too, hee-hee), to the incredibly upbeat roller-rink organ of "Change Of Heart," the perfect jangly pop of "Another Lost Look" to the cozy romanticism of "Love To Stay," which features a beautiful horn part. Chapman was a good match for Altered Images, I wonder why he quit halfway through?

Of the Visconti-produced tracks, "Stand So Quiet" almost works, while "Now That You're Here", the weakest track on the album, borders on annoying if you're not in the mood...but those other two tracks...!

The album opener, "Bring Me Closer" is a treat; transcending it's disco qualities into something beautiful and delicious. The contrast of five (!) lush backing vocalists with Clare's unusual lead singing is perfect. This song always transports me, and isn't at all dated sounding...although by rights it should be. The dance mix of this is awesome too!

Then there's the closer, my favorite of all: "Thinking About You." Not only do we have the return of those lush background vocalists, the whole song is given a nice `wall-of-sound' treatment, with strings, a harp, and various other instruments contributing tastefully. This song embodies many of Altered Images' best qualities: clean guitars, wistful lyrics and awesomely beautiful melodies. When Clare sings "I'm in heaven..." at the end (if that's what she's saying!), you'll be there too! ;oD

This is no critique of the album Bite, which is wonderful and an underrated 80s gem, but just of this reissue. I bought the original vinyl issue back in 83 and still own it, but was looking for a CD version for playing convenience as well as (hopefully) cleaner sound.

As another reviewer mentioned (and which I didn't read before ordering), the second track "Another Lost Look" is very different from the original album version. "Love to Stay" is also a different edit, although the "bonus track" of this song is actually the album version.

It's kind of surprising that the reissue makes these changes without mention, while presenting them as the originals. It's nice to have the bonus tracks, but we're left without the complete original album. Guess I'll have to play the vinyl until I can find a copy of the Japanese CD which simply has the original eight tracks.

Bite was a response to critics who had slammed Altered Images on their previous album, Pinky Blue. Rather than continuing with the previous sound that seemed to work for the buying public, Altered Images decided to try their take on a more mature Adult Contemporary sound. The results are very mixed. This album is often compared to sounding like Blondie, though the only similarity I can see is the use of producer Mike Chapman on half of the album.

The first single release, which preceded Bite by several months, was the danceable 'Don't Talk To Me About Love'. It was a huge hit for the band, going into the UK top 10. The hits seemed to stop after that.
'Bring Me Closer' was the next release, though faired only a placing in the lower twenties, and with good reason. The song was a step backward in that it already sounded very dated to the Disco era, complete with a Disco string section. Though I disliked the song for many years, I've come to appreciate it now, though mainly in its superior Dance Mix, also included as a bonus track.
The third single was the tropically dreamy 'Love To Stay'. Clare sounds wonderful in this song, and it should have been a hit. 'Love To Stay' only managed a very brief and low chart placing.
The final single, 'Change Of Heart', was the closest thing to a Pinky Blue sounding track on the original album, and It made no impact on the buying public.
Bite falters terribly with some very overproduced attempts, such as the painful 'Stand So Quiet' and 'Now That You're Here'. Clare Grogan's voice is not suited for this type of material at all.

This CD version of Bite includes a number of bonus tracks as well, including the B sides from the singles, both of which were better than many of the album tracks. Both 'Surprise Me' and 'Last Goodbye' are catchy toe tappers, and as such were relegated to B sides.

Of the three CD releases from the Edsel label, this is the most disappointing. The album has not been completely remastered from original tapes, but mainly pieced together from previously released compilations. Errors also occur in the track listing as follows: 'Another Lost Look' is the "Live" version that appeared on the B side to the 'Love To Stay' single, so the original album version is not presented here. The full length version of 'Love To Stay' has been replaced in the album's running order by the heavily edited single version, leaving the full length version to be added as a bonus track. The long album version of 'Don't Talk To Me About Love' is replaced with the single edit, and the extended version of the song uses the edited version from the previous Reflected Images compilation CD, which lops off over a minute of the song. Ironically, a Japanese issue of Bite was released on CD within weeks of this original CD release, and included only the original eight album tracks, but in the proper manner as they were on the original Japanese LP.