Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amado Mio, December 11, 2004
Grace Jones co-produced most of the tracks on this 1989 album. Bulletproof Heart contains an amalgam of her styles and although not a classic, it is a strong work that will please her fans. With its funky rhythm, Driving Satisfaction has just a hint of her classic Pull Up To The Bumper and lovely swirling percussive patterns.
Kicked Around is closer to vocal pop, whilst Love On Top Of Love has a bouncy beat and innovative vocal arrangement. Crack Attack is a polyrhythmic dance number and the title track has a jerky rhythm and some marvellous sax. There are also beautiful tuneful ballads like Paper Plan, Someone To Love and Amado Mio. Her voice really soars on Someone To Love, a rousing ballad with a wonderful melody and some romantic French lyrics.
Amado Mio is the album's torch song and a fine example of her mastery of the genre. It has lovely accordion, a Spanish flavor and some French infusions. These aforementioned two songs should have been big bits and are amongst the highlights of her career.
This CD re-issue of Bulletproof Heart includes four additional tracks, of which the garage-house remix of Love On Top Of Love and the Brazilian mix of Amado Mio are the best. Bulletproof Heart may not be Jones most innovative work but it remains a good album that has stood the test of time very well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fans of "Vamp" soundtrack beware, NOT the soundtrack version of "Seduction Surrender"!, August 7, 2007
Attention fans of the soundtrack to the vampire film "VAMP" which starred Grace Jones as an ancient Egyptian vampire queen!
While the track on this CD titled "Seduction Surrender" is probably one of the strongest tracks on this rather uneven album, it sounds absolutely NOTHING like the two versions of "Seduction Surrender" which appear in the film "Vamp"(version one is the "After Dark Club" dance sequence with Jones, and version two is the end credits remix version).
[Side Note: I did track down the vinyl LP soundtrack on Varese Sarabande but have yet to listen to it and confirm if the film version of "Seduction Surrender" even appears on the LP (the title "Seduction Surrender" isn't listed in the track list!).]
As for more specifics about this album itself:
I'm not sure if any of you review readers out there have had any experience with Keyboard / Synthesizer equipment? When a manufaturer like Yamaha or Roland or Korg put out a synth they include a "Demo" song to show off the synth's capabilities. These demo songs are usually very slick very commercial and very smooth and are also usually VERY DATED depending on when the synth was manufactured.
The reason I'm pointing this out is that almost ALL the tracks on this Grace Jones CD sound EXACTLY like those slick, commercial, smooth and DATED DEMO songs on synths produced in the early to mid 1990's.
For some, this may not be a bad thing, some people dig that sound, that sound other reviewers have spot on called "over produced", but all in all, it's a bit of a turn off for me because, at the end of the day, a synth demo song has no "soul"! And that's what many of the tracks on this album lack.
Songs I found "listenable" though a bit too "slick" for their own good:
the 80's action movie sounding "Driving Satisfaction", the very mid 80's Molly-Ringwald-Movie sounding "Paper Plan", the Michael Jackson-esque "Bulletproof Heart", and the synth-jazz song "On My Way."
Everything else is so sickly comercial and generic, well, it's a sad waste of Grace Jones' amazing and unique voice.
A middle of the road album, thus the 3 stars.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Killer Kiss, February 28, 2005
She left Island, joined the cast of Bond in '85, scored a Top 10 hit in 1986 with "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)." Bulletproof Heart is a mixed bag, it's overproduced and sometimes, it even comes off a little cheesy. The lead single is without doubt the number one dance hit: Love on Top of Love, which is a pretty funky tune. She carries the song (and herself) extremely well throughout that song. Much of the album seems hampered by the overproduction, and some of the material even seems unfinished. The plaintive "Paper Plan" is a fine example of this, with lines such as: "Marriage of the heart" makes it look rather campy and cheesy. The album does however have some shining moments such as the rhythmic "Seduction Surrender" which is an adapted version of the song she performed in Vamp, two years prior to this album. Another highlight is the extremely moody "On My Way" with lush soundscapes and stirring strings. As a whole, Bulletproof Heart is an accomplished piece of finely (but overproduced) pop art, even if it occasionally sinks into a little too much campiness, as it does on "Crack Attack" with the head-phrase being "Crack is wack." The 2004 re-release includes four bonus tracks: a Garage House mix of "Love on Top of Love," a Brazilian mix of the already stunning
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by Grace Jones 
