Cosmic Thing

B-52's | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 1989)
• Original Release Date: June 27, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reprise / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LGY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,752 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Jangle Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nirvana made a lot of things irrelevant when Nevermind was released in 1991. Among the most unfortunate casualties caught inside the blast radius were the B-52's. Just two years prior, they had released their very first mainstream breakthrough album, Cosmic Thing. This album was featherweight, sun-kissed, playfully pansexual and, most importantly, danceable. Tracks like "Love Shack" and "Roam" reminded us there could be fun without responsibility. Alternately kitschy and lazy (I still insist that "Deadbeat Club" was a slacker anthem long before Beck's "Loser"), Cosmic Thing took the B-52's signature Trekkie-camp sensibility and slowed it down just enough to click on MTV and portable radios wonderfully. And let's be honest, anyway: would you rather road-trip to Kurt's sad refrain of "Well, whatever, nevermind" or Fred Schneider belting out, "The whole shack shimmies!!" at the top of his lungs? On second thought, don't answer that. --Todd Levin

Product Description

B 52'S COSMIC THING

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Tacky Little Dance Band" Hits The Big Time, February 16, 2004

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cosmic Thing (Audio CD)

The B-52's began life as a self-described "tacky little dance band" out of 1970s Athens, Georgia--and they sounded like musical refugees from a Twilight Zone episode that Rod Serling thought better of. But the band touched a techno-nerve, and before too long they had a record deal and a cult single ("Rock Lobster") that actually made the charts. But for all their fame, The B-52's very glitchy sound never had much in the way of airplay, much less big-time sales... until the release of COSMIC THING.

COSMIC THING spawned two major singles. The first one to hit--and the one that remains most durable--is "Love Shack," a truly bizarre but extremely infectious mix of funky rhythm and catchy melody dominated by Fred Schneider's ultra-silly, ultra-clever pseudo-rap--the song was and is a tremendous amount of fun, and while it lacks the truly weird edge of earlier B-52's cuts it remains one of the best dance party cuts I've ever come across, something that will get you on your feet faster than you can say "Bang Bang." The second hit, "Roam," was more specifically pop--but pop with a B-52's twist: a covertly sexy lyric and Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson blasting out unexpected harmonies from beneath their dueling beehive hairdos.

But COSMIC THING has more to offer than just these two cuts: everything here is extremely well done. The downbeat "Dry Country" has a seductive swing to it; "Deadbeat Club" is super smooth; "Topaz" is a remarkable little thing, sweet and sour all at once; and the largely non-vocal "Follow Your Bliss" wraps up the set on an unexpected but effective note. Along the way we also have at least three cuts that are very, very distinctly B-52's and as far out as anything the band did in their earlier incarnation: the rapid fire "June Bug," "Bushfire," and "Channel Z"--all of them with jagged rhythms, collapsing vocals, weird musical settings, and harmonies that go from liquid to strident before you can say "knock a little louder!"

By and large, the B-52's does the sort of music where a little goes a long way, but here they hit a really neat balance between their earlier extremes and some really solid pop inflections. The result may not please every one who is addicted to their original, undiluted sound, but the result is an extremely playable set that can be repeated again and again without you beginning to feel like roadkill on the intergalactic highway: it's funky, funny, stylish, and it still has enough of an edge to let you know that this really is the B-52's.

Bang bang, on the door, baby. Strongly recommended if you want to line up just to get down. Let's go around the world. The trip begins with a kiss!

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A return to for....no, wait, scratch that, June 27, 2000

By 

Rich Bunnell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosmic Thing (Audio CD)

In 1989, the B's suddenly returned with a completely new image, revitalized and full of a bunch of Nile Rodgers/Don Was-produced dancepop. And hey, despite the obvious cries of "sellout!" that are perfectly deserved, this is still a very good album. It's most heavily remembered for the hit "Love Shack," which is an infectious song that suffers a bit from constant overplay and an overlong running time (it doesn't need that "bang bang" part at the end at all), as well as the gorgeous, solid pop song "Roam"("Boooy Mercury, cruisin' throoough every degreeeee"). For the most part, the songs on here are very well-written in spite of their slickness ("Bushfire," "Channel Z," "Deadbeat Club"), the only real gripes being the kind-of-dull studio creation "Dry County" and the fact that on the catchy title track the band tries to mix a political message ("Don't let it rest on the president's desk!") next to lyrics like "SHAKE YOUR HONEY BUNS!" Still, overall, an album well worth buying and one of the better releases to come out in the overproduced year of 1989.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate feelgood album, January 12, 2001

By 

G. ADAIR - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cosmic Thing (Audio CD)

I like to think that a five-star review ought to mean that the album in question is what I'd call 'unimprovable'. In other words, there's nothing the band (or producer, writer, etc) could have done differently that would have made the finished product any better. Cosmic Thing is a perfect example. Even the addition of extra songs wouldn't have enhanced the quality of the album - it's the perfect length just as it is.

Producers Don Was and Nile Rogers were, in those days, two of the most highly respected producers in the business, and their talents were put to good use here.

We begin with the title track "Cosmic Thing", which is not so much a song as a declaration of intent, upbeat and manic. It lacks some of the musical finesse of the rest of the tracks but sets the tone for the album admirably.

From here on in pretty much every track is a gem. "Dry County" has a great melody and will have you singing along. "Deadbeat Club" likewise.

"Love Shack", of course, will live forever. (Yes, in the next millenium, music historians will look back and ask "but what was the significance of the rusted tin roof?") One of the world's best party songs that gets everybody dancing.

"Junebug" completes what us old fogies used to call 'side one', and then it's onto "Roam". Now, listening to this again recently I came to the conclusion that the word 'masterpiece' was invented to describe these four minutes of music. Melodically it's perfect; lyrically it's sharp; it has one of the most sing-along-able choruses in pop history; and even the middle-eight section is a dream. I swear, those vocal harmonies between Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson are heaven sent.

And as if that wasn't enough, the album carries on through "Bushfire" into "Channel Z", which could have been a smash hit single in its own right, and then the divine "Topaz". Seemingly Topaz was inspired by a series of spooky co-incidences that happened to the band following the death of former guitarist Ricky Wilson a year or two earlier. Whatever, the results are magnificent.

Having come this far you might expect things to fizzle out at the end, but far from it. In an inspired move, the B52's chose to end proceedings with an (almost) instrumental track. Quite a brave move, when you consider that the majority of the band's appeal lies in the vocal talents of the girls. But here we see the musical and songwriting talents of the group coming to the fore. "Follow Your Bliss" is an absolutely gorgeous slice of dreamy melodic pop that serves as the perfect finale to a perfect album.

As I've mentioned, probably the B52's greatest asset is their twin-harmonized lead vocals - Kate & Cindy are both exceptional singers. Sadly Cindy Wilson left the band after Cosmic Thing, and the follow-up album 'Good Stuff' suffered as a result, despite their best efforts to multi-track Kate's vocals and imitate the harmonious style.

I'd recommend the previous album too, 'Bouncing Off the Satellites', which was the band's first step into the mainstream pop world and which features many beautiful pop songs (not least 'Summer of Love' and 'Aint it a Shame').