Customer Reviews

Domino

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

 

 

Squeeze's moment in the pop music sun lasted a few brief years in the late 70s and early 1980s, the era of Power Pop when albums like East Side Story brought fans into contact with one of the most appealing combinations of fresh melodies, driving beats and clever, vivid lyric writing that there is. Comparisons were made by some critics to Lennon/McCartney. Then all the attention went away, and the group continued to do the same thing--in fact to get better and better at it, to less and less acclaim. Somehow, critics would rather turn your attention toward vomitous, trendy archfiends like Marilyn Manson than perform a quality assurance function, which would place this band near the top every year. Excellence is apparently boring--but not to you, hopefully.

Now Squeeze doesn't even have a proper US record label, and this album is on a teeny weeny label, and so it may not get the distribution it needs, nor airplay. Still, don't pass it by. It is as good as their last one, "Ridiculous," and better than the one before "Some Fantastic Place," and yet it is different. They've hired a new rhythm section, and this seems to have recharged their musical interests, so the album has a fresher, sharper edge musically. Guitar playing seems a little more intriguing, the beats a little more unpredictable. It's a fun record, and very danceable, and the melodies and choruses are quite sticky. Best songs are "Bonkers" and the the title track, but it's consistently good throughout, even profound in spots.

We should be grateful that such a high-quality act continues to soldier on without much encouragement -- Squeeze is an excellent role model for your kids.

Domino is a fine album that will never be as popular as it deserves to be. The Title song is incredibly catchy and addicting. Glen Tilbook's vocals across the album are spirited. It is an upbeat album that will please old-time and new squeeze listeners alike.

It is really a shame that Squeeze has been largely forgotten since their Top 10 days a couple of decades ago. This is a fantastic pop record, and I agree by and large with the initial reviewer...although as far as being an example for kids, its hard to agree with that considering the themes of drunkeness and infidelity - which however, are part of the unique Squeeze 'persona' and do make for compelling emotions and storytelling, emoted by Glenn Tillbrook in his inimitable way. Two of the songs, 'Without You Here' and 'Short Break', are only OK, 'Play On' is just good, but the rest range from excellent to great, my favorite being 'Donkey Talk', which is a beautiful and wistful picture of the change in a relationship where the old magic is disappearing - and there is 'nothing left to talk about' - extremely moving! Lots of Steely Dan fans who were looking for more melodically from their comeback release might find what they were looking for both here and in the other 90's Squeeze releases.

While never attaining the commercial status they deserved, Squeeze can still put together a great album. Most bands can trace their creative high point to their early days, however, "Domino" proves that older, well-established groups can still be creative. "Domino" is perhaps their strongest album of the decade. "Some Fantastic Place" could be a contender. However, I found the band's most recent rhythm section to be their strongest in many years. The drumming was excellent. The percussion and bass lines melded well. Chris Holland added nice keyboards. In terms of songs, I most enjoyed the following songs: "Play On" "What's Wrong With This Picture?" "Donkey Talk" "Sleeping With A Friend" and "Short Break." Personally, I found Chris Difford's vocals on "Short Break" menacing, while the band's instrumentation helped to create the eerie atmosphere of the song. If you enjoy strong pop music...this is it.

I have literally just finished listening to this for the first time and am here to tell you that this is a very good album. To be honest I wasn't too interested in even listening to this in the couple of years it has been out. Just goes to show you I suppose. Anyway, this is a collection of nice tunes with the trademark humorous/regretful lyrics of Chris Difford once again delivered by the wonderful voice of Glenn Tilbrook.
The playing is sharp, with nice simple drumming, which is always welcome. "Sleeping with a friend" borrows the familiar tune from "Walk on by". Other standout tunes are "To be a Dad", "Without you here", and "Play on". However, "In the morning", despite being a good song, has a slightly unoriginal 80's feel about it, and the Difford sung "Short break" is not overly impressive. The album as a whole is not greatly inventive or radically different, but shows Messrs. D&T doing what they do best - writing articulate, melodic songs.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the last album that Difford and Tilbrook would record as Squeeze. If that's the case then thanks guys, for a good one.

I think Squeeze probably should have called it quits after PLAY, but DOMINO really comes forth as a shining album. The production and the musicianship is fantastic and when I first heard it, I thought this is just what they need...some fresh blood to kick things up a notch! But, upon reflection, this was a good way to end Squeeze. DOMINO has Squeeze going out on top, rather than with an album that leaves you wanting more (like RIDICULOUS & SOME FANTASTIC PLACE).

This will never go down as a classic Squeeze CD, it does have it's charms though.I think that some people dislike this CD and even the later releases from Squeeze due to the fact that they stopped rocking as much and their earlier releases had wild zany moments to them.For the most part their later releases were more whisper than scream.That being said Difford and Tilbrook whisper with the best of them.Domino starts out well with the rocking Play On and Bonkers is typical Squeeze fun and What's wrong with this picture is a great song but after that it loses a little steam for me. Without you here is a great wonderful,beautiful song that I can listen to time and time again without getting tired of it.In my opinion it alone is worth the price of this Cd.These guys have never put out a bad Cd but then again they never returned to quite the level of their pre-break-up days,but Ridiculous and Frank are both 4+ star Cd's and I highly recommend both of them even though it took a few listens to really get into Ridiculous.

Like a middle aged ball player, Squeeze albums contain a little more fat around the edges and don't come up with as quite as many hits as they used to, but all in all, this was a pretty fine listen. You have to give these old jackrabbits their due, soldiering on for 3 decades, thru bitter breakups and personal set backs, punk rock, new romantic movement, grundge, hip hop... They are still pumping out solid, if not classic, collections of 3 minute pop songs. D & T would have to rank as one of the top recordning duos of the past quarter century, right behind Elton & Taupin, no?
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The home runs (Tempted & Black COffee) of yore are replaced here with pleasant sound streams; the tunes are not as edgy (musically or lyrically) as they might have been in 1979, and one can't help noticing a certain purposeful saddness that encircles many of the written lines. Tracks of single fathers awaiting their children from single mothers, songs of older men fantasizing about 18 year old secondary school girls, and those young ladies being amuzed then bored with well-to-do men well past thier masculine prime.
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There wasn't a duff track in the bunch, and if nothing stood out like their more recent "Electric Toy Trains" here, these songs are very pleasant and nostalgic. They are warm and familiar voides. I'll alwasy welcome a new Squuze LP.
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I recall their was an MTV show on about 2004 that featured "Where are they Now" bands of the 1980s (Flock of Seagulls and so on). The season ending climax show was trying to reunite, a stubborn band who refused to get back together at that time. And never did onthe show: Squeeze.
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Squeeze should probably be considered for induction into any Rock Hall of Fame, but that is another argument for another day.
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Until such time, when we can celabrate their great body of work and overall contributions to the music scene, we are happy to enjoy another spin of DOMINO.
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A solid collection of pop songs by one of the great bands of the last 30 years. SQueeZE!

Squeeze have produced some terrific albums in the 500 years they've been with us, from the punchy "Cool For Cats" to the beautiful "Play". Sadly, this really isn't one of them.

I read a couple of interviews Difford and Tilbrook gave after the release of "Ridiculous", their previous (and infinitely better) recording. They had a theme in common - branching out, doing something different, maybe even a little daring. What they ended up giving us in fact was a tired-sounding re-hash of an earlier style (it reminded me in parts of "Sweets From A Stranger"). They'd also given the impression in these interviews that they were frustrated at not making more of an impact on the charts. "Domino" offered nothing that would have got close to a top-twenty hit (although "Bonkers" and the title track could have done decently enough with a lot more work and a bit of sparkle).

After a string of superb studio albums including "Play", "Some Fantastic Place" and "Ridiculous", I was disappointed to see that the last thing they produced before splitting up and saying 'never again' was one of their worst. In the book "Squeeze: Song By Song" both Glenn and Chris said basically the same thing. This album shouldn't have been made; or should have been made better.

I was actually a little saddened that instead of choosing to carry on and redeem themselves with far superior material, or choosing to go out on a real high note such as "Ridiculous", one of the best bands ever to brighten our airwaves gave us something mediocre to try to forget rather than remember them by, and dissolved into in-fighting after a creative low.

I'll remember Squeeze by all the wonderful singles I bought, I'll remember them by those fantastic albums they gave us, and I'll remember them from going to half a dozen of their live shows, and loving them. I just worry that an album that would normally be branded 'forgettable' will linger on in the memory for longer than I, my friends, and the band themselves would want it to.

I finally had the chance to see Squeeze live on this tour, so I picked up this album prior to the show. Chris Difford did not tour, but does appear on the album. I don't have any other Squeeze studio albums so there is not much I can compare this to. I find it to be a pleasant album that grew on me with continued listens. There are several really good tracks to be found here including "Domino", "To Be A Dad", "In The Morning" and the rather menacing "Short Break". The rest of the tracks are all at least decent as well. The album was released on the small Quixotic label and probably did not get the distribution that it deserved. "Domino" came and went from the shelves fairly quickly, so it may have been overlooked by fans of the band.