Customer Reviews

The Donnas Turn 21

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

hey all,

So The Donnas lift my spirits with a new LP. Lemme say, some things get better with age. Donna R.'s guitar solos seem better planned and Donna A. spits some venom on "Are You Gonna Move It For Me?"...>"But you wrote a bad review of our show, if you don't like us what are you doing standing in the front row?" Hell yeah! to the naysayers and jealous "musicians" who take themselves too seriously: You only wish you could shrug your shoulders at the world and rock like The Donnas!

True, The Donnas aren't an indepth band, and that's fine with me cuz sometimes we all just need to cut loose and have some fun. "Turn 21" appears more focused than their previous records, but it could use the backup vocals that made "American Teenage Rock N' Roll Machine" so damn good. "Turn 21" isn't as fast either, but Donna A. is lettin' the world know that she can out-party you AND command the stage better than you :) ha ha ha. ah..if only YOUR birthday was as good as "Turn 21"

And they don't care who knows it...Using typically male oriented themes, they jam about men groupies, getting high, and the angst that comes along with being a teenager. I had never heard of them til I saw the mediocre movie "drive me crazy" on HBO. The movie was just ok, but their cameo appearance ROCKED! Since then I have been downloading everything by them that I can get my hands on. 40 Boys in 40 Nights is a typical "getting booty on the road" song, and are they ashamed to admit it??? HELL NO!!!! The cover of Judas Priest's "Livin' AFter Midnite" is also a JAM! Over all every cut is as good as the last....so if you are into hardcore guitar riffs backed up by a sweet baby girl voice, check out THE DONNAS....Even if you think a girl band is too "soft " for you, take heed: THESE ARE NOT THE GO-GOS!! The whole disc is excellent background music for your morning coffee, or sex, or WHATEVER. Do yourself a favor and check it out.....

The Donnas have succeeded in making yet another outstanding record of great rock 'n' roll. The production is better this time, and Donna R.'s guitar playing has definitely improved. (Not that she wasn't good to begin with!) As for the songs, I think "Do yo wanna hit it?" is the most rocking Donnas song ever. Possibly the most catchy is "Drivin thru my heart", a song that I think could be a huge hit if they make a video for it. As for the other songs, they all rock as well! All in all, a very strong release.

The Donnas never cease to amaze me. From the catchy hooks to Donna R.'s astonishing guitar riffs and leads that remind me of something from the late 70's or 80's. Their cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight" is great. The Donnas "Turn 21", is my second favorite of the year, only coming second to Tuuli's "Hotrods and Honeysuckle". It would easily make my top 50 of all time. If you like the Donnas, this is, in my opinion their finest album. My favorites, if I HAD to choose are "Do You Wanna Hit It", "Living After Midnight" and "You've Got A Crush On Me" the guitar solo in "You've Got A Crush..." is great. Definately a very cool album

Again, I purchased a Donnas' album based on the 1 star reviews on albums like "Gold Medal", "Spend The Night" and "Bitchin". From the claims by the 1-star-reviewers that The Donnas were at their best prior to those albums, "I don't think so...".

I received my copy of "Turn 21" this afternoon and I am not impressed at all. A few songs are listenable but Brett's vocals are too hi-pitched and childlike for my taste. She sounds young and underdeveloped like someone's 12 yearold kid. It hasn't matured enough to bare that edge. With time Brett's vocal ability have matured and are now strong enough to take on the music. When "Spend The Night" was released you heard the mass in her vocals, It pounds on that album and all the ones thereafter. Although the girls have "Turned 21", lead singer Brett Andersson still sounds like a 5th grader. I'm not into The underaged, whiney, kiddie vocals, I don't like when they sound like babies(I just can not stress that enough).

However, 4 songs caught my attention which are "Are You Gonna Move It For Me?", "Midnight Snack", "Don't Get Me Busted", and "Hot Pants", And I can't forget the Judas Priest cover "Living After Midnight". Again and again and again I just CAN NOT get past the 5th grade vocals. These songs would sound dynamite if the music were boosted and Brett's vocals were broadened and toned. You'll notice as the Cd gets nearer to the end, Brett's tone does broaden somewhat and she doesn't sound "as" childlike. Perhaps her voice deepened during the time they recorded this.

Now that I've got my hands on "Turn 21" I finally got the chance to hear an earlier Donnas record and this album is indeed limp and lacks in so many ways. Even though "Hot Pants", "Midnight Snack", "Don't Get Me Busted", "Are You Gonna Move It For Me" and "Living After Midnight" are hot I truly don't understand what they hear in the Donnas earlier sound? It's not just about Brett's vocals, It's also The band (Allison, Torry and Maya) just didn't give me what I needed musically. I prefer when the songs sound explosive and charged-up as opposed to flat and limp music with way too much treble, You can barely "feel" the bass let alone hear it. Maya is nowhere to be found on this album, I know she was p!$$ed. All that work and nothing to show for it.
I wish I could choose what songs from the earlier material I could have them re-record and charge up. The songs would be so much more enjoyable to rock out to!. I watched them perform "Do You Want To Hit It?" and "40 Boys & 40 Nights" in 2008 at "Desert Moon 2" and they turned these songs out with they're NEW and improved Post-Turn 21-skills. Can't say the same for the album versions. Like they say "One person's junk is another's treasure".

I'm guessing the consumers that liked this album were in elementrey or JR. High at the time, So they loved this album, Because it sounded like one of their classmates had an album. This album was a part of their 5th grade memories, I guess. As An Adult, I'm not feelin' it.

The Donnas were already an awesome band when they first entered the stage at their middle school talent show. I saw a film of it on YouTube. They lacked stage presence at that time, but it's hard to believe that now.

On this album, it's almost like everything on it is a hit. The star of this album is definitely Allison Robertson. The four of them were definitely into the real guitar rock type of music. However, Maya Ford has a lot of great bass playing, Torry Castellano has a lot of great drumming, and Brett Anderson was a great vocalist.

When I first heard this album, I heard it right after hearing Highway to Hell by AC/DC, and, believe it or not, I liked this one better. At that time, I was judging the music mainly just by the guitar playing, but the lyrics were very catchy, which is something that the Donnas have always done.

If you don't buy this album, you'll be missing out on one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Like many of you rockers,at first I thought The Donnas were just another mtv band like sum 41 or linkin park who either played depressing whiner rock or anything else mtv's legions eat up these days.But could I have been any more wrong???These girls are an amazing rock band with lots of grit and raunch.What other girl group can cover tunes by Motley Crue,Judas Priest,and Alice Cooper without sounding forced?The songs on here are no-nonsense rockers with shredding guitars and head thrashing vocals.Definitely an album you can listen to without pressing the skip button.This is pure rock and roll the way it was meant to be played.The last time a band like this came around was back in 1976:The Runaways which included guitar goddess Lita Ford and the ever raunchy Joan Jett.

I am a huge fan of rock and roll and these girls surpassed my expectations.Don't think Avril Lavinge or Sum 41.Instead think Motley Crue/ACDC/Kiss in one package mixed in with some small hints of The Ramones and The Runaways topped off with a very raunchy femme fatale filled attitude!I prefer this album along with Get Skintight and Spend The Night.

(The Japanese issue of this album is worth the extra bucks because it is the only place you will find The Donnas' ear shattering cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out")

These chix ROCK! Turn 21 is a get-drunk-Saturday-night party. Every song makes you boogie, I seem to drive faster when I am listening Turn 21. After you liosten to the album all the way through the songs will stick with you. The riffs are out of this world. The way rock should be

i love the donnas. i live in palo alto, where they're from (a really sleepy quiet town in the bay area) and have actually seen them a couple of times. "the donnas turn 21" is their best album to date and i hope they keep up the good work!

The Donnas play great, straight-ahead punk laced rock. It doesn't have the pure speed of punk, but it's got the energy and attitude. There are a few misses on the disc, and the cover of "Living After Midnight" is surprisingly toothless, but the rest is pretty damn solid. "Midnite Snack" is one of my favorites, if only for the party-chorus in the background. After a few listens a lot of the songs blur together in a pretty solid blur, but that's just to suggest they aren't fun songs.