Drastic Plastic

Be Bop Deluxe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 30, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Caroline
• ASIN: B000007URK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,023 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I had to describe this album in one line....., October 6, 2005

By 

nate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drastic Plastic (Audio CD)

...it would be, "post punk, pre new wave, English science-fiction pop rock". Personally, this is one of my favorite albums of all time, probably due to the wonderful discoveries of adolescence. But even then, I had a hard time falling in love with a couple of these tracks. When this album was released, I was a guitar slinging teenage rocker, rebelling against all things disco and synthesized. Songs like "Electrical Language" and "Japan" (which for some reason is not in Amazon's track listing) just had too much synthesizer for me. I've later come to appreciate these tunes more, which is indicative of "Drastic Plastic" as a whole - a bit of an acquired taste. Bill Nelson's fantastic guitar prowess doesn't so much take a back seat as it does support each song...and the songs are what make this a GREAT album. That's not to say that he doesn't throw down with some fat-toned, heart-felt wickedness that has made him one of the world's best unknown guitarists (except those already in the know). These tunes are what I call "cream-of-the-crop pop". Every song is filled with catchy hooks that not only keep you listening, but stay in your head long after the stereo power button is turned off. "Panic in the World" is the best example because it's simple and catchy. The only problem is that Mr. Nelson crams so many words in some of the lines that it's hard to make out the words, but that is also one of the endearing quirks. And compared to much of Be bop's prior releases, it is more "quirky" - "left of center".
"Superenegmatix" is a nod to early punk rock (which when this was released, punk WAS early), "Dangerous Stranger" is reminiscent of Nick Lowe, "New Mysteries" musically brings to my mind a futuristic, mechanical, marching army, and "Island of the Dead", is a morbid love ballad. There is a lot of ground that Be Bop Deluxe covers on Drastic Plastic. I have not heard the unreleased tracks yet, but the price of admission is well worth the listening experience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Vinyl, Drastic CD, July 29, 2009

By 

meatrobot (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drastic Plastic (Audio CD)

I bought this LP when it first came out in the late 70's. It's great, I'd rate it at 4 or 5 stars. But one thing that no one so far has commented on is the sound of the CD you get if you make this purchase, and that is important because after all this is a retail store. The LP had great production values with lots of sonic detail that made it an excellent LP to listen to on headphones. The CD reissued in 1990 in Holland, leased from EMI, that I bought new recently here at Amazon, is a different story altogether. The sound is muffled and muddy. Even the reproduction of the lyrics are blurry. No one listening to this CD would understand what I saw in the LP. I would recommend avoiding this particular CD reissue.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic - Fantastic, May 30, 2008

By 

NwappMX7 (VA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drastic Plastic (Audio CD)

On this, the last Be Bop Deluxe album, Bill Nelson decreed "let there be more synthesizers." And there were more synthesizers. And Bill Nelson saw that it was good, and made this album a New Wave album with less electric guitar than previous albums and released it unto the people.

Who promptly freaked out.

This is the accepted liturgy of most Be Bop Deluxe fans, but it isn't exactly the truth. Why? Well, first of all, this isn't a New Wave album. And the guitars aren't eliminated or even toned down that much. Let me elaborate. This really is not a pure "New Wave" disc as only about half the songs on here have a futuristic, New Wave sound. Yes, songs like "New Precision" and "Electrical Language" are synth-heavy New Wavers. But "Islands of the Dead" could have come off of Sunburst Finish. "Love in Flames" *sounds* New Wavey on first listen, but slow down the tempo and it sounds like it could have come right out of the 60s with that organ and distorted guitar carrying on the whole song. So it's just a Psychedelic song on speed. "Dangerous Stranger" sounds like it could have come out the *50s*.

Guitars are not diminished on this album, you just don't get the Bill Nelson Wankery(tm) of previous efforts. The guitars and the synthesizers here are for the most part balanced nicely (just listen to "Panic in the World"). "Dangerous Stranger" has hardly any synths, if any at all. I think this album is more varied than people give it credit for. The songs do not all sound the same, but the whole thing doesn't lose cohesion; in fact it holds together just fine. In fact, this just might be my personal favorite Be Bop Deluxe album.

One final thought: this album had a bigger impact on rock music than people give it credit for, too. Examples? Gary Numan was influenced by this band and I think this album in particular (in fact he got Bill Nelson to produce his 1983 album Warriors). Listen to the first four albums by the Cars. Imagine Bill Nelson singing instead of Ric Ocasek. 'Nuff said.