Customer Reviews

Electric Honey

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Markedly different from Natural Ingredients and Fever In Fever Out, this album has a much more polished, rock-and-roll feel to it. Maybe it has something to do with their losing their keyboardist, maybe it has something to do with hanging out with Deborah Harry, but this CD definitely has a bit of a throw back to the days of Blondie-type "I'm gonna rock clean and fast and if you don't like it, ... off" rock-and-roll.

The surprising aspect, having said that, is that "Electric Honey" is unmistakably LJ. The word "eclectic" still springs foremost to mind after listening to it. The wide range of sweet-and-gritty (but mostly sweet) vocals still make my hair stand on end. The great lyrics, hooks, grooves, and harmonies all combine to make music that couldn't be mistaken for any other band.

I read an interview with Jill Cunniff where she said that the title "Electric Honey" didn't really mean anything, they just kind of liked it. I humbly disagree -- after listening to this CD, the title "Electric Honey" is not just kind of nice -- it's almost as though it couldn't have been called anything else. It's Electric, it's Honey, it's classic LJ.

Now all we need is a reunion of the band...

I loved first one, Natural Ingredients. The pure and fresh ideas and naive, simple songs sounded great. Then came FIFO, their second album, with gloomier sounds. The third one is great: it combines dance rhytms, pop-rock melodies, satyrical verses and is their richest album, considering production and diversity of songs, (sung by two singers) but still has sincerity of their first album. It helped me during some personal crisis so it's great for relaxation and tranquilisation, too :)

1999's Electric Honey is the last effort (so far) of a super talented, under promoted band, and is their best. I don't know if the departure of keyboardist Vivian Trimble after the previous album was the beginning of the end, but if anything the musical quality is even better on this one! Trying to name standout songs is difficult because they are great all the way through. Also, even with its consistently sophisticated, sexy sound, it's truly right for "all ages." There's nothing you would be embarrassed playing for your mom or young child. In fact it's on high rotation now on my iPod as the favorite (anti-crying remedy) of my 1-month old daughter!

If you visit the MySpace pages of Jill Cunniff, Gabby Glaser, and Kate Schellenbach, it looks like these talented women are working on a Luscious Jackson revival. Apparently there's going to be new material in the next couple of years. I for one will be looking out for a repeat performance of this outstanding record!

So rarely are bands willing to just make fun, dancable records any more that it gets downright depressing to see the few records that ARE like that get overlooked and panned by the critics. This album is one of the most pleasant listening experiences I've had all year. This is purely a good dance record, nothing more, nothing less. It gets a little long in some parts, but there are more party songs on this disc than any dull alternative one hit wonders have come up with in the last year. Do yourself a favor and just HAVE FUN AND LISTEN because this is the stuff that people are always complaining that no one makes anymore.

This one spends a lot of time in all of my CD players. I have purchased two copies so far, because, the first wore out from excessive use; it had many scratches. Now that I have a new one, I listen to it over and over again also, but I am much more careful with it. It is a prized possesion in my music collection. From the funky-boom-boom beats of "Nervous Breakthrough," to the slower "Beloved," this album is..."Fantastic Fabulous." If you've heard "Ladyfingers" and think it's good, the rest of the album is superb. It's a party mix of dancing, rocking, and the like. It's a great blend of rock-pop-dance-techno-etc, etc. 'Honey' has been called the party album of the year, and it is. A great album for New Years Eve. By the way, make sure you have ALL of their albums!!! *****

If there was one thing that made LJ stand out that must have been the fact that their music always had a personallity and a shiny feeling of female confidence . Having been always deeply appreciated by critics , the four NewYorkers managed to quickly gain an important audience which followed them everywhere they went . Their last effort though , although it seemed to include all the right elements to become a hit, it wasn't heard as much as excpected so the band finally broke up in the middle of 2000.

The first thing that someone can realize by listening to Electric Honey is a difference in their sound in comparison with "Fever In Fever Out" . Here the songs are more uplifting and the whole record has a cool feeling that wins you over almost immediately. " Nervous Breakthrough" sounds like it's coming out of a beach party while "Devotion" is 100% pure funk magic . There's also "Friends", a honest and genuin hymn to friendship and ofcourse "Ladyfingers" with it's beautiful "...I've got heart" hook . While Cunnif's songs have a more open and melodic character , Glaser's songs stand out for their gutsy , straight-in-your-face sexuallity. There are some medium tracks in Electric Honey but overall it's a sultry yet not brainless album with all the groove spirit one could ask for.

From top to bottom, Electric Honey is essential Luscious...You have your danceable songs, your message songs, and your bass bumping songs... Favorite Tracks of mine are Christine, in which the guitar haunts you; Sexy Hypnotist, which puts you in Las Vegas; and Devotion, which is like a good wave; and Alien Lover, which has the bass line I have heard in a long time...enjoy this one and all the other albums...you won't be disappointed.

Luscious Jackson may be well considered the sweetest version of the beastie boys as versatile as innovative as the beasties are, Luscious Jackson delivers funny, sweet and experimental music, very 90s, very alternative, very entertaining, in "Electric Honey" sadly their last release the Jacksons became a trio after the departure of the gorgeous keyboardist they had, this didnt affected sustancialy and "Electric Honey" is perhaps their best release, check out "Lady Fingers" , "sexy hipnotist", and my favorite "Devotion"

HM

This is a great CD, I bought it essentially because I love Luscious Jackson's previous efforts. However I must admit that I find this CD to be the weakest of the efforts so far. There are a lot of great sounds on here and a lot of great music, but a lot of it seems to blend together and the individual songs don't have the same variety and signature sounds that the previous CDs did.

That being said I still love this album. It has a great hard driving feel to it and a nice mixture of different origins, from alternative to hip hop. I loved to pop this CD in while I'm writing code at school, it just seems to fit so well and helps me to write faster too I think.

I think my favorite track on this CD is "Ladyfingers" which you probably have heard on the radio, it's a great dance tune. "Nervous Breakthrough" is another great track, it has a really bumping beat that just seems to jump and grind all over the place. "Beloved" slows the CD quite a bit but is still very good. "Fantastic Fabulous" makes use of Deborah Harry in a great role and the song is pretty good overall. "Alien Lover" has a great bass sound to it, and despite its almost corniness I like "Friends" as well.

If you like this CD you should most definitely check out Luscious' previous two works, Natural Ingredients and Fever In Fever Out I think both are superior to this one and Fever In Fever Out is probably the best.

Overall this is still a really bumping and jumping disc and I recommend it to anyone who likes to dance.

Electric Honey is great. If you like Luscious Jackson, check out the Kostars, which is actually 2 members of Luscious Jackson. Its a great album too.