Customer Reviews

Good Stuff

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

 

 

"Good Stuff" is a great album that has been overshadowed by "Cosmic Thing." On its own, it is a solid, well-crafted album that deserved both wider play and a wider audience. "Cosmic Thing" is an amazing album, and when "Good Stuff" was released three years later, people were expecting more of the same. What they got was the B-52's exploring more new territory. No worries, there is plenty of fun and plenty to love on this album, but it is definitely NOT a follow-up to "Cosmic Thing." "Good Stuff" stands on it's own and deserves more respect than it received upon it's initial release.

Following the release of COSMIC THING in 1989,B-52's member Kate Pierson joined R.E.M. in the recording of ME IN HONEY and SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE from R.E.M.'s 1991 megahit album OUT OF TIME(I forgot to mention the latter song in the review for COSMIC THING). In 1992 came this album which sold far less than COSMIC THING. The B-52's were reduced from a quartet to a trio. Cindy Wilson quit the band after COSMIC THING. Fred Schneider's words,as usual,are spoken instead of sung. On the first track there's a bit of weirdness("tell it like it T-I is"). HOT PANTS EXPLOSION("at the factory") is awesome("they're getting so hot,we might have to take them off!")! The title track is also awesome. Pierson sings,"How about giving me some of that good stuff!". Schneider replies,"Here it is,here it is!". IS THAT YOU MO-DEAN is cool. To this day,I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. THE WORLD'S GREEN LAUGHTER is instrumental. Other cool tracks are BAD INFLUENCE,VISION OF A KISS and BREEZIN'. Not one song on this album gained as much attention as COSMIC THING'S LOVE SHACK. After this album,the band recorded MEET THE FLINTSTONES for the 1994 Universal film,THE FLINTSTONES which I like better than the version heard in the animated sitcom's opening and closing montages.

The short staffed B52s took big chances here and won me over. However, most of their fans did not consider this Good Stuff.

This album is rather uncharacteristic with very little of their simpler, bouncy music (i.e. "Rock Lobster".) The rhythms are more subdued but still danceable. The music is much more expansive, but I still find myself singing along. I think they retained the party atmosphere for most of the album. I guess it's a party with wine and cheese instead of pizza and beer.

Track by track:
1. Tell It Like It T-I-is: Sets the tone nicely like I mentioned above.
2. Hot Pants Explosion: Naughty fun!
3. Good Stuff: The vocal play comes out for both Fred Scneider and Kate Pierson.
4. Revolution Earth: More etheral, more Kate; if you can get past the obvious overdubbing, it's really nice.
5. Dreamland: My favorite B-52s song - probably because I am a Yes fan; very unlike anything they've done before, but Kate and Fred take their vocals to a whole new level (for Kate, that's going above the stratosphere;) absolutely beautiful!
6. Is That You Mo-Dean: Back to simpler fun about an alien abduction.
7. The World's Green Laughter: An instrumental... sort of; Kate injects the "laughter" with the vocal play that she does so wonderfully - it makes rainforests sound romantic.
8. Vision of a Kiss: To quote History of the World Pt.1, "Nice, nice, not thrilling, but nice."
9. Breezin': Again, a smooth nice feel, but nothing spectacular.
10. Bad Influence: One of those occasional political songs they do; in this case, about people being outcast just for being different.

So if you're expecting a great B-52s album, you may be disappointed. But if you're open-minded that these are very talented musicians willing to step out of their comfort zone, you'll probably love this one.

Maybe this album not quite the same as "Cosmic Thing" or "Wild Planet" or any of the other B-52's albums but, if you really listen to them each of their albums are rather differant to the other. The production here is, I feel, much better than that on "Cosmic Thing" and the album does really grows on you after repeated listenings. I bought it when it first came out and I was far from disappointed. For me Kate Pierson has always been my favorite member of the group and, with the temporary departure of Cindy Wilson from this album, Kate is given her chance to really shine. Her vocals on "Revolution Earth" are, excuse the pun, out of this world! She brings the song to life in all it's psychadelic glory. It could easily pass for a companion piece to 1989's "Roam" (both songs had the same writers). Kate is also given the chance to show just what she can do on "Vision Of A Kiss". She is not "flat" or "sugary sweet" as other reviewers have stated - she really lets loose and that is pretty much what the B-52's are all about - just let loose and have a great time (and this album will definately help you do it!)

While not as solid from start to finish as its immediate predecessor, "Cosmic Thing", "Good Stuff" is just that -- good stuff, at times even great stuff.

The best songs on here are the first three -- the album just explodes out of the gates (much like Smarty Jones did at the Belmont Stakes, only to fade at the very end). The first three songs are "Tell it Like it T-I-Is", "Hot Pants Explosion" (super fun and very catchy), and "Good Stuff".

The other two songs on here that are very fun are "Is that You Mo-Dean?" and "Bad Influence" (the last song on here and the one that arrests the slide quality-wise of the last half of the album).

I give this album 4 stars because these five songs are 5-star quality, while the remainder of the album is 3-star quality. Therefore, for a casual B-52s fan, this honestly is not a must-own. You could get a couple of the best songs from here on the B-52s Anthology along with some other classics. If you love the B-52s, though, you really ought to get this album to get all five very catchy songs I mentioned above.

It's been a long time since the B-52's (currently on the county fair circuit) have recorded, and it seems that this will be it. Kate Pierson has to carry the load here, and that's OK, as she really belts it out. There's only a little "good stuff" here, but it's exceptional.

The star of this show is "Revolution Earth", and Kate really hits a spot in your head that tingles, ranging from high notes to growls and singing with authority throughout. It's a great song, their best in my opinion, "fun" songs aside.

Parts of "Mo Dean" also resonant, and you can add "Green Laughter" and "Dreamland" to your playlist, they're pleasant enough.

So, while the group doesn't maintain the consistency of "Cosmic Thing" (which of their other albums did?), and Cindy is missed, "Revolution Earth" is worth every cent. A pity this group didn't fall into that groove earlier, and put the silliness behind them. Kate Pierson is a great vocalist, and there simply aren't enough solid songs that feature her talents; indeed, some of her best work was done in cameos.

It's too bad that Cindy Wilson was not along for the fun ride on this album. However, the B-52's once again proved resilient and able to produce a great album. They don't miss a beat on "Good Stuff."

To tell you the truth, "Good Stuff" isn't even the best song on here (not that it's a bad song, mind you). I loved the first track, "Tell it like it T-I-is" as well as their tribute song to that article of clothing that we just don't see enough of anymore, Hot Pants.

I was so enchanted by the first three songs that it carried me through the rest of the album, which all in all was quite entertaining.

I'm guessing it's because of Cindy's absence, but Fred seems to team up with Kate a lot more than usual with much of the vocals. I don't mind that one bit; he adds a quirky element that the B-52's could not do without.

It was difficult to follow up "Cosmic Thing." The B-52's could have taken a break on this album and blamed it on a lack of Cindy, but they didn't. They stuck to the program, and produced another fine disk. Bravo!

I'm by no means an expert on the musical career of the B-52's; Good Stuff is in fact the only B-52's album I own, but I think it's a great CD. The B-52's are nothing if not quirky, and this special characteristic is front and center on such tracks as Tell It Like It T-I-Is, the wonderfully fun, retro Hot Pants Explosion, and Is That You Mo-Dean? This album looked like it would make a big splash, as the single Good Stuff was quite popular upon its release; for some reason, though, the album just seemed to slip into oblivion after that. It's too bad because there are some surprisingly impressive tracks here: Revolution Earth, for example, is sort of a love song on a cosmic scale that has a soothing quality I can listen to again and again. Vision of a Kiss is another awesome song that I thought had the potential to be a big hit indeed.

There really is an element of the cosmic in B-52's music, one that soothes while it entertains, all the while communicating some serious messages (okay, not in every song, but definitely in some of them) that belie the group's fun-loving musical persona. The World's Green Laughter and Breezin' don't do much for me, but every other song on this album has a contagious quality that almost requires you to sing along and join the fun. Whenever I get this CD out, I end up listening to it over and over again for weeks on end, and it never fails to raise a smile even during the darkest of days. Maybe this isn't the group's best album, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun.

When the B-52's finally got their due on Cosmic Thing, it seemed like a final reward for the long struggling Georgia Party machine. They rode the success of "Love Shack" for a couple of years, but the grind was showing when the follow-up arrived. Cindy Wilson left the band, dropping them to a three piece, and leaving Fred Schneider to carry more than his usual share of vocals. Since one of the main appeals to the B-52's was the chemistry between Cindy and Kate Pierson, this is a loss. It leaves "Good Stuff" as a decent B's album, but not a classic.

What you need to know is that a half a B-52's album is still a heck of a lot of fun. Fred brays in his usual party bark and makes the title track a classic when he mixes it up with Cindy, while "Is That You Mo-Dean?" is yet another stab at UFO's as party-tune fodder. Both "Bad Influence" and "Tell It Like it T-i-is" are the kind of message songs only the B-52's could pull off. Ignore the obvious, average songs like "Hot Pants Explosion" or the instrumentals, and you'll be OK. As B-52's albums go, "Good Stuff" is on a par with Whammy! or a lesser version of 2008's Funplex. Download the hits and you'll be fine.

Simply amazing, wonderful crafted, lot of great songs, terrific interpretations, surprising harmonies, melodies & rhythms, echoing balcanic music, indian mantras, arabic singing, in funky sauce Talking Heads rememberings', and Kate Pierson with his wonderful voice & shimmering way of singing.