Customer Reviews

Here Come the Drums

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hottest album ever....

A no-filler album! Every song has a distinct personality as well as bubbly, vivacious vocals done by Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

Features samples of 'My Sharona' and 'Turn It Up' (by Elvis Costello).

Hottest album of 2005!

Every Aussie obviously knows Isabelle Hoyland, Australia's most evil stepmother and the most wicked lady on Ramsay Street? Neighbours is one of the most famout Australian soaps and has made it's way all over the world. Isabelle Hoyland is played by Natalie Bassignwathe, the lead singer of rogye traders. The band has great, catchy music music that everyone will enjoy. My favourite songs are The Drums and Voodo Child. I look forward to any new songs made by this Aussie rock-band.

I put this CD on at work out of sheer curiosity. I enjoyed the music on this CD and I think a wide variety of music lovers will enjoy it.
The music of the Rogue Traders has a conscious "1980s feel" and vocals from the young lady who sings are very agreeable, rhythmic and spirited.

The song "Voodoo Child" is quite catchy and it would make a good single. However, almost all the songs appealed to me.

Along with Alison Goldfrapp's most recent CD, the Rogue Traders have impressed me more than any other pop group this year. I don't really normally like or listen to pop music, but I genuinely enjoyed "Here Come The Drums" (and Goldfrapp's latest album).

The Rogue Traders are an Australian ensemble and I hope they continue to make enjoyable and energetic music.

I decided to buy this album after "In love again" started getting frequent radio airplay here recently...which made buying the album 'do-able' as I've heard other songs from this album in the past and didn't mind them.

Having heard that a limited edition 2cd version of this album was available in Australia for around $13 odd Australian dollars [new], I hung out until I managed to hook this compilation for that price.

Anyway, the 'obvious' songs to like on this are:

Voodoo Child/Watching You/We're Coming Home/ and In Love Again

Each song above has either had radio airplay or been used in commercials, so you know they have been popular, at least here in Australia.

Many of the songs on this album-how shall I phrase this?-pay 'homage' to other well known songs, to my ears at least.

E.g. the thumping beat of Voodoo Child has a keyboard riff reminiscent, to me at least, of Elvis Costello's song "Pump it up". It has a hook of its own in the male [I think] voice which chimes in with the very sing-along-able "weeeee ooooooh". Having recently heard Huey Lewis and The News song "Do you believe in love?" I can see that the Rogue Traders have taken those 'words' above, and sung it differently.

Or "Watching You", which has the riff from the classic The Knack song "My Sharona". It even lyrically gives a nod to The Knack's song.

And, lastly, "In Love Again". This song features the chant from the absolute UK pop classic by Tears For Fears "Head over heels" [i.e. the "la la la la la" bit from that song] but sung by the Rogue Traders female lead vocalist. Natalie bring a delightful hook of her own into this song...her girly, silky smooth vocals to the verses, which are very nice indeed. Also, there is a terrific, delicate guitar intro to this song, which I don't seem to hear when I hear this song on the radio. Another great hook for the song.

As I've stated, "In love again" made buying this album do-able. But without "Coming Home" on this album, I doubt I would have taken the plunge. This song doesn't seem to have any obvious nods or winks to other songs. It's perhaps the best song on this album. I didn't even know that it was by this group until recentlyish.

This album has a Beatle-esque track on it...the VERY short "Change the channel". It's about 30 seconds of a radio dial being shuffled between various radio stations. I liked it.

"Fashion" has a keyboard/guitar riff which reminded me of The Kinks "All day and all of the night".

Some other notes I made on this album were:

"Believer" has a heavy guitar rhythym.

"Way to go" has a punk rock type guitar sound.

"World go round" has an alright guitar riff to it and a 'dirty' guitar sound and synthesiser beat.

"Rescue me" has a more delicate pop sound to it but a pretty big beat sound.

"White lightning" has a jarring synthesiser sound to it.

"Casting aside" has a nice, accoustic guitar sound to it and is the only song with the main vocals being sung by a man.

As for the second cd, I really CANNOT recommend it. It has a really alienating sound to it-not at all like the catchy pop/rock/dance of the first cd. I'm not sure who would like the second cd remixes of songs from the first cd...people into "Techno" perhaps? That's not my scene, so I can't really comment on how you would define or label the second cd's genre.

The second last remix is probably the worst-each of the songs on the second cd are at least six minutes long, and the second last song makes you aware of how long it is. It's really boring to listen to. None of the second cd's songs are as good as, or in the same league as the regular versions of these songs. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I used to LIKE re-mixes of songs that I liked, from the 1980's especially. For lovers of techno, only, I suspect.

P.S. other Australian acts I've reviewed at this site are:

INXS

Midnight Oil

The Vines

Johnny O'Keefe

Alex Lloyd

Skyhooks

John Farnham

The Saints

I was first exposed to Rogue Traders with their song Voodoo Child, featured in the episode of Doctor Who "The Sound of Drums", originally aired in the UK on 6-23-2007. As a long time fan of electronic rock, it was a pleasant surprise to hear a band of this style. If you were a big fan of euro-alternative in the 90s, I highly recommend this album.

I ran into this group on my travels around the world. It's too bad, we here in the states have such little variety to our choice of popular music. We have the pop acts, and the bands who have been cranking out the same balad for at least the past ten years. This album has gone to the gym with me for at least the past 3 months. We're talking 5 times a week, 2 hours a day. I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Plus, when I have it on and have company. Everyone asks about them, cause they are awesome, fun, and have enough variety to keep you interested. Musically, you have electro beats, with perfect rock guitar rifts. With a surprise track being "In Love Again" It's differnt and the reason I bought the album. It was simple, it was cool, it is pop. Bottom line: Electro Pop perfection.

Very Sexy, My Sharona riff copied, but very fun to listen to.

Great tunes, great vocals, liked it a lot, may get other cd's by this group

This band has a fun sound. There are good songs and not so good songs on this album, but over all, I like it.

I am simply astonished this music is not released in America. This is a great pop/rock album with loads of hooks and catchy songs. I discovered the band by accident and shelled out extra for the import. Anytime I'm playing it, people ask me who the band is. When I tell them, they always say they'll run out and buy a copy.

BUT THEY CAN'T. At least not easily here in the States. They're new album is out and, as I understand it, doing very well elsewhere. What's it gonna take to get a USA release?