Customer Reviews

Islands

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

 

 

When this album was released Stateside two decades ago, it was titled Extra Play and the "googoo" part of the band's name was dropped as well as vocalist Limahl. Nick Beggs took over on lead vocals and the band quickly adopted a more mature contemporary jazz sound. This album has very little in common with the new wave-isms of White Feathers, but the pop and jazz are prevalent enough from that album to leave little doubt as to who you're listening to.

Don't kid yourself for one moment; Kajagoogoo was and is more talented than they were given credit for, and if this album doesn't win you over, nothing about them will. Nick's Christian lyrics pop up more than once in songs like the brass embellished "Lion's Mouth" and the funky meditation of "The Power to Forgive."

The album is apparently one huge jam session that turned into something really great for them on a creative level as they all collaborated together on every track, and Nick has written some of his finest songs yet. My personal favorites:
--"Melting the Ice Away," a lovely song that boasts great basslines and the lovely vocal addition of Miss Annie McCaig.
--The funky angst of "Turn Your Back on Me."
--"On a Plane," which has one of the most clever jazz fusion structures I've had the pleasure to hear in a pop song and also features great saxes and flute by Phil Todd and Chris Hunter.
--"The Loop" is a spirited, driving instrumental that works on all cylinders and features a great trumpet solo by Guy Barker.
All the bonus tracks, unlike on White Feathers, are worth listening to, especially "Monochrome," which is truly the only new wave track on the disc, and instrumental "The Garden," which features some great acoustic guitar by Steve Askew and a gorgeous, snakey flute by Phil Todd (?).

I wish more people knew about this Kajagoogoo album and just how exceptionally good it is. Since the tracks can't be sampled here, I suggest going to the band's official website to get a listen. If you like what you hear, hopefully you will order it. A few more plays and you may even become addicted. It's been 21 years, and I still love it now as much as back then.

This album never really caught on in the US, but it is still really good. This is Kajagoogoo after lead singer Limahl left. A nice collection of catchy,well-crafted, new-wave pop songs. Nice that it was re-released on CD after 20 years. Still a great listen.

Limahl was given his cards at the end of 1983 because of conflicts with the others and lack of credibility in the press. Nick Beggs took lead and moved the band toward a jazz fusion slant ("On a Plane". "Big Apple" was the only hit in the UK since the girls missed Limahl. "Turn Your Back on Me", which was on a Greenpeace video, topped the dance charts Stateside. Overall, the album didn't do as well as the last. The band name was shortened to Kaja and they were given a makeover by the time "Islands" was released in North America as "Extra Play" to no avail. This was a textbook case of sophomore slump, you can see. The tour had Beggs hand free to keep the old pattern and a session took over bass. Drummer Jez Strode quit after that and only played again on the Vh1 reunion.
This may be an import, according to Caroline, part of the EMI family. Either way, it's still worth it.

while there are a couple of tracks I skip over, the tracks I love rank as some of my favorite songs I've ever heard. "lion's mouth" always gives me goosebumps, it is a striking piece of synth funk, period. on a plane is too cool, there are some stellar tracks on this one as well, as I said before, if you get all three cds (white feathers, islands, crazy people's right to speak) and listen to them, while there may be tracks you jump over, the LEVEL OF TOP NOTCH SONGS IS MINDBLOWING! each album has many more winners than losers, and the songs you like on it, just blow you away. I can't think of many bands, especially a sound as tough as new wave to do well often, that I can say this about. They are a talented lot to be sure.

This album was nowhere near as good as Kajagoogoo's "White Feathers", and I didn't care for the religious overtones of some of the songs. There were also no comparable megahits like White Feather's "Too Shy" on this album, so imo it's not a must-have CD.