Customer Reviews

Italian X-Rays

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

 

 

A just found the CD copy online of this alblum, I have not heard the Italian X rays since I was very young.
It is not perfect,, But why dos it need to be its entertainment
its fun listening to the start of the new electronic sounds.

Songs like The Joker and Abacadabra is Steve Miller at his best. This one. Well. It`s certainly not his best effort. I`m not sure of this one at all. It sounds more like a technical experiment in what you can do with digital teqnique way back in 1984, and on this one remasterd and so called "up to date". Well. Let`s take a look at the bright side and forget the more or less crappy songs, and consentrate on the "good" ones. There are some belive it or not. Skip the first four tracks, and Track 5 Who do you love, shove`s some of the Steve Miller magic, the voice and the soundpicture, is ok on this one. Track 8 Bongo, bongo, has a certain charm with the bongo, bongo, rythm, and effects. Track 10 Golden Opportunity is anway a good rock & roller with lesser synth and more guitars, etc. Track 12 The Hollywood Dream is the best track, relaxable and moving, and shows much of the good old Steve Miller Band. Anyway. Not much abacadabra on this one, sorry to say.

"Italian X-Rays" is the album that marked the end of Steve Miller's run on rock radio in the mid-1980s. Miller had flirted with new wave music and synthesizers on his previous effort, "Abracadabra," and was perhaps mislead into believing he needed to stay ahead of musical trends. As a result, he turned his back on his strengths, namely his laid back, hook laden, middle-of-the-road guitar rock style. Also lacking Miller's previously displayed deft songwriting touch, "X-Rays" contains nary a song worth hearing. It is worth noting that during his recent concert tours, he avoids this material like the plague. Comparable to Neil Young's unfortunate mid-80s new wave mistake "Landing On Water," this one should be avoided at all costs.

Italian XRays (1984) was Steve's first album after his last big hit, Abracadabra (1982). It was also his first fully digital album. It came out at the dawn of Videos in the U.S.

Bongo Bongo was released as a video, but was unsuccessful (I saw it once on MTV). In fact, the entire album was a commercial flop. So much so, that he left all of the material in it out of his Box Set.

This album contains some great material - notably Shangri-La (an unsuccessful single - but with a timeless message until September 11th), Golden Opportunity (boy isn't that the truth), One in a Million (a great love song) and Hollywood Dream (an epic tale about a powerful woman who lacks one important thing). It has some great vocal "tonality" - Miller's hallmark in my view, and some outstanding electronic music effects. I think it's one of his greatest efforts, and it reflects his truthfulness to his aim. I highly recommend it. And, it's good for kids, too - mine love it.

Yes, this certainly is not Steve Miller's best work, but it is not that bad! It gets better after repeated listenings. Don't be put off by the negative reviews. Give it a chance and you too may be pleasantly surprised.

Steve Miller was never one to be stuck in one type of style forever. He had a certain blues-rock element he never abandoned and it's sure present here. But at the same time he was on the move to create something new and exciting musically. Taking a cue from the lighter (and not always 100% successful) use of electronics on the Abracadabra album Miller ups the ante here as he bases his music in electronic style compositions. Considering the trend of electronic new wave at the time he really gave it more than a go on this one and creatively it's actually one of his most satisfying recordings. One of the reasons for that is not just the quality of the songwriting,which as usual is excellent but the fact that his new sound and rhythmic elements run the gammut from techno-rock,electronica and even the Minneapolis sound. He's absorbing EVERY sub genre of electro pop of the time and some of the hybrids he ends up with will really surprise you. The title song along is great with it's rather warm and very fat harmonics and the clever wordly involved lyrically. "Shangri-La" really puts the bass the the strong funk element to work and the rhythms the drum machine comes out with are really fantastic. The most potent track here is "Bongo Bongo". It's sort of a simple rock n roll song but he approched the style here more from the point of view of Prince:using the drum machines and synth accents to accent the freewheeling funk-rock hyrid along with some mildly experimental synth warbles to color the bassline. "Daybreak","Out Of The Night" and the more uptempo "The Hollywood Dream" explore more conventional pop chords but all and all come out smelling like roses since they are presented with very good taste. And Miller,a guy who seemed to get mega hits and also march to beat of his own drummer (a quality virtually extinct these days) also throws in some more thoroughly electronic techno pieces such as the two part "Radio" and "Harmony Of The Spheres",both of which explore some elements of synth-psychedelia and the musical element of various radio sound effects that link the fuller songs up. There's a similarity here in a way to David Bowie's late 70's electro rock ventures with Brian Eno and all done up Steve Miller style. "One In A Million" more obviously explores the techno style in a pop context. There will be some who will wretch at the very thought of the heavy electronic flavor of this music and dismiss it. But truly those are merely the building blocks of what is possibly Steve Miller's most underrated album as well as one of his highest quality releases ever.

with this production and the more you listen to the tracks you get closer to this CD.
Use headphones, relax and listen.
You will like the clarity of the sound and the tracks 10 to 12 won't leave your head for a while

I didn't really care for this when it came out in the 80's - too little of Steve's guitar and WAY too much synthesizer as was typical of the times. Never to be one to follow trends, I think, based upon the success of its predecessor, this was a failed attempt to stay relevant. On listening to it now, it seems anachronistic and definitely stuck in the 80's.
I wish they'd release some of Steve's missing 70's catalog instead of this dreck.

While certainly not his best, this CD is not nearly as bad as the previous reviewers indicate. I have an import copy and the sound is great. While the synthesisers are bit overdone, it's a fun listen with some very catchy songs -- particularly "Who Do You Love," "Golden Opportunity," "Hollywood Dream" and "One in a Million." If you're a late '70s era Steve Miller fan, you should have this!

Italian X-Rays represents the lowest point - creatively and production-wise - to which Steve Miller ever sunk. It is awash in synthesizers, mostly written by the likes of Kenny Lee Lewis and Byron Allred (band members), and chock full o' cringe-worthy material. "Bongo Bongo" is probably the most inexplicably bad song on the album. Sample lyrics: "she likes it she likes it my baby she likes it my baby she likes to dance". What was he thinking? This album will leave you feeling bored and violated. To be fair, "One in a Million" - the last sing on the album - is a nice little acoustic ditty that is vaguely reminiscent of "Circle of Love". That's about the nicest thing I can say about the album, that and the album art/packaging was cool.