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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
'80s techno-pop lite, May 6, 1998
By A Customer
No guy or gal who spent 1985 hitting the video arcade for a game of "Dig Dug," decked out in suspenders and OP shorts, rubber bracelets and velcro sneaks, could forget Animotion's snarky Top 10 hit "Obsession," or its slightly salty come on ("Who do you want me to be, to make you sleep with me?").No doubt, the song is a classic of its kind, with its over-the-top electric percussion, flourishy axeplay, campy lyrics (with catchy chorus) and throbbing synth backbeat -- in short, a crystallization of all that was '80s pop. (And anyone who catched the video, which received heavy MTV airplay, got the extra bonus of seeing the moussed-and-eyeliner'd band prancing around a Hollywood mansion in chintzy, movie-extra costumes.) But for all those who thought that the L.A.-based group's catalog began and ended with that tweaked tune, here comes this "best-of" to remind you that, yes, you're right. This recently released disc collects cuts from the group's three albums (released between 1984 and 1989). With each record, Animotion's lineup changed considerably, with only one orignal member hanging in there for 1989's self-titled disc. But the sound, irritatingly, stayed the same, eroding a lot of the good will created by the appealingly (and darkly) kooky "Obsession" (included here in the original, long album version, which cranks up the choked guitar riffs toward the fade). The disc's skimpy liner notes (no loving fan's encomium here) reveal a core problem: As writers, the band's members were a shade under mediocre. The group's two biggest hits -- the other being a cover of Climie Fisher's "Room to Move," pasted on the "My Stepmother Is an Alien" soundtrack -- were penned by outsiders. While "I Engineer," from Animotion's second album, 1986's "Strange Behaviour," has some ear-tickling programming and echoes of the insinuating call-and-response format of their early hit, it ultimately suffers from being overextend! ed. None of this CD's other tracks warrant much mention, as their puppy-love sentiments and beep-whoosh-beep tempos blend together quite blandly; they could as well been anonymous cuts from a cut-rate '80s teenpic (We're talking "My Science Project" caliber.) The extended remixes are a nice bonus, but besides reminding us of the dearth of "just-OK" Animotions songs (the four 12-inches are, basically, filler), they don't add much to the originals. Even the best bet, the extended mix of "Obsession," plays UP the computer-programmed beats and DOWN the snazzy vocals, a big mistake. All in all, not a must-listen by any stretch. "Obsession" is widely available on various "Rock of the '80s" compilations, and that's all most people will need.
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