Customer Reviews

Platinum Girl: Tribute to Blondie

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

 

 

I was a big Blondie fan in the '80's, but bought this cd just to hear Tiffany sing Call Me. She was her usual awesome self, and was very faithful to the original. In any tribute album, many artists are going to improvise, sometimes for the better, sometimes worse. A few of these--The Tide is High, Sunday Girl, Dreaming--I felt were ruined. But there were several pleasant surprises. To me, Ex-Voto actually improved Accidents Never Happen, speeding it up a bit and going heavy on the drums. I prefer the female voice, but the male voices fit this song. Great job. I 'discovered' Cherie Currie on this CD. She sang For Your Eyes only and has an excellent voice. I also liked the Electric Hellfire Club's Rush Rush quite a bit. Mephisto Waltz did a good job with Hangin' on the Telephone; as did the Swing Cats w/ Christi Ellen Harris with I'm Gonna Love You Too.

I have to agree with most people that the other 'Blondie Tribute' albums ("How Many Bands Does It Take to Screw up a Blondie Tribute" and the one with the Blondie postage stamp on the cover) sound like the same band doing all the songs. THIS ONE HOWEVER, has some interesting twists and turns on how the songs sound. I like the fact that they didn't just try to make the same version a la 'Blondie'. NO!, they did something different to the songs. "Shayla" was made upbeat. "For Your Eyes Only" was made downbeat. Both "Raptures" have an interesting twist. "Accidents Never Happen" is done a la 'Human League' with a guy and a girl vocal from that 80's sound. Then you also have your hard metal/electroclash renditions as well. "Sunday Girl" is dark and gothic. The only 'wart' on this album is Tiffinay's version of "Call Me". She sounds like she recorded it in the mall.

Not knowing what to expect from this tribute album, I was very pleasantly surprised!! This music is awesome - some very interesting twists on some incredible to start with music. I have been a fan for the past 20+ years and grew up listening to all these songs......it's really nice to hear different twists on them. (No offense Blondie!) These woman also have some incredible voices. I say buy this CD, you will not be sorry, you willl be pleasantly surprised and will sing along loudly, for sure!!

The problem with tribute albums arranged by a record label, is that too many of the artists aren't original fans and miss the point of the band and their songs. Thankfully there are not too many of those on here. The biggest offenders are two dire versions of Rapture, one of which removes half the rap, the other of which doesn't bother at all! And both are so slow they are painful to listen to. Sunday Girl and Dreaming also fail to capture any of the joy of the originals but most of the rest are better than expected - The Tide is High has been revved up, and seems to take more inspiration from the Remixed Remade Remodeled version than the original. The energetic versions of Call Me and Accidents Never Happen are excellent takes on the original. Rush Rush is a strange inclusion, but is great song done very well - the heavier, slightly sleazy electric guitar feel suits the song's drug theme well. Best track, though, is one that seems to deliberately and knowledgeably miss the point of the original - Berlin's Shayla. While the original was dreamlike and ethereal, this version is loud and in your face - it even has a rap. But it works - unlike the dumb Rapture takes, Berlin's reinterpretation retains enough of the original essense while making it their own song.

As a major Blondie fan, I was wary of this release. But I've been pleasantly surprised - it's actually pretty enjoyable.

I do like some of Cleopatra's covers compilations, and I am a major Blondie fan, but I think this compilation has more mediocre than great covers. Too many of the covers are too similar to the original, and I just hate it when people change the words when covering a song (Mephisto Walz' "Hanging on the Telephone"). By the way, "I'm Gonna Love You Too" is not even a Blondie original! I did like the "Dreaming" cover, but there is a better "Dreaming" cover out there. I'd buy the Blondie originals or another Cleopatra compilation over this one. For example, "New Wave Goes to Hell".