Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Stuff, March 5, 2000
When my spirits are low, this is one of the albums I reach for - cheerful, upbeat and brimming with joy and optimism, but without becoming saccharine...not that I have to be depressed to enjoy a listen. There is a bit less emphasis on synthesizers on this album than on "Rhythm Of Youth" and "Folk Of The 80's", and the production is much much cleaner - excellent, in fact. This is MWH at their best. There are no weak tracks (not counting the minute long interludes). "O Sole Mio," "In The Name Of Angels" and "Jenny Wore Black" are superb songs in the same mold as the title track, "Moonbeam" and "Walk On Water" are faster songs, and "On Tuesday," "Lose My Way" and "The End (Of The World)" are mellower, more lush tracks. Add them all up and you have an extremely solid and consistently enjoyable album, which really deserved more attention than it got. For cheerfulness, it is only topped by Book Of Love's "Candy Carol" (which admittedly can be a bit cloying at times), but for craftmanship and sheer enjoyment there are few albums that can come close to this one. It's easily worth the high import price. Whether you like 80's music or just brilliant, upbeat pop, "Pop Goes The World" is a must-have.
|
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic, January 7, 2002
This album is the test of whether, deep down inside, you're a cynic. There's an earnestness, a sincerity, and a thrilling honesty to the songs here. The title track is a quiet little classic, but there are many things here far better than the follow-up "Moonbeam" single. "On Tuesday" is a beautiful song by any measure, with delightfully lyrical flute work by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, and "In the Name of Angels" should very well make your hair stand on end and make you think about all the time you've been wasting in life as you leap into action. It may sound odd but this band is kind of like the "Peanuts" comic strip set to a dance beat--kind at heart, gentle, fun-loving, and intent on saying something real, damn the fashions of the day. As you might guess from the cover, being a child at heart is a good qualification for appreciating this album--but it also offers dreams for the grown mind.
|
|
|
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Like., September 14, 2000
Men Without Hats were not one hit wonders as many people might think. They had another hit, "Pop Goes The World" in early 1988. I have all four, full length albums from Men Without Hats: Rhythm Of Youth (1983), Pop Goes The World (1987), In The 21st Century (1989) and Sideways (1991). "Pop Goes The World" is their most cohesive and consistent effort. They were an usual band with unusual ideas for synth-pop music that might have frightened the average 80's keyboard band. Their strengths show on this album with tracks like "Pop Goes The World", "On Tuesday", "O Sole Mio", "Lose My Way", "The Real World", "Moonbeam", "In The Name Of Angels", "Jenny Wore Black", "Walk On Water" and "The End Of The World". Not your average 80's fare, Men Without Hats were a head above many other now forgotten bands. I've noticed that "Safety Dance" is a staple of many radio stations' 80's hour. It's comforting to know that people still enjoy a song I grew up with in a day and age where originality seems to be sacrificed for bland teen pop.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Men Without Hats
~ Men Without Hats
~ Men Without Hats
~ Bangles
is Men Without Hats' 
