Customer Reviews

Pretty & Twisted

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While listening to this album after I decided to review it (simply for the sake of writing), I decided it's much better than I previously gave it credit for. That's mainly because I was totally knocked out by the first 2 tracks and always wanted to hear those.

"The Highs Are Too High" ("and the lows are way too low") has a dark, filmnoir-ish vibe. It's got plenty of Marc Mooreland's feedback-laden guitar turns which add much to the atmosphere - the man can make some noise! He does so on nearly every song, too. The title of this song is actually a good description of the album which has enough highs and lows for a roller-coaster.

The downer songs ("Souvenir," "Train Song," "Don't Take Me Down" - great guitar on that last one) are good but it helps to be in the mood for 'em. I don't care for "Ride!" or "Stranger," but "No Daddy No" and "Dear Marlon Brando" are downright embarrassing. Attn. Marlon Brando fanclub: "Dear Marlon Brando" should be your official theme song. The music's not bad, really, it's just . . . so gushing.

My other favorite is their version of Roxy Music's "Mother of Pearl" which actually eclipses the original. Mooreland's noisy, jangly guitar combined with Johnette Napolitano's rumbling bass are exquisite. That and other touches such as orchestral bells really take this one to high places.

The rest of the songs are very good. In particular, P&T add some great music to a poem by Charles Bukowski - "Singing is Fire" - and Johnette adds a scorching, heartfelt vocal to these passionate, naked words. She also makes a song out of Janis Joplin's poem "Come Away With Me." This one really soars - hangliding must feel like this.

Previously I would have given this album 3 stars, but the good songs are great enough to elevate the rating.

It's a shame that Pretty & Twisted is out of print now - after ten years, the album, while never as good as any of the preceding Concrete Blonde albums Naplitano made, is smart, fun, occasionally moving, occasionally thudding, but always ripe with ideas and intrigue. Pretty & Twisted were a sort of bongos-and-synthesizer take on the more bluesy Concrete Blonde, but that never stops Napolitano's always-magnificent voice from being fully invested in the project, and filling it with enough CB-esque tropes to not be too surprising (there's even a requisite Roxy Music cover - a great one). "Dear Marlon Brando," obsequious as it is, is a charming pop lullaby of great finesse, "The Highs are Too High" gives such good atmosphere it wound up being used on a Sopranos episode, and "Watching the Water" is such a moving ballad, even the synthesizers that wreak of the early 90's can't keep it from connecting. Pound for pound, Pretty & Twisted is a bit scattershot, but still stronger than the renewed Concrete Blonde effort Group Therapy, and it's occasionally so full of great songs, it deserves a full scale reissue.

This was the new group from former Concrete Blonde singer Johnette Napolitano in 1995. It came out the same year as her Vowel Movement collaboration, which is much more raw, punk almost. Both bands turned out to be a one-time thing. I often think of this as the great lost Concrete Blonde album, it's that good. This does contain a Roxy Music cover, and a song with Paul Westerberg. Johnette does her typical great job, and the music is mostly good, a few tracks real moving. Though this and VM are out of print, I would definitely check it out if your a fan of CB, and found it used somewhere.

One of Johnette Napolitano's mid-nineties side projects...Beautifully composed. Leather-stricken, gutsy, gritty, and forceful, this effort is ace. This is a must have for concrete blonde fans. However this album is solid enough to stand on its own. It's terrain is textured very differently than a blonde album. Johnette vocals are precise and conversely agonizing and mythic.

Unfortunately, this cd is out of print. But I highly suggest combing your local used record store for this or buying it here on amazon.

Surprising that more Wall of Voodoo fans aren't familiar with this album, given some great Marc Moreland guitar work. Not every song on this album is a knockout, but a couple of them, "Souvenir" in particular, are really, really powerful, with Moreland doing some fine work on what is probably the most memorable song here. There's definitely a JN spin on this album, but Moreland added a lot of depth to it and it's a shame they didn't do more work together before his untimely death a few years back. It's definitely worth tracking down.

Johnette writes masterpieces, but she can also put out some mediocre stuff on ocassion. I count 6 good songs and 7 mediocre songs on this album. It's her standard sound/formula, but many tracks just don't quite make it. It your not a fan, pass this one up. If you are a big fan of Johnette, then I would say yes it is definately worth having in your collection. There are some good songs here.

Came upon this album recently and I am sad to find it slipped through the cracks. An under-rated masterwork by Johnette Napolitano and Marc Moreland. What Concrete Blonde could have veered into, but slipped off of in Mexican Moon. Dark landscapes and humor tinged music thruout. The inspired Janis Joplin lyric driven and haunting music can't help but sway and move you. The Stranger takes you for a ride. Billy the queen gives us shades of Johnettes time in Hollywood. Ride mesmerizes. Pretty and Twisted is an apropos title. Just wish tragedy hadn't befallen this experimental group and had it soar more.

I had never bought a CD because of its cover, until Pretty & Twisted. The bruised ballerina was certainly an eye catcher. Then the back cover with her laying dead below a very tall man's gun. Attention getting! After readhing Marc Morland's name (Wall of Voodoo), I had to buy it.

Unlike some other reviews here, I'm not a big Concrete Blonde fan. Yet I really enjoyed P&T's cover of Roxy Music's Mother Of Pearl. I hadn't heard the Roxy Music version before I heard P&T's version. I later heard Roxy Music, and was quite disappointed. P&T does a MUCH better version.

Souvenir is also great. "Can I have a Souvenir, so I can prove that I was here". Sort of reminds me why I'm not into collecting celebrity autographs - I don't really need proof that I was there. It's also fun to hear Johnette reach for notes during the crescendo that she can't _quite_ get. But the reach sort of fits the sentiment of the song.

These two songs alone are enough to give this album a 4 star rating.

I'm distressed to have read of Marc Morland's demise in another post here. RIP. Though I hope that Johnette can find a way to further celebrate the sound of this album in the future.

Now that Barack Obama has nominated Arizona governor Janet Napolitano to be his secretary of homeland security, I will be constantly reminded of her homonym-named (redundant?) Johnette Napolitano. I hope this will be enough to get a reissue and some new fans, who may come to think that our secretary of homeland security used to be a ballerina. :-) Pretty & Twisted indeed!

Marc Moreland is a true animal on guitar, showing off his talent constantly. This is one album you do NOT want to miss out on.

This was a surprise to me as I'd not heard of it until recently but found it as I was checking through Amazon's inventory for Johnette Napolitano. When the CD arrived, I thought it was slow and kind of boring, but I'm one to give music more than one quick listening before making a final judgment, and I'm definitely glad I gave this CD a second chance. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. Johnette and the 3 (I believe 3 main) musicians who comprised this band are all A #1 and work very, very well together. The music is moody, contains beautiful, subtle contexts and is a total pleasure to listen to. No bad tracks at all!