Customer Reviews

Speed Ballads

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, like the title above says, the music is alive, and a lot more rock than their last masterpiece.
SpeedBallads is in a way, almost as good as the Band Garbage, if not equal. There is one song that stands out among the others on the cd. It is Luxury Cage. I think this song is the best song of all, and it seemed to draw me into the album since playing SpeedBallads.

The former group's lead singer has this stunning voice, rich with the British accent and all. I am disappointed in the fact that the band split, but it doesn't stop me from liking their great music. The front cover of the cd is nice, but what is the singer's name? I can't find her name anywhere! Isn't that funny?
Both albums don't state the band members' full names.

SpeedBallads is my new toy for a while, like all great music cds.
I have played Luxury cage so many times, that I think the neighbors are fed up of it, that's how good the song is!
I never knew any song which had the lyrics "future you, future me" in it.

When I first heard Republica, I thought of the band as rebellious and cheap, but now I think of the material they made on their cds satisfyingly entertaining. I strongly urge you to buy SpeedBallads. I don't think you will be disappointed. Hope my review helped.

I'd like to thank Amazon for bringing this CD to the US as an affordable import item. It boggles my mind that this CD was never released in the US. I was always disappointed that I couldn't snag the actual CD for a decent price. Now Amazon has hooked me up, and I couldn't be happier!

If you dug the first Republica CD, you will get into this one as well. Granted, on the first listen you will still have the baggage from the first CD and your snap reaction will be that 'Speed Ballads' isn't quite as good. *NOT* so. Repeat spins reveal that every song is absolutely infectious. 'Fading of the Man', 'From Rush Hour', 'Luxury Cage' - I love *every* song on this CD.

Ok, can anyone name another Republica song that isn't "Ready To Go"? Didn't think so and it's a damn shame. Therefore I DEMAND you pick up this album and play it religiously because it's just THAT GOOD. lead singer Saffron's voice bends and twists every word in every song. The music is electric, pulsating, and lots of guitar happy fun. The lyrics are stellar. STELLAR! Honestly, it baffles my mind that no one on this side of the pond really caught on to them. Songs to spin are "Try Everything", a suprisingly well done ballad, "Pretty Girl Hate" about petty jealousy, "From Rush Hour With Love" and "Faster, Faster" about te urges to slow down... Seriously, this is one of the best cd's by one of the best bands you've never heard. Pick it up along with their debut self titles disc and get enlightened.

You can't really say that Republica is the best band you've never heard, because "Ready To Go" is one of those songs that everyone knows but can't name the performer. Rather, Republica is possibly the best band that the American mainstream flirted with but backed away from.

Their first album was wall-to-wall bombast, sort of a cross between Back to the Heavyweight and Blondie. This one slows down the tempo and slightly de-technofies the sound, but keeps every bit of crunchy huge-ness from the debut. At first blush, it doesn't even sound like the same band; their rock leanings come through more clearly than before. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing. It kind of sounds like Garbage turned up to eleven like the Spinal Tap amps.

Saffron's lyrics are interesting if not particularly insightful. A strong theme in her songs is the middle class-dweller who wants to be more, the desk worker who hits the club on the weekend and pretends to be a heavy hitter. Her singing isn't going to win any Grammys, but the emotion and power she puts into her voice captivates.

The drums and guitar work are stellar; play this on as good a stereo as you can find. This'll be in heavy rotation in my car once the upper midwest winter is vanquished and my sunroof and windows open.

This album takes a while to get you into. The difference from the first album is that now the studio work was been taken to the limit, with much more sound layers, details and applied technology. The songs are not as fast as the first CD - hence the name "ballads" - however if you love techno-rock you have to buy this album! With Republica and Garbage, the music of the future is available today.

All I have to say is Republica rocks! There my favorite band by far.

Fast and fun pop-rock, a more ballad oriented set than the debut album, but still plenty of electronica influence. From Rush Hour with Love, Try Everything, Luxury Cage and Kung Fu Movies are standout tracks. Saffron is the only singer whose lyrics reference Mortal Kombat 2, Haggen-Das and early Cure all in one song and make it work perfectly. Good Stuff.

Ok...I know it is about 10 years late, but for this last decade+, Republica's self titled first release has been my absolute favorite CD. It still is, loved every song, and their style at the time was great. You could dance, rock out or just chill to the music. Been hoping to catch this release that never made it to the States for some time. Finally caught a good deal on it here on Amazon.

Listening to it right now.....as it ripped into my music collection I browsed it like I do all my music, and found it was not at all like their first album, and was pretty disappointed.

However, no for no reason other than it is in my music folder that way, I am listening to the tracks in reverse order, and starting to catch a feel of the sound that I loved before. As others have mentioned, this album is much more rock and a bit less techno (if that is the right term).

I will say that I will have to give this one a chance, it doesn't reach out and grab you like Republica did, but hey I am 13 years older now.

At first listen this one appeared weak compared to their first album but by the second or third listen I was completely hooked. It is mixed quite differently than the first album but it has the same catchy quality and there are several great tracks. If you crave more of the 'Republica' sound, this one is worth getting.

I don't know why I never heard about this album 8 years ago. Now I just found out when searching amazon. There's a few good songs on the album, but it's nothing like Saffron's first Republica album. So I gave it 4 stars.