Customer Reviews

Twisted Tenderness

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Electronic's debut was a good record with some excellent songs, but sounded a bit too similar to New Order to establish Sumner's side-project as anything really new. On their third album they hit their real stride. Johnny Marr swaggers to the fore to make it considerably rockier than before, Arthur Baker lends his incredible production skills, Sumner brings his trademark melodies, and Jimi Goodwin, who surfaced as frotman with Doves a year later, is on bass. Its one big party really, an incredible sound with really complexity in its production and layering yet a strong, catchy core melody.

There's the brilliant 1-2-3 opening of the epic 'Make It Happen', the catchy, jump-up-and-down chorus of 'Haze' and the simply brilliantly constructed and angsty single 'Vivid', which is a fantastic lyrical turn from Sumner. 'Can't Find My Way Home' sees the return of Marr's trademark jangling simultaneous lead-and-rhythm guitar style that he popularised with the Smiths and 'Twisted Tenderness' ploughs a great, poppy, New Order-like furrow, with its stabbing keyboards and aching melody. 'Like No Other' starts funky and rocky, but its chorus could have been written for a boyband - which sounds awful, but they pull it off by keeping the musicianship accomplished. Finally 'Flicker' is a simply incredible yearning pop song again with touching lyrics.

This ranks as highly as almost anything done by either Sumner or Marr and proves that Electronic can add up to sum of its parts, as supergroups so often can't. Its one of the most vastly under-rated records ever made, and is highly reccomended to either fans of The Smiths or New Order, particularly those who liked their last record Get Ready, which seems to have been highly influenced by this album. Its in turn life-affirming, beautiful, cools, complex and catchy. 5 stars.

Despite the words of woe via the Amazon reviewer, this disc stands out from among any recent Britpop releases, much less the over-amped WWF pap that America is churning out.

Barney Sumner sings on this record as opposed to delivering an icy monologue over a sea of synths, as was his New Order trademark. He's also given more spotlight time to Johnny Marr, whose upfront (but not egomaniacal) guitar work makes this record a real collaboration. The two previous Electronic albums seemed to me much more about New Order's legacy. This one is equally about the Smiths.

The rave kids could face disappointment, though. Electronic isn't really electronic this time. There's much more rock here, and gives the CD a rougher, contemporary texture. The songs aren't that unlike something Blur or someone could have written, but the guitar and vox are definitely those of our two Manchester heroes. Can the dinosaur jokes. These guys are younger than David Bowie and frankly, I like this CD more than his latest. (His is still quite good.)

I admit, though, Twisted Tenderness was not what I expected. I expected pulse-perfect drum machines and woozy keyboards. You get a little sprightly piano-techno on the title track, but that's about it. Try the "Out of Control" single by Barney and the Chemical Brothers if binary is your poison.

This record, rather, is hooky and energetic guitar pop. It's not perfect in the sense that electronica is: timing right on, never the sound of finger sliding across fret. Twisted Tenderness lets its threads show. That seems the idea.

My only gripe (or rather, it should be yours) is that I've owned this CD for over a year and it's just now being released in the United States.

Electronic is one of the greatest bands for their variety and creativity, if for nothing else. Although they started off merely as a side-project of two of the 80's most important bands they've turned into one of the most musically powerful supergroups I've ever heard. Each of their albums has its own sound and sound very original to me in their own right. I haven't heard any other pop, rock, or dance albums like them. They're certainly much better than most of the junk that's heard on the waves today. As stated before, Twisted Tenderness is definitely a departure from the band's first two albums. This is anything but a criticism. Marr and Sumner deliver some real hard-edge rock in this album which only slightly engages the techno/dance feel that Electronic was known for on their first two releases. The title track, "Twisted Tenderness", is the exception to this, though still being one of the best songs on the album. "Vivid" is a strong piece with catchy lyrics and a driving harmonica riff that will possibly make it the first highlight. "Like No Other" and "Late At Night" are both powerful rock anthems and not to be missed. The three added tracks are excellent as well and, to me, made the U.S. release worth waiting for. Electronic fans and rock fans who just want to hear something different should purchase this as soon as possible! Recommended.

The announcement in the late 80s that Bernard Sumner, frontman for British cult dance/rock band New Order, and Johnny Marr, jangly guitarist for post-punk pioneers The Smiths, were forming a side project was met with much excitement and anticipation. Their first offering, 1990's "Electronic", was heavily synth-based, featured the Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant, and was an enjoyable, satisfying affair. The pair's follow-up, 1996's 'Raise the Pressure', featured a pleasant combination of rock and dance motifs yet, lacked a cohesive thread and was widely seen as a disappointing, yet listenable, sophomore jinx.

Enter Twisted Tenderness, the supergroup's most recent offering and, quite possibly, their best. For all intents and purposes, this album should go down as a 1990s Brit-rock classic...featuring more amped-up and aggressive guitar than we have heard from Johnny in years, and insightful, witty lyrics from Sumner (sample line: "You may be a star in your own mind, but you're greatly deluded in mine"), and backed by a competent rhythm section, "Tenderness" is a highly enjoyable listen from the duo.

"Make It Happen" is a wah-wah driven techno stomper, while "Haze" is a trippy, driving rocker complete with a fuzzed-out riff from Marr and a John Bonham-influenced beat. Elsewhere, Johnny picks up the harmonica for the single "Vivid", possibly one of the most poppy and melodic pieces the duo have written . Album closer "Flicker" is an acoustic-tinged number that features some thoughtful lyrics from Sumner and represents a perfect closer for the album. Also intriguing is a version of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home", featuring Marr on acoustic guitar and a trippy drum loop.

Overall, "Tenderness" is the sound of two maturing British rock legends who finally found the right connection to bring it all together. Pleasant songwriting, and top-notch playing by Marr, make this album a keeper that will always have a place in my collection. It, unfortunately, went rather unnoticed by the record buying public and thus will most likely never get the recognition it deserves. But if you are searching for an enjoyable, well-constructed rock album, look no furthe rthan this release from two of Manchester's finest.

As a lifelong Johnny Marr fanatic, I was thrilled with the fusion on some of the first Electronic album ("Get the Message"--an all-time classic) although it sometimes got a liiiitle too Euro-pop.

The second disc I thought was .... Hook-free. Maybe one good song.

Now, the third. The best way I can think to describe this, having listened to it a few times through, is Electronic as influenced by Oasis and--on one track--the Chemical Brothers.

Oasis in that there's a big, distorted guitar sound on a lot of it that, when you really listen to it, harks back to Oasis' first two albums. The Chemical Brothers influence is apparent on the big-beat loop that fuels the first track.

As far as consistency goes, though, this disc is the most consistent from a songwriting standpoint. There's not a bad song on it, and it veers from droning, industrialized, loop-driven songs to flat-out rock n' roll. Of course, you've got the requisite song that sounds just like New Order--but on the other hand you've got some really cool, abrasive guitar workouts.

And of course, we're talking Johnny Marr here. He manages to throw in some classic Marr-isms that remind you of why you love his playing and writing so much. For Marr fans, this is a must. For Electronic fans, this is a must. For casual fans, if you're going to buy one--buy this one (and the single "Get the Message) and you're covered.

I've always loved Barney Sumner's little boy singing and his peculiar lyrics which always sounded as if he made them up as he went along. I thoroughly enjoyed the first and second Electronic albums - as well as this one, but Twisted Tenderness is a little harder to get to, a little more experimental. Raise the Pressure was simply sparkling and sweeping synth pop. It may have sounded too '80s, but deserved to be called "music for pleasure." Twisted Tenderness is the work of two masters and rewards repeated listenings. One comment: the title track is a flawless pop song - but somehow was never released as a single. It is #1 material and should be re-released.

Jonny Marr's guitar is all over all of these tracks and it adds a nice dynamic sound to the synths. The lyrics are pushed back in the mix and a sometimes substantial reverb is placed at the front. The tracks might be a tad too long.

Its a great sounding CD if you already like New Order and Electronic.

Back in the latter 1980's when I first heard the rumor of Bernard Sumner joining in a side project with Johnny Marr I expected more the sound on Twisted Tenderness, their last, and possibly final offering. The guitar amalgalmation extraodinaire. A "How Soon Is Now" meets "True Faith" perhaps. Not quite. I did enjoy the 1st album (eponymous) immensely, but they wavered under the Neil Tennant shadow on that one. On the 2nd album, Raise The Pressure, they took the critical sophomore hit. Thankfully Twisted Tenderness reeks with great songs. "Twisted Tenderness", "When She's Gone", "Late At Night", "Flicker" and "Prodigal Son" loom as good as any of their previous material. My major gripe, a small one it is, they don't know when to turn it down. Arthur Baker has tweaked the knobs to the maximum for a questionable end - his job security, self esteem? Who knows. As shown in past projects, a bit more subtlity would have served. In an effort and attempt to gain their independent footing, more of their own voice, and single themselves from everything and everyone, they even broke ranks with the Peter Saville design team. A "we're real men now", let's make this happen attitude prevails and permeates. The domestic release coming a year later included the additional b-side singles. Then to add insult to injury, they issued a double disc with everything from those sessions. Lucky me, I had the lot already. A small fortune in imports. Guess I might like them a tad after all. Now for penance, if Arthur Baker would just get off the bus (just kidding) and perhaps do an un-plugged version of this album.

Electronic masterfully coalesces hip hop inspired dance beats with stirring melodies and stimulating guitar work.

This album has a richer, more full sound that seems to encompass more of the Johnny Marr factor than previous efforts. It seems it took them a little while to find their real groove.

This reviewer feels it was certainly worth the wait.

Fourteen rockin' songs makes this cut a real gem.

When you've been termed a "supergroup", just about anything you do si going to fail to live up to that title. Electronic's first album was a brilliant slice of synth-pop, but was critically underrated for two reasons: they had the "supergroup" monniker because of their lineup, and it was essentially 80's-style pop in a very grunge-friendly time.

Along came "Raise the Pressure" which was a half-hearted attempt at updating their previous sound. The supergroup moniker followed Sumner and Marr again, and the inclusion of former Kraftwerkian Karl Bartos didn't allay that. The album had its moments, though, and the songwriting on it was quite good even if the production was a bit over-glossy and didn't include enough of Johnny Marr's chiming guitar.

So, finally, after all these years, we get "Twisted Tenderness." It's big. It's loud. It's bombastic. It's evident that Barney's been working with the Chem Bros. Does it live up to the first albums? I don't even know if they're comparable. "Twisted Tenderness" is pretty far removed from their earlier works, stylistically. If this had come from another corner, it'd probably have been hailed as brilliant rock/electro fusion. But because it's Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner, there's a certain expectation that it sound like New Order meets the Smiths.

It's an engaging listen if you can put aside any preconceptions. The vocals are subdued for a more powerful bigbeat sound, there're a few winsome ballads, and there's the title track which is a straigtahead techno stormer.

Now that it's finally domestic, it's a good buy.