Want One

Broken Hearts | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 25, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Paisley Pop
• ASIN: B00008DCSY
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,182 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 -- Long-lost slice of power-pop heaven, February 26, 2003

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Want One (Audio CD)

Originally released in 1985 on the sparsely distributed Scarlette label, this fine album of power-pop has been something of a well-kept secret (and vinyl rarity) for nearly two decades. As Hartford, Connecticut's finest (and only?) power-pop band, The Broken Hearts are commonly known more for the follow-on work of its members (guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Michael Mazzarella and drummer/vocalist Pat Yourell went on to form The Rooks, and guitarist/vocalist Tom Bittel resurfaced in See Jane Run) than for their own work. Which, as this reissue so amply demonstrates, is a shame. The Broken Hearts play pop that matches the work of L.A. bands like 20/20, The Plimsouls and The Beat, East Coast outfits like The Neighborhoods and The Smithereens, and, of course, with ancestral connections to The Flamin' Groovies and Mersey-era bands like The Beatles.

And much like The Fab Four, the Broken Hearts sported three singer/songwriters, each taking turns at lead and backing vocals. Their lyrics fall into the earnest can't-quite-find-love camp traditional to power-pop, backed by harmonies that bring to mind The Hollies, The Searchers and other British Invasion harmony groups. The twin guitars spin insanely catchy riffs, and the drumming has a terrifically punchy DIY sound.

This album is a proverbial tackle box full of hooks. The opener's chiming guitars, urgent drumbeats and pop-soul vocal are the epitome of power-pop perfection. "Better Start Now" and "While You Were Having Fun" bring to mind The Nerves, and the harmonies and melody of "Play That Song Again" provide an appropriately nostalgic underline to the song's wistful lyric. "When I See You Looking My Way" could be a long-lost Gary Lewis & The Playboys song, if Gary played uptempo and put a bit more sock into his drumming, and the twangy "Tuesday Evening Girl" brings to mind the best Beatle-esque qualities of The Knack.

The album's original nine tracks are augmented with eleven bonus tracks, collected from pre-album 4-track demos, and post-album VHS and stereo cassette recordings. The sound quality of the VHS tracks isn't quite as polished as the rest, but the songs are every bit as good as those on the original LP. Highlights include the raging rock 'n' roll of Mazzarella's "Circle of Fools" and "Want To Be Sure" (the latter sounding like an early George Harrison song sung by John Lennon), an extended take of "Just Love Ya'" and the outstanding acoustic-guitar drenched folk-rocker "Not Really in Love."

This is a hugely welcome re-addition to the power pop ouvre, and Paisley Pop's archaeology of previously unreleased bonus tracks, period photos and show posters makes this one incredibly sweet package. A must-have for any power-pop fan who missed its brief appearance in 1985.

4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Junkmedia.org Review - The epitome of punk?, April 6, 2003

By 

junkmedia (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Want One (Audio CD)

Merseybeat (Beatles pre-Beatles For Sale, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, The Searchers, et al.) has long provided a foundation for bands that promote the essence of rocking pop music. Whether changing the musical world (The Beatles), providing the foundation for folk rock (The Searchers with "Needles And Pins") or simply providing pleasant musical diversions with versions of unrecorded Lennon-McCartney numbers (Billy J. Kramer's version of "Bad to Me"), Merseybeat has a beat and not only can you dance to it, but you can also sing along with the chorus.

The Broken Hearts were one of those bands who took up the mantle of Merseybeat during the mid '80s, producing wonderful artifacts such as the recently reissued Want One?. To celebrate the reissue 11 tracks have been added to the original nine, all of which were recorded 20 years after the ascent of Mersey's first musical incarnations.

The Broken Hearts offer an interpretation of the original sound augmented with an American garage rock sensibility. By way of comparison, the high church of modern Merseybeat is usually considered in the context of the Spongetones. Where the Spongetones created wonderfully upbeat and catchy early '60s inspired pop rock, the band's commitment to capturing the sound reduced them to slavish imitators at times. The Broken Hearts, however, used the era of the 2:30 pop rock single as a source of inspiration and built on that foundation.

This inspiration -- along with the urgent garage-rock feel -- is particularly noticeable in the bonus tracks. Many of them were recorded in rehearsal spaces, apartments, or live in various studios in the northeastern United States during the mid '80s. Given the Broken Hearts' commitment to classic pop music forms, one can almost sense their urgency (and near desperation) as they race through these numbers in preparation for a gig at one local dive or another -- after all, what were you listening to in 1985? Remember that three of the biggest hits of the day were "Like a Virgin," "I Want to Know What Love Is," and "Wake Me Up, Before you Go Go." Clearly, sounding like the Beatles was not in vogue, and even the developing indie rock underground was in the throes of devoting themselves to post-punk irony, beer and tiny tour vans.

So -- why buy this CD? Because it represents musicians practicing their craft at a time when doing something so unconventionally unconventional represented the epitome of punk. Besides, the melodies are good, the playing is tight and you can dance to it. Drop a dime in the record machine and let the Broken Hearts provide the soundtrack.

Ken King
Junkmedia.org Review