For my first non-introductory post, here is a review of an odd little album: Bouncing Off the Satellites. I'm not a huge fan of the B-52s (using the grammatically corrected name of the band, which they finally figured out in 2008). Sure, I love "Rock Lobster" but I hated "Love Shack" even before I heard it a zillion times. I do like them though, beyond just the hits they're known for.
I really don't care for any of their releases after this one. While Cosmic Thing (which brought us "Love Shack") was their big breakout album, it was a very changed band following the death of their original guitarist. The rest of the band was there but it became quickly apparent that Ricky Wilson played a pretty large part in the group's writing and sound. They went on to massive success with their goofy party songs, but the depth was missing. Kudos to them for keeping it together but there was no real substance anymore. Of course, I haven't heard everything, so later albums might contain a few gems I don't know about.
Bouncing Off the Satellites was Ricky's last album. He died almost immediately after it was finished, and before it was released. Since he was already quite sick by the time of the recording, I don't know how much of a presence he actually has. I think in some places his influence is obvious. In others... hard to say.
This is a part-group, part-solo collection. Songs by Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider use outside co-writers and musicians, and are thankfully limited to one each. Well, Kate's "Housework" isn't really that bad, but Fred's "Juicy Jungle" is just awful, despite its good-intention message: basically, don't go into the jungle and kill all the animals. Other than Fred's talk-singing, it bears no resemblance to a B-52s song at all, and it's really a shame it was included. Just leaving this one song off would have improved the album greatly.
The happy party/goofy group songs seem to be just going through the motions at times, though "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" is pretty decent and has a great video:
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The other group songs ("Communicate", "Wig", and "Detour Thru Your Mind") are ok, if not particularly inspired. "Wig," especially, seems to be trying too hard to be quirky. If not for some stellar vocal parts by Cindy and Kate, all three of these songs would be rather boring and easy to skip past. Pretty sad for what are supposed to be the "fun" songs on the album.
Where the album really shines is strangely in the more melancholy songs, either by the group or as Cindy's semi-solo contributions - which were written with Keith Strickland and Ricky Wilson but don't feature the others.
For the group efforts, "Summer of Love" and "Theme for a Nude Beach" fit right in with some of the songs from their previous album, Whammy! They're nice, pleasant little songs that leave you feeling content. What more could you ask a song to do? "Summer of Love" is mainly sung by Cindy, and it received some attention as a single but sadly not much.
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"Theme for a Nude Beach" features everybody in the band, and it works nicely. It's quirky in a good way, with a surprisingly subdued performance considering the subject matter.
The real surprise here is what Cindy brought to her solo part of the album. Two songs - one sad and one happy - that, even with the cheesy keyboards on one of them, are really, really good. I could listen to just these two songs over and over. The first is "Ain't it a Shame," about a relationship that's gone on too long and has slipped into the neglect stage. It's really well-done, both musically and lyrically. And Cindy's singing conveys the mood perfectly.
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And "She Breaks for Rainbows" is a happy song about someone who just seems to be enjoying the world around her. It's easily the best song on the album, with Cindy once again in fine form:
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Overall, as a B-52s record, Bouncing Off the Satellites isn't fantastic, but it is underrated. It pretty much bombed and isn't often mentioned by people who happen to be talking about the B-52s.. It didn't help that, after Ricky's passing, the band went into seclusion with no touring or promotion on their part, and the record label didn't do much to help things either. Based on the song selection, I'd personally prefer a lot more Cindy and less Fred and Kate, but it'd hardly be a B-52s album without them. So it is what it is. There's plenty of good stuff to find here, and two or three songs worth skipping past. I'd give it a solid C, but for me the two songs by Cindy elevate it to a B.
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