SPARKS

[waterloosunset]

[Toughest Girl In Town]

"A Steady Drip Drip Drip" is very special to me since it was freshly released when I finally got into Sparks. A rather late discovery but an intense and life-changing one nonetheless.
Despite the very unusual use of the F-word twice in this Sparks' album, it remains the soundtrack of that moment when my musical life changed for the better.

There are many great songs, maybe not as good and creative as in Hippopotamus, but this album is such an excellent piece of work!
I appreciate the fact that they put more guitars on this one, it really helps making the whole thing sound much better.
The intro of "I'm Toast" and the bridge in "Stravinsky's only hit" particularly benefit from it, those passages even remind me a little bit of The Who. Just a tiny bit, but that's enough to please me :)
Songs like "Nothing travels faster than the speed of light" could have used more guitars, it's a song with great potential but unfortunately not fully exploited in my opinion.

Also I absolutely love the intro of "One for the ages", couldn't really explain why, it just sounds so promising and that's exactly what I expect from a great pop song. And the video was absolutely brilliant, I love it.
However the song I love the most is "Self-Effacing", everything is so close to perfection here, I just love it.

On the downside, I'm not a great fan of "The Existential Threat" but to me the worst song of the album is the last one, "Please don't F up my world" which is so corny it's almost embarrassing. Would've been a great choice for a funny bonus track on some later release of this album, but maybe not on the original one. 13 songs would've been more than enough for a decent LP, maybe they were just a bit superstitious about it? :)

Anyway, I'll give it an 8/10.

[phdave that afternoon]

I also have sentimental attachment to A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. It was the first full Sparks album I heard. I had been jumping around on Past Tense and then got FFS before I committed to getting to know all of the Sparks albums. I started with the most recent release (before eventually starting from the beginning).

The songs are mostly in a high, narrow range of enjoyment to me. I enjoy listening to it from start to finish. I have not gotten too obsessed with individual songs like other albums. But I like all of them with most of them being 8s or 7s.

All That was great to see live. They were so touched with the reception from the crowd and the phone lights twinkling throughout the Hollywood Bowl crowd. It is more of a sentimental favorite for what the song means to the Maels and their career and relationship with their fan base. That one is an 8.

I'm Toast and Lawnmower are also 8s for me. They are what I look for in Sparks songs. Songs that stick into my head with some clever funny lines and a bit of a twist to the lyric story. Sainthood slightly lower at 7 but still very enjoyable. Pacific Standard Time is a great song that I identify with. I moved to LA 18 years ago and have trouble imagining living anywhere else. That is an 8. Left out in the Cold is another 8 and might be my favorite. I have a soft spot for Sparks songs about researchers suffering through field work. Possibly that one is a 9. Self-Effacing is another 8. Hilarious concept and execution on the theme of bragging about being modest. One for the Ages, a great character study in delusions of grandeur, is a 7 as well as Onomato Pia and Nothing Travels. The Existential Threat is an 8 with one of the craziest videos I think I've ever seen.

Please Don't F up my world is my least favorite. I guess it gets a 6 maybe a 5. Kind of a gag that is slightly humorous at first but not that compelling.

Overall I give ASDDD an 8/10.
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I don’t have time to fill out questionnaires.

[Spyke]

I haven't revisited ASDDD as much as Sparks' other recent albums, so maybe I haven't given myself enough opportunities to appreciate all the tracks. The stand-outs are All That, Left Out In The Cold and Self-Effacing, but overall I can't say I think the album represents the band at the top of their game. There's nothing wrong with the album: the varied styles of songs keep you guessing, there are plenty of witty and (moreso than usual) cutting lyrics, and it's as professionally put together as always. But it doesn't quite hit the top heights for me, even though it was a very welcome release during a tough year.
7/10
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"but we can hear what others can't hear..."

[waterloosunset]

I got A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip shortly after Hippopotamus in my deranged but pretty much successful attempt to learn all the songs from all the albums in the 5 months between seeing The Sparks Brothers and seeing the Mael brothers. Because I liked Hippopotamus better, I gave ASDDD short shrift and didn’t play it as often. But I’ve been listening to it all week, and feel that I’ve been unfair. The reason for my negligence, I believe, is that the album gets off to a slow start for me. It doesn’t start to hit its stride until Pacific Standard Time (sweet, melodious), and really revs up with Stravinsky’s Only Hit. Then comes the one-two punch of Left Out in the Cold and Self-Effacing, which is my favorite song on the album at the moment. It keeps on going with one quality song after another until it dies with Please Don’t f*** Up My World. Tops for me are Stravinsky, Left Out in the Cold, Self-Effacing, and Onomato Pia, a song that always makes me laugh. There is a big middle group of really good songs (Pacific, One for the Ages, iPhone, The Existential Threat, Nothing Travels Faster), then a few serviceable songs (All That, I’m Toast, Sainthood), one meh song (Please Don’t), and one that I can’t listen to – Lawnmower. Self-Effacing – how great – fabulous melody, hilarious lyrics, and Stevie’s driving drums. It’s clever that it abuts One for the Ages, a song with the exact opposite mindset. Left Out in the Cold is so clever. From the title, you expect a romance gone wrong and instead you get a Uniqlo exec in flat, flat, cold, cold Winnipeg. Brilliant. I’m going to stop now. I’m really happy that we are doing this weekly review because it has brought me a new appreciation for this album

Favorite Song: Self-Effacing
Least Favorite Song: Lawnmower
Score: 8/10
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better drop the requirement that everything be great

[Andy M]

When I heard Hippopotamus (the song) performed live, it received polite, somewhat bemused applause. Lawnmower I’d bracket as a similar track. I found, by accident, a way to understand and seriously enjoy them both. First, get (with permission, of course) a toddler or two. Sit them in front of the tv, go to the Sparks YouTube channel and play them the videos of Hippo & Lawnmower. Over and over again. The sproglets I borrowed loved seeing the hippo and giraffe go into the pool, shouted “Daddy!” when they saw the clown, “Mummy!” when they saw the woman with an abacus (not pleasing their mother) and “Baby Annie!” when the tuba players appeared. For Lawnmower, they loved the pushing routine and shouting “Mummy” when the Andover girlfriend makes an appearance (to approval from the real mother). If you’re not in the mode to enjoying the two songs by then, I’m afraid you never will be. But at least you send the sproglets back home talking about Hieronymous Bosch and Titus Adronicus instead of Bluey and Bing, which impresses the parents, and you’ve successfully converted two impressionable minds to the Sparks cause.

[highersynth]

I too found this album rather tricky after enjoying Hippo such a lot. On first listen it felt as though there was a theme throughout of small, staccato, both lyrical and musical phrases that I found it challenging to relax into.

However, as usual, repeated listens have enabled me to get into it, and I enjoy the album though wouldn't rank it among my favourites.

The first part, as far as Sainthood, I came to terms with pretty easily - All That is an uncharacteristic song for Sparks, and aside from the jarring "left shoe" line, it works for me. I enjoyed it much more on first listen (at and just after the gig), and is starting to lose its magic a little now. Suspect I need to leave it alone for a while to recapture the love. Toast and Sainthood both make me smile, and they feel like a couplet, although divided by Lawnmower, which amuses me and reminds me of a certain kind of would-be-middle-class suburban englishman (largely now extinct).

Pacific Standard time is what I'd class as a classic album-track. It's lovely at the time, but doesn't stick in my head. Stravinsky, the lyric is amusing, but the song is not engaging for me. Similarly Left Out.

The rest of the tracks, with the exception of Self Effacing, are less appealing to me. I enjoy iPhone for its grumpy lyric; the clever Existential Threat which I think may be the most interesting song, lyrically, on the album; and Onomato Pia which bounces along for its melody.

7/10. Ready for a latte now ;)
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Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[highersynth]

Welcome to Week 24 of Album Club - w/c 17th December - The Girl is Crying in her Latte

You can find a link to the album on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/48efvnoBpkDKgy9yhMZ4iz?si=_44O8oabRsK-VOpxCfFzmA

Prompts for discussion, if needed, and scores for previous albums, at the top of the thread.
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Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[highersynth]

IN THE NEW YEAR - THE OTHERS - SIDE-THREAD

I know already that some of us are keen to explore Ingmar Bergman and Annette. Steve has made a bid previously for Noel's "Is there more to life than dancing".

2 questions - one big, one small:
BIG: - what should we include in this section of the thread and in what order?
SMALL: - I'm happy to curate; I won't be pitching in on all the albums though - is there anyone else who is eager to take on posting the week's album and totting up the scores?
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Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[Andy M]

First, Girl ... Latte:

“Gee that was grand”

To be honest, it’s almost impossible to judge this album just a few months after its release when compared to undertaking the same exercise with albums that I’ve listened to for almost half a century. Listening to it again for this thread I find my opinion of Girl ... hasn’t changed much since my initial hearings. It is a very fine album indeed, with a unity of sound (the use of “scuzzy synths” is how I – probably erroneously! – think of it).

There’s a bunch of great songs on this record: the title track; the exceptional When You Leave; Take Me for a Ride; A Love Story; the Divine Comedy-ish It’s Sunny Today. I’m not keen at all on It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way – for the same reasons I don’t like All That – or the music on We Go Dancing, which reminds of the rather jarring (Baby Baby) Can I Invade . . .

I love the way that Ron inverts expectations on a few songs with the contrast between title and content. With When You Leave you might think you’re going to get a romantic breakup, with A Love Story you might imagine a fairly standard, well, love story. With both you get something entirely different.

The cover’s good if not great, a very literal interpretation of the title. Best physical option? Nothing stands out here, I’m afraid. You do get an extra track on the Japanese version of the cd, but it’s very much an also-ran.

A tentative score? How about 8/10?

Secondly, highersynth asks what others we should look at apart from Noel, Seduction & Annette. Apart from collaborations on singles, more substantial contributions from R&R are found on: Bijou's Pas Dormir LP (1979) [producers]; Telex's Sex LP (1981) [lyrics]; Lio's Suite Sixteen LP (1983) [lyrics on side 2]. Then there's their own A Cute Candidate from 1999. Not sure it's worth the bother of scoring these, though, even if the demand is there to look at them.

[Alex Robertson]

A great album indeed...initially I wasn't enamoured of the title track...took a few listens to get drawn in, the video helped. Cate Blanchett's manic choreography punctuating Russell's understated narrative, while Ron was just a bystander, innocently getting on with his day, an unwitting extra in the story. The live rendition really made me appreciate how good a track it is.
I can't say I've got a least liked track but I do LOVE Mona Lisa beyond words, Veronica Lake clicking on her heels.
A firm 9/10

[Alex Robertson]

As to the other reviews, apart from Andy's suggestions...Adrian Munsey's C'est Sheep, Noel, the Halfnelson demos, the other artist remixes (Yoko Ono, Morrissey, Katie Melua and The Clash), collaborations Grand Popo Football club, Sebastian and Pizzicato 5...and probably with other suggestions we'll get up to next Christmas.

[Spyke]

As with Alex, it took me a few listens to appreciate the smashing title track, helped by the video and live performance. It's not quite my favourite track on the album, though, which is When You Leave. The song's funny-with-an-edge lyrics stand out more thanks to the way the tune drifts along. Nothing Is As Good... is another top tune, with a classic Sparks sound and an impressively fast pace. The last track is a perfect way to round off the album. The other songs haven't grabbed me as much, but that's probably just because I haven't 'got' them yet.
8.5/10
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"but we can hear what others can't hear..."

[Oscar]

I think I posted my initial thoughts on this album not too long after it came out, and my feelings probably haven't changed too much since then. It's stylistically pretty similar to the previous two albums, but with more emphasis on electronic sounds, like the "scuzzy synths" Andy mentioned, and also songs that are a little more repetitive musically. I don't like it quite as much I like the other two in this "trilogy."

"When You Leave" is my favorite -- glad to see other people here love it too. The more ambitious songs ("We Go Dancing" and "Take Me for a Ride" specifically) are great, and I'm also a big fan of "Nothing Is as Good as They Say It Is" and "Not That Well-Defined." My least favorite is easily "A Love Story."

"It's Sunny Today" is kind of this album's "Pacific Standard Time," though I prefer "PST." And "It Doesn't Have to Be That Way" is like this album's "All That," but I like it more than "All That." Has Ron ever written a song more blatantly autobiographical than "IDHTBTW"? It's like after 50+ years and 25 albums, The Story of Sparks finally became a worthy topic for a Sparks song. I know some people have interpreted "All That" and "Gee, That Was Fun" as being about Sparks' career, but, at least in a literal sense, both of those songs are about romantic relationships, while I can't see "IDHTBTW" as being about anything but their career.

7/10

[waterloosunset]

Here we are at The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte, and I FINALLY have an origin story, though nowhere near as much fun to read as any of Alex’s (the store manager story still wins, I believe). When the title song was released, I was more than a little distressed. I didn’t find it special. And then when I heard Veronica Lake, I thought I was in for a major disappointment (I have grown to like the first two tracks with repeated listening). However, when they finally got to releasing Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is, it was a joyful moment. The melody! The hilarious though sobering premise! Ahhh. Some real old timey Sparks. The album dropped when I was in Prague, and I had no way to listen to it because I don’t have a streaming service. What’s more, I had ordered a bundle from Island records, and knew that I wouldn’t be receiving anything until I got home on June 3rd (and then the bundle came REALLY late). There was NO WAY I was going to wait that long to hear it. So I gulped and purchased a digital copy through Amazon. I had to listen to it the first time with my little iPhone earbuds in our rental apartment . It was all a kind of a blur, but when it got to When You Leave, I burst out laughing. The acerbic lyrics that only WS Gilbert or Ron Mael could have written combined with Russell’s angelic singing of “I’m gonna stay…” are just about perfect. I love the way the melody builds and builds both instrumentally and vocally. Anyway, it was a great moment. I will always remember what the apartment looked like.

Although Nothing Is As Good is in my top songs, the album doesn’t grab me until You Were Meant for Me. And then it soars. We Go Dancing has the rush of Stravinsky, and seeing it live made it even more impressive (I couldn’t believe that they chose to perform it – oh happy me!). There are great melodies - Not So Well Defined, It’s Sunny Today (I love Philip Glass), It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way, Gee That Was Fun. There’s cinematic brilliance – We Go Dancing, Take Me for a Ride, A Love Story. There’s experimentation – Veronica Lake, Escalator. All in all, it’s a triumph.

The Sparks Brothers and Annette put Sparks in the spotlight worldwide in a way that I think was new for them. TSB alone has garnered them thousands of fans. I feel that this new standing has given Ron and Russell the freedom to just go mad. And Sparks are at their best when they DON’T play it safe.

Gee, that was fun. I wished I’d jumped in at Halfnelson, but being able to participate from Kimono onwards has been a lovely diversion from a lot of stress.

PS - I wrote most of this last night before Oscar posted his review. I agree with much of what he said, save for his criticism of A Love Story, which I've recently found addictive

Favorite Songs: Every single one except the title song, Veronica Lake, and Escalator, which are fine but don't thrill
Least Favorite Song: The Mona Lisa's Packing, and I don't know why
Score:9/10
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better drop the requirement that everything be great

[Oscar]

As far as other albums to cover in the new year, definitely The Seduction and Annette. It'd be fun to discuss the Noel album too. Based on what Ron and Russell have said about their level of control over Terminal Jive, a case could probably be made that the Noel album is more of a Sparks album than TJ is.

A while ago I posted a list of "lost albums" Sparks recorded between official albums. I can't find the post now, but it had stuff like the Bad Manners soundtrack and the "Arista demos." The only one I think is really worthy of a week-long discussion is the "Halfnelson demos," which is essentially another great Sparks album. I continue to be baffled that they haven't put it out as an official release, given that it's been circulating online for years, usually in fairly low fidelity. Don't know why they wouldn't try to put out a higher quality version, since people are listening to it anyway.

[Andy M]

I'd forgotten about the Halfnelson demos, Oscar - definitely worth including!

If Noel's in the final mix, one of the items for discussion should be the name - Noel, Nöel or Noël? I've seen each version used.

[Toughest Girl In Town]

Finally, what a great way to end this year 2023, which was a fantastic one Sparks-ially speaking!

Their latest album is also very special to me because I've seen them live for the first time this year, many songs from "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte" were played of course, so listening to it brings back wonderful memories each time.
Before it was released I was a bit worried about it: what if I didn't really like it? I was so scared of being disappointed but I guess that's part of being a dedicated fan: when it comes to new releases, excitement and anticipation often come with apprehension.

Thankfully our boys were back with an excellent piece of work, and today more than ever I'm utterly proud to call myself a Sparks fan.
To be honest I was even impressed by the flawless production, even though I knew Russell was fit for the task he went beyond my expectations. It's no wonder this album received so much praise all over the world, it's really deserved.

I love the audacity on this album, some songs sound like nothing I've ever heard before, and the result is just amazing. I'm thinking of "We Go Dancing" or "A Love Story" in particular. I've heard much younger and so-called modern artists who don't have the tenth of their creativity and talent.
My favourite song on this album is "Take Me For A Ride", it has everything I expect from a great epic rock song: great guitars, catchy lyrics, violins to make it sound even more intensely dramatic. I can even say it entered my top-10 all time favourite Sparks songs, it reminds me a little bit of the escape song on "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman", but even better.

I do struggle a lot more with "Veronica Lake" that I find a bit repetitive and boring, even if I admit the lyrics are really good. I'm glad they didn't play it in Paris last summer though.

9/10.

[phdave that afternoon]

Obviously since I only became aware of Sparks this year, this was the first album I heard along with the rest of the world when it came out. I also was a bit worried that I would not like it. There are not many examples of bands remaining relevant after 50 years. But I had already planned on going to see them at the Bowl and figured they would be playing a lot from this album, so I wanted to give it a good listen.

I didn't have to worry about liking it. That came right away. The title song was probably the one that took the longest to warm up to. I wasn't sure what to make of the opening buzzy sound. But I soon warmed up to it and love the beat that jumps in before the chorus.

When You Leave is another favorite mainly because of the hilarious lyrics. It reminds me of a time when a middle manager of my team resigned during vacation because his relationship with his manager soured. We were not fans of either of them, so instead of the usual "going away" party with an employee about to leave, we had a "gone" party to celebrate him being gone (he did not attend and did not stay just to annoy us, thankfully). This is the song I would want to see live that I did not see them play live at the Hollywood Bowl concert.

Similarly to the previous two albums, I like most of the songs and rate them similarly high. The songs are diverse with different topics and music styles. It is fun to listen from start to finish.

If I had to pick a least favorite it would be We Go Dancing, but I do like it. It just seems like a bit of a gag type premise. It is funny and enjoyable song, but when looking at the other tracks this is probably at the bottom for me.

I started writing down the other songs I like and realized I was basically writing them all down. A Love Story, Nothing is as Good, Take Me for a Ride are high on the hilarious/great song list that defines Sparks songs for me. The other ones are less hilarious but great songs.

I give this a 9/10. I feel lucky to have discovered Sparks and grateful to have this outlet to focus on each album individually.
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I don’t have time to fill out questionnaires.

[waterloosunset]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you steadfast reviewers and to everybody else as well! I have enjoyed reading what everyone has written; it's certainly been a bit of time travel. I don't know the Noel album, so I will have to dig it up somewhere for next year's run.
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better drop the requirement that everything be great