 I’m not sure I knew what to expect of this album. All I really remember about Deborah Harry is an enormous poster of her that used to be on the wall in my best friend Roxanne’s house. I do remember thinking that she was fabulously glamorous and perhaps just a little bit naughty. Strange really, because that’s a lot like this album…in between lines delivered with her trademark ‘babylike’ voice, are some very naughty innuendos that you have to really listen to, to pick up – subtle, but very, very clever.
This is Harry’s fifth solo album, but her first in 14 years, and apparently it never really started out as a planned album – more a collection of songs that eventually evolved into an album. It’s an eclectic mix of songs, some of which stand out immediately as potential single material. In fact, the first track, Two Times Blue, was released on iTunes late last year, and is a cracking upmarket pop song.
I think my favourite lyric on this album is on the track School for Scandal - “The devil’s dick is hard to handle” – now it doesn’t get much better than that, does it? If I Had You is a good old fashioned-sounding love song and echoes a sentiment most of us have felt at one point or another – if I had you, everything in the world would be right (if only!). Love with a Vengeance has a fantastic intro, and you will find yourself inadvertently humming parts of it after a single listen. Necessary Evil, the title track is a very simple song, but with an incredibly catchy chorus - “Oh yes, oh no”.
You’re Too Hot has great heavy guitars and reminds me slightly of the recent hit by the Ting Tings. I felt that Needless to Say shows the ‘weakness’ in Harry’s voice (for want of a better word) – it just didn’t grab me like the rest of the album has. Naked Eye is a really beautiful track, with lots of harmonies and throbbing bass guitars, and the album finishes with Paradise, a song filled with unusual chords, a rolling beat, and the sexy saxophone towards the end to round it out.
Overall, I enjoyed this album a whole lot more than I was expecting to. The artwork is beautiful; the pink floweriness a contrast to Harry’s strident vocals on a lot of the album. Considering this is her first album in 14 years, I’d say there’s life in the dog yet (and I mean that in the absolutely nicest possible way, of course – Deborah Harry would NEVER qualify as a dog!).
Go out and buy the album, now, and experience the 80s all over again, but re-created, refreshed, and a resounding success.
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| | | | Overall Rating | | 8 | | Vocals / Lyrics | n/a | | Musicianship | n/a | | Production | n/a | | Creativity | n/a | | Lastability | n/a | | Reviewers Tilt | n/a |
80% | |
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Deborah Harry - Necessary Evil
