Jason Maloney reviews

Morrissey: Viva Hate Morrissey: Viva Hate (HMV) A mere six months after the sudden, acrimonious split of The Smiths and the dissolving of the seminal Morrissey/Marr songwriting partnership, frontman Stephen Morrissey returned on his own... with a little help from new collaborator Vinnie Reilly. The result was a #1 album, and back-to-back Top 10 singles (Suedehead, Everyday Is Like Sunday) - both of which eclipsed the #10 high of The Smiths' biggest hits Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and Sheila Take A Bow. Overall, Viva Hate had rather too many weak links and, despite the majestic brace of singles and the epic Late Night Maudlin Street, wasn't in the same league as the work of his former band.

Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park to Memphis Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park to Memphis (Kitchenware/CBS) The third Prefab Sprout opus was rather longer in the making. Three years, to be exact. 1985's Steve McQueen (titled Two Wheels Good for the US market) had built on the promise shown on their debut album Swoon the year before, and the new record was eagerly awaited in many quarters. Protest Songs, an album recorded not long after Steve McQueen, had never fully materialised (it was issued posthumously in 1989) and in their absence a host of bands with a similar sound had emerged such as Danny Wilson, Deacon Blue, The Big Dish. From Langley Park To Memphis was a classic, full of cracking singles (Cars & Girls, their big breakthrough smash The King Of Rock'n'Roll, Hey Manhattan!) and wildly inventive production by Thomas Dolby on several tracks. CBS plundered the album for no less than 6 singles, although only one made the Top 40, while the album debuted at #5 on the chart dated March 26th and hung around for a respectable 18 weeks.

Talking Heads: Naked Talking Heads: Naked (EMI) Talking Heads' fourth album for EMI, having left the Warner Brothers offshoot Sire Records following 1983's Speaking In Tongues, proved to be the last of their career. As swansongs go, it was a fairly successful one; debuting at an all-time UK career high of #3, Naked proved less of commercial downgrade than True Stories had been after the huge popularity of the Little Creatures album in the mid 1980s. World music, a genre which frontman David Byrne would spend the next 15 years exploring, came to the fore on 11 tracks built around intricate rhythmic arrangements and stellar studio musicianship rather than the traditional four-piece band dynamic of yore. Byrne was overwhelmingly calling the shots, and it wasn't surprising that the days of Talking Heads as a recording entity would be numbered.

Rick Springfield: Rock of Life Also released this week 17 years ago was the debut album from promising soul singer Will Downing, whose eponymous Will Downing (Fourth & Broadway) proved something of a sleeper hit during the rest of 1988 without ever cracking the Top 10, while Prince protege (how many times did we hear that phrase in the latter half of the 80s?) Taja Sevelle cashed in on the Top 10 single Love Is Contagious with another self-titled debut Taja Sevelle (Paisley Park) to general indifference and Aussie rockstar Rick Springfield attempted to get his career on track again with Rock of Life (RCA) but once more there was no Jessie's Girl or Human Touch to generate sales beyond a dwindling fanbase. (DVDfever Dom adds: Hey, I liked it! :))

Page Content copyright © Jason Maloney, 2005.

Check the Album Archive database at: The Album Archive.com

The following is a list of Jason's Album Archives online for week ending:

Vol.21: September 12th 1988 (15/09/2005)
Vol.20: June 30th 1986 (02/07/2005)
Vol.19: June 25th 1984 (23/06/2005)
Vol.18: June 17th 1985 (16/06/2005)
Vol.17: June 04th 1979 (08/06/2005)
Vol.16: May 30th 1983 (02/06/2005)
Vol.15: May 22nd 1989 (26/05/2005)
Vol.14: May 15th 1995 (20/05/2005)
Vol.13: May 2nd 1988 (12/05/2005)
Vol.12: April 26th 1982 (28/04/2005)
Vol.11: April 17th 1990 (21/04/2005)
Vol.10: April 13th 1987 (14/04/2005)
Vol.9: April 8th 1991 (08/04/2005)
Vol.8: March 31st 1986 (01/04/2005)
Vol.7: March 14th 1988 (24/03/2005)
Vol.6: March 5th 1984 (17/03/2005)
Vol.5: February 28th 1983 (03/03/2005)
Vol.4: February 25th 1985 (24/02/2005)
Vol.3: February 9th 1981 (10/02/2005)
Vol.2: February 2nd 1987 (03/02/2005)
Vol.1: January 25th 1993 (25/01/2005)

And in chronological order:

June 04th 1979: Vol.17 (08/06/2005)
February 9th 1981: Vol.3 (10/02/2005)
April 26th 1982: Vol.12 (28/04/2005)
February 28th 1983: Vol.5 (03/03/2005)
May 30th 1983: Vol.16 (02/06/2005)
March 5th 1984: Vol.6 (17/03/2005)
June 25th 1984: Vol.19 (23/06/2005)
February 25th 1985: Vol.4 (24/02/2005)
June 17th 1985: Vol.18 (16/06/2005)
March 31st 1986: Vol.8 (01/04/2005)
June 30th 1986: Vol.20 (02/07/2005)
February 2nd 1987: Vol.2 (03/02/2005)
April 13th 1987: Vol.10 (14/04/2005)
March 14th 1988: Vol.7 (24/03/2005)
May 2nd 1988: Vol.13 (12/05/2005)
September 12th 1988: Vol.21 (15/09/2005)
May 22nd 1989: Vol.15 (26/05/2005)
April 17th 1990: Vol.11 (21/04/2005)
April 8th 1991: Vol.9 (08/04/2005)
January 25th 1993: Vol.1 (25/01/2005)
May 15th 1995: Vol.14 (20/05/2005)

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: