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Bananarama - Viva Audio CD

A fair review of the Bananarama "Viva" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bananarama reviews here, or go back to the Bananarama tabs.

Bananarama Band: Bananarama
Title: Viva
Rating:
Release Date: 2009-09-18
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Love Comes 2: Love Don't Live Here 3: Rapture 4: Seventeen 5: Twisting 6: Tell Me Tomorrow 7: The Runner 8: Extraordinary 9: Dum Dum Boy 10: S-S-S-Single Bed 11: We've Got The Night

Great Pop album
Modern enough to make it viable on today's radio or in a dance club, yet familiar enough that Bananarama fans from the early days can still enjoy it. This album is very enjoyable through and through. Sounds like a natural progression in sound for a group with this long of a history. Their contemporaries should take note. . . this is how a "80's" group stays viable. The only complaint is that the sound is over compressed, as is most everything coming out today. Many very catchy and radio/club friendly tunes here. 5*s.


the girls go dance--reminiscent of the SAW years
Just like Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, the two remaining members of Bananarama deliver a modern electro pop record with infectious beats and melodies. For long time fans of 80s artists like Bananarama who are still following modern trends in club music, this should be a treat (those who stopped listening to modern music after the 80s probably won't like this). Too bad the album is only ten tracks, and that one of the tracks is a remake of th iio club hit "rapture", which is so played to death that I didn't really need to hear another version of it in the same decade! Another remake is of the dance track "The Runner," which was recorded back in the 70s by Three Degrees and written by none other than electronic dance music pioneer Giorgio Moroder of Donna Summer fame!

Love Comes, Love Don't Live Here, Tell Me Tomorrow, Dum Dum Boy, and We've Got the Night are all dance songs, and if you like modern artists like September, Lasgo, Cascada, and Nouveau Riche, you'll love these songs.

Seventeen, Twisting, Extraordinary, and S-S-S- single bed are more downtempo electro tracks to change things up again. Personally, I would have been fine with an entire dance album, but these tracks are a bit more reminiscent of some of Bananarama's earlier music.

Hopefully, this album will spawn some full length club mixes--it just still feels a little on the short side for some reason. I'm glad they didn't try, however, to add yet more 'remakes' of some of their biggest hits, although the CD single for Love Comes has an update of Cruel Summer.


VIVA!!!!!!!
But I never, EVER, expected them to come up with an album like this. I have been a fan of Bananarama for years and have followed their career since their heyday in America. This here is a collection of some of the best songs they have ever recorded. The sound here is completely modern and can go up against any of today's dance acts. If I had to compare this to any of their previous releases, I would say it sounds like a combination of the "Drama", "Wow" and "Ultraviolet" albums. The modern electro synth sounds of "Drama", the pulsing club beats of "Ultaviolet" and a hint of the 80's vocalization of the "Wow" album.

The lead single is the albums opener, "Love Comes". The album starts off strong and stays that way throughout. "Love Don't Live Here" is single worthy and one of the strongest cuts on the album, as is "Dum Dum Boy" with it's catchy chorus. Other songs include the Giorgio Morodor written disco, classic, "The Runner". You may not know this song by the title but once you hear it, you will recognize it. An interesting, but excellent cover here is iio's monster hit from a few years ago, "Rapture". Bananarama's version is pretty much a carbon copy of the original, but it works really well.

One thing that really stands out for me are the lyrics. Bananarama have always been underrated as songwriters. Really, I think most people wouldn't even know that they write their own songs. But as cold as some of these songs may feel at first listen, they really are brought to life by the warm lyrics. Songs of love, heartbreak, devotion and life. . .

This really is a CD worth buying. If you have ever been a fan of Bananarama or are new to them but love good modern dance/pop music, then this is for you.


You can see a complete list of all Bananarama discography, or go back to the Bananarama tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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