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Culture Club - Waking Up with the House on Fire Audio CD

A fair review of the Culture Club "Waking Up with the House on Fire" 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 Culture Club reviews here, or go back to the Culture Club tabs.

Culture Club Band: Culture Club
Title: Waking Up with the House on Fire
Rating:
Release Date: 2003-10-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dangerous Man 2: War Song 3: Unfortunate Thing 4: Crime Time 5: Mistake No. 3 6: Dive 7: Medal Song 8: Don't Talk About It 9: Mannequin 10: Hello Goodbye 11: Cancion de Guerra [*] 12: Love Is Love [*] 13: Dream [*] 14: Don't Go Down That Street [*]

WAKE UP, THE REVIEWERS ARE FIRED
NO IT'S NOT COLOUR BY NUMBERS,
BUT I THINK IT'S FAR BETTER THAN "KISSING TO BE CLEVER" AS AN INTIRE ALBUM. THIS CD IS NOT THE DOWNER THAT THE OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE SAID. THE REISSUE IS THE
ONE TO GET. IT HAS FOUR EXTRA TRACKS THAT I HAVE HAD TO PURCHASE ON OTHER SEPARATE IMPORTS FROM THE PAST. PLEASE LISTEN TO "THE DREAM", AS IT'S AN INSIGHT ABOUT THE BAND DURING THIS ROCKY TIME IN THEIR LIVES. YET, MODEST OF WHAT WAS TO COME IN THE YEARS AHEAD. ALSO, "DON'T GO WALKING DOWN THE STREET", I THINK THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ON THE "COLOUR BY NUMBERS" CD. ( IT HAS THE SOUND OF THAT ALBUM. ) THE ALBUM HAS A KIND OF SHOW TUNE APPEAL ON MANY OF THE TRACKS. ALSO, THE LAST ALBUM, "FROM LUXURY TO HEARTACHE" IS ANOTHER FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECE. THAT ONE IS THE HARDEST TO FIND, EVEN HERE ON AMAZON, SO IF YOU SEE A COPY DON'T HESITATE TO GET IT. IT WILL NOT BE THERE LONG. .


Music lover
I still remember buying it at the record store. I owned this album when I was in college. I am glad to own it on CD. "Mistake #3" is my favorite song on the CD but the other songs are good. If you like the sound of Culture Club it will take you right back in time while listening.


A Mediocre Effort and definitely NOT A CLASSIC
Perhaps they are giving it rave reviews on the merits of two of the bonus tracks from the Electric Dreams soundtrack: Love Is Love and The Dream. Reading all the four to five stars reviews to this album, I seriously question if any of these people actually listen to the album. Take away these two tracks and what do you have?

Compared to Colour By Numbers, this is a HUGE disappointment. I should know: I was a Culture Club fanatic (they were my favorite musicians before being supplanted by Madonna). None of the songs was, melody-wise or lyrically as strong as the CLASSIC Colour By Numbers.

The album started out with "Dangerous Man" which sounded like the band was trying to expand its sound and be more grown-up and sophisticated. THe second track was the first single was the "The War Song", while it as a bit catchy and silly, it was totally ruined in the middle with a "primal scream" (that is what listed on the album credits, no joke). Mistake # 3 pales next to Victims or Time (Clock of the Heart). Then again, what WAS "Mistake #3". . . it lyrically never make it clear?.

There were a couple of songs that I do like, specifically, "The Dive" and "Mannequin".

The group later admitted that the album was a rush job egged on by the record companies, and it shows. . . for some of the songs sounded like they were not finished (Hello Goodbye) and some were also rather short (lasting under 3 minutes).

The bonus tracks are of course, b-sides or from the Electric Dreams soundtrack. Love Is Love and The Dream is more in tune to the kind of music and songs which propelled the band to superstardom. . . . and unfortunately, they were the last such songs the band would have gone on to write.

In the overall scheme of things, it is no surprise that the band jumped the shark after this album was released: Waking Up With the House On Fire was Culture Club's Mistake #1, #2 AND #3.

.


Uneven
But, things didn't turn out that way. Waking Up with the House on Fire was supposed to be a "back-to-the-roots" album, after the success of the polished Colour By Numbers.

Instead, Culture Club made a record that had more of a sheen than its predecessor (and was digitally recorded to boot), but not enough good songs to make for a consistent album from start to finish. Had producer Steve Levine not had the good sense to record all of the instrument tracks in stereo (effectively limiting the number of tracks available for recording), I suspect things might have got out of hand, and the album might have become a real mess.

The album's first half is actually pretty good, though "Crime time" is a bit stilted, and "Unfortunate thing" is little more than a throwaway. People like to write off "The war song" as silly, simplistic, and/or patronising, but 1984 was pretty much the height of 1980s Cold War nuclear tensions; in the context of its time, the directness of the song's message was much more powerful, even if its "war is stupid" sentiment did come across as slightly childish.

The second half of the album (side B on the LP) starts off with "The dive", perhaps the best song on the album. After that, however, it is all downhill.

This album has some good moments, but it would have made a much better EP.


EXCELLENT ALBUM
It is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life!!!!!!Its timeless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It definetly ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!.


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

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