What a Letdown
This disc left me hungry, though. As a huge dada fan since Puzzle (AHF is my favorite), I hurried in to get each new release, ready to revel in the ultra-talented trio's next musical smorgasbord of musical delicacies. Uninspired, bland, mediocre songs that KINDA sounded like dada, but it was missing something. My guess is that they were doing their first record for MCA, and MCA made them use a different producer (Danny Kortchmar), one that knew nothing about dada'a sound, and he managed to let them make a crappy, haphazard album that doesn't hold a candle to their previous 3 CDs. No wonder they broke up soon thereafter and never made another record.
Disappointing and bland effort from an incredible band
It seems that a fair number of the 5-star fans of this album (and their other two post-Puzzle albums) are rating the band rather than the music on this CD. 2 1/2 Stars. I'll go head to head with anyone over who is the biggest fan of the band as musicians and singers or over who is the biggest fan of their debut CD Puzzle. I will, however, base this review just on the songs in this CD and I regret to say that I don't have any compliments about the songwriting on this disk.
First, let me state that Puzzle is one of my three favorite CD's of all time. Furthermore, I was lucky enough to see them in November of 1994, after the release of American Highway Flower, and they played every song from both of their albums, except, luckily, that god-awful, whiny, pathetic My-Name-Is-Luka clone, Timothy. They were superb, utterly superb. I've seen over 300 live acts in my several decades of music appreciation, ranging from the Stones at 110,000 seat Wembly Staduium in London to a group of five friends supporting another friend's coffee-shop performance. Dada was, hands-down, the finest concert I've ever seen. The only two rock guitarists (there are a couple of blues and jazz guitarists also) who are even arguably better guitarists than Michael Gurney are Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler -that's how incredible Gurney is. In the rock genre, Calio and Gurney are easily the best dual-lead singers, bar none. In fact, in my opinion, there is no rock band in history that had a better, more talented collection of musicians than Dada (although, ironically because of the name, which has no connection at all to this band, the Chicago group Sonia Dada are pretty close and are also outstanding live). Every song in their concert blended complete precision with passion, innovation and electricity.
OK, now on to the self-entitled CD. It's a huge disappointment compared to their first one. The singing and musicianship are still top notch, but the band used up about 60% of their songwriting creativity on Puzzle, 30% in creating American Highway Flower, and the remainder in El Sublisimo and this album.
I listened to the album about six times when I first got it within weeks of its release, which should be more than enough time to get acquainted with it. It was chock full of bland, uninteresting songs and I very reluctantly stuck it on the back shelf of my CD collection. Three times since then I've tried playing it again, but it has never grown on me. The tunes in Puzzle and to a lesser extent in AHF really grab and hook the listener. These don't. Even the singles sound like B-sides. The first four songs are the best of the lot, but that doesn't say much. I can't even describe the songs with any specificity because they are pretty forgettable.
If you are/have been a Dada fan, I guess even the last two of their albums are required purchases, but I doubt many people will enjoy these songs all that much.
So anyway, that's my review and commentary on the band. To sum it up, this is one of those for-fans-only sort of albums.
After some months, I've decided to revise this a bit, as it appears my earlier information was not correct and the band is back together. I noticed that 0 out of 4 people found my original review "helpful" and for those who thought it was so awful, I'd appreciate it if they would write a review and explain exactly why this is not a bland, boring album. Explain exactly how the songs on this album are as good as those on Puzzle, please. I'm betting they can't. Again people, I'm criticizing the album, not the band. If you'll happily lap up any old slop your favorite group throws at you, fine. I'm a little more discriminating and if you have an appreciation for why Dada is such a great band, you probably will find this album lacking also.
One can't deny the talent...
This record may be the most beatlesque when compared to its predecessors, but it still contains the screaming guitar riffs and great song construction that dada is known for. Dada's self-titled fourth album surely will not let down even the most hardcore dada fan. Dada has matured since their hit "Dizz-Knee-Land", and it is unfortunate so many people fail to realize this. I conclude this review with saying, "Buy this album! It will not let you down. ".
Not the best but still worthy
But, I never considered this dada CD my favorite. I fell in love with Dorina and never looked back. Not having listened to this CD for quite a while, I was randomly going through my collection and decided to give it a spin. Is it my sad mood that changed my opinion of songs that in the past I never gave much thought to? I say this because since giving this CD a recent re-listening, Where You're Going and Baby Really Loves Me now seem much more prominant. As if I'm just now truely hearing them for the first time. These two songs are precisely why I love this band. Where You're Going: simple, plaintive lyrics, along with Michaels driving/slashing guitar rhythms ( not overly distorted, just the way I like it ) and lead work, sublime harmonies. Baby Really Loves Me: great metaphoric lyrics, starts off dreamy then Joie's vocals soar and Michaels snarling guitar kick into high gear about two thirds through, then Michael finishes off the song with characteristic guitar noodling. To my ears, this is power pop at its best and where ever Michael Gurley and his guitar go, I will follow.
Not as timeless as the previous 3
This one gets a bit old. The first 3 CDs from Dada have aged very well and I never tire of listening to them. I don't feel it is a complete album because there are 3 or 4 so-so songs on this disk that ruin the flow and style of the whole package. The songs I speak of are Information Undertow, Sweet Dark Angel,Beautiful Turnback Time Machine, and Agent's Got No Secret. They are still decent songs, but not great. If you don't have any Dada CDs yet, I would direct you to Puzzle or American Highway Flower first. Those are solid CD's that are a real treat to sit back and enjoy over and over.
You can see a complete list of all Dada discography, or go back to the Dada tabs
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