Audio CD review:
Village People - Renaissance

Village People - Renaissance

Band: Village People Title: Renaissance Rating: Release Date: 09 December, 1997 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Do You Wanna Spend the Night 2: 5' O'Clock in the Morning 3: Fireman 4: Jungle City 5: Action Man 6: Big Mac 7: Diet 8: Food Fight

Customer Reviews A masterpiece of musical innovation and underground experimentation Basically, after topping the charts with YMCA, Go West, and a bunch of other pop fluff, the Village People decide that the road was getting too much for them, and the limitations of live performance were too constraining for their broad musical vision. This is one of the most challenging and original musical documents ever recorded. So they set about recording experimental tracks with no backing band, and agonized in the studio for over a year over the songs that would be eventually released as "Renaissance". The painstaking elements of musical innovation are obvious, because it sounds nothing like the 70's pop throwaway hits. This album eventually went on to influence bands across the entire punk rock spectrum, and is said to have had a direct influence on post-punk bands such as Joy Division, Depeche Mode, and Gang Of Four. NOTHING can prepare you for the amazingly abstract, deep, well-crafted and top-notch songwriting here, let alone the revolutionary production and icredible musical talent of this group in pulling it all together. I mean, anyone can be "experimental" for the sake of experimenting, but it requires a depth of skill and talent and know-how to translate those minimalist urges into something truly revolutionary. "Jungle City" anticipates house and techno experimentalism by about 7 years, and adds a twist of Kraut-rock noodling that reminds one of early Can or the intrepid post-funk of Kraftwerk. "Food Fight" has a rhythm that calls to mind the eclectic new-wave of early Siouxsie & The Banshees, with a wall-of-sound guitar that channels everything ever done by Robert Smith's best work with The Cure. The unbelievably dense polyrhythms found in "Food Fight" and "5 O'Clock in the Morning" sound like they were peeled from the first side of Talking Heads' masterpiece "Remain In Light", except here the songwriting is even more abstract and aggressive. "Do You Wanna Spend The Night" is, without question, one of the greatest singles of the entire early punk era, up there with "Love Will Tear Us Apart". And just to show that they haven't forgotten their roots, "Fireman" updates their disco sensibilities, incorporating an almost Phil Spector-ish echo with a backing beat that calls to mind the minimalist reggae of Sly and Robbie. Look at the cover. Do you honestly think something like this deserves the terrible ratings it has gotten here? No way. But apparently there are some people who don't understand the importance of artists breaking out on their own and redefining an entire genre of rock. Major artists have done it, and like Brian Wilson's incredible song cycle from "Pet Sounds", here is another similar exaple of a generation-defining moment in rock history that is understood by the few who really appreciate a radical musical vision. For fans only I saw the two videos from this cd: Do You Wanna Spend The Night, and Five O Clock In The Morning. I'm a huge Village People fan, and my friend sent me a video tape of every video they have ever done. Both songs are excellent, but the videos are cheese at its best. You'll find it hard not to laugh. What perplexes me most about this cd is why the crazy change in direction? I heard that the guy who played the cowboy dropped out of the group when their manager decided on this weird direction. The cowboy wanted no part in the hideous makeup and Shakespearian costumes and so he smartly left. As for the music, the first five tracks are great, and the rest of the tracks are just unbelieveably bad. McDonalds should be paying them royalties for their song about Big Macs. That song, and the songs called Diet and Foodfight are bad writing at its most juvenile. I doubt any of the Village People wrote those songs. It's hard to believe that the group that put out such great songs as YMCA and In The Navy ended up with what is on the second half of this cd. It's so bad it's worth owning this cd just for the cheese factor alone. The first two songs are the best on the whole cd. I don't know why Do You Wanna Spend The Night wasn't promoted more as a single because it's a solid track and is as catchy and great as any of their other hits. That song, and Five O Clock In The Morning are the only two reasons to buy this cd. I'm rating this cd 3 stars for those songs alone. I'd actually rate them much higher. The rest of the cd is all downhill. It's too bad that this cd is what officially killed their career and popularity. No, actually i think it was the movie called Can't Stop The Music that killed them. WHich is too bad because they are a very entertaining novelty act. Village people try New Wave!! They tried to make a comeback with this album but didn't quite do it. This album follows right after "Can't stop the music" bombed along with the soundtrack. The first two songs "Do You Wanna Spend The Night" and "5 O'Clock In The Morning" are the best songs on the album and are the only ones that have a little bit of disco in them. The next three songs "Fireman" "Jungle City" and "Action Man" are songs that try to be new wave but end up being the worst of new wave. But in general they are not that bad of songs to listen to if you like a laugh or two. The last Three songs "Big Mac" "Diet" "Food Fight" are all about food. I like these three songs because they are quite stupid and funny and are catchy tunes to listen to. Overall the album is ok but it isn't one of the best village people albums mainly because it was done poorly and they made it after disco was dead and their fame was lost. Another thing that probably helped the album not sell was the fact that the front cover had everyone dressed up in makeup and face paint which would scare off a lot of would be buyers. I would recommend this album to collecters and people who just want something to laugh at. And for people that like punk music the last song "food fight" has to be one of the greatest classic punk songs of all time and I recommed buying this album just for that reason. . You can see a complete list of all Village People discography, or go back to the Village People tabs