Classic Rock Bottom

This week we're skipping ahead to 1989 with the 25th anniversary of Starship's "Love Among The Cannibals". You know, first weekend of the month and all that.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't care too much for Starship after their first album "Knee Deep IN The Hoopla". Even though it featured Grace Slick, I personally thought the album sucked plus I was tired of seeing "We Built This City" on MTV. I actually did see Starship on the Hoopla tour and it was very cool seeing Grace Slick live. Luckily they ran thru the Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship catalogue as well as a few Starship songs, so it wasn't a complete waste. 

The opening act was a horridly awful band and when their set was done, people were leaving. I asked a group of people why they were leaving and they said they came just to see The Outfield. When I asked how they could give up a chance to see Grace friggin' Slick, they looked at me dumbly. Youth. Idiots.

I never bought the followup to "Hoopla", but the song or two I heard on the radio weren't to my liking (even though the movie "Mannequin" was pretty good in a so-bad-it's-good way). Sappy ballads weren't what I was looking for, so I gave up on Starship. 

Maybe it was boredom, but for some reason I recently picked this up. It helped that it was cheap, were talking a buck or two. The reviews I read were also not too bad so I splurged. Oh, and it might have to do with me hearing a pretty good Starship song on a radio station, something that actually rocked so I was curious. I thought it was on this album since this was a supposedly rockin' album, but it's not. That's life.

Some of the reviews I've read compared this to Def Leppard. And yes, one of these songs sounds like Def Leppard when they were going thru their sucky phase. So it's a power ballad. From Starship. I'm not too surprised, but it works.

It might seem that I hate this album. Not true. There's something about it that sucks you in, plus the geetar throughout the album is pretty good. It absolutely sounds like an 80's album which is sometimes not a good thing, but here it's kinda......good? Don't know how to explain it, but it works even today.

Sorry, Gordon. Told you this would be EVIL!

Love Among The Cannibals

1. The Burn
2. It's Not Enough
3. Trouble in Mind
4. I Didn't Mean to Stay All Night
5. Send a Message
6. Wild Again
7. Love Among the Cannibals
8. Dream Sequence/We Dream In Color
9. Healing Waters
10. Blaze of Love
11. I'll Be There

Availability: $4 or so.

       

Views: 96

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

This was pretty good.  It's pop, but that's not always a bad thing, especially if you have a killer guitar player like Craig Chaquico.  He is phenomenal.  

Excellent vocals.  Mickey Thomas has always been a terrific vocalist.

Seven of the eleven songs have no co-writing from anybody that was in the band.

I noticed there are multiple producers, which usually leads to a really disjointed offering.  Not a factor here.

There's a couple of sappy, cheesy ballads.

The Burn, Wild Again, Love Among The Cannibals and We Dream In Color are all excellent songs.

Love Among The Cannibals sounds like a song from a movie.

Best song overall to me is Wild Again.  I like it lyrically.  "I wanna see those eyes in the mirror, full of fire again". It's very much an 80's track.  Oh, I just read the Wikipedia article that says it was produced for the movie Cocktail and was released on the CD as a bonus track.

Nice post Jon.  I don't think I'll search this out, but if I run across it used I'll pick it up.

No mention of Def Leppard?

Found it today for a dollar!

Like that opening track, its full of rich ooey-gooey poppyness, nice tempo, over processed drum work, and that poppy bass line.  But I really must say that Thomas' voice seems to be at a peak as he sounds strong...  Its Not Enough was the single I think, as it sounds familiar.

First slip up is I Didn't Mean To Stay All Night.  First of all, yes he did!  Any guy will tell you, that's the goal, stay all night that is. Second of all the song wasn't very interesting.  Further making this track disappointing is the fact that its a Mutt Lange tune!  I would have expected better knowing that.  And then Send A Message doesn't get the album back on track, its a really 80's period piece. In 100 years when Musicologists look back and unearth 80's music they can use this song as a microcosm of all the sounds of the decade.

Wild Again, at least its more interesting than the previous two.  The title track had potential but it faded out unrealized.  I did like that last track, it was a nice acoustic tune that felt out of place with the rest of the album as it wasn't over produced and poppy. 

IN 1989 I would have loved this, and I'm not sure why it got by me, but listening now I hear a period piece and underdeveloped songs and the biggest sin on this?   .... When you have a guitarist like Craig Chaquico you showcase him, A LOT!  He's lost in most of the songs and that's a huge disappointment to me. 

Still, its a fine listen and like RJ, I wont be seeking this out but am glad you posted this...

And still.....no mention of Def Leppard.

I didn't hear it, but then again I did listen to Def Leppard after Hysteria much at all.  But I did purchase Slang and liked it... 

Just listen to the chorus of "I Didn't Mean To Stay All Night".

That's the one song I didn't like!  And your going to make me listen to it again?

So the tune could be any  number of DL ballads...  lets see...

When Love and Hate Collide?  check...

Have Your Ever Needed Someone So Bad?  check...

Two Steps Behind?  check...

The vocal harmonies are an exact match for anyone of these tunes...  The song styling and structure may be a hang over from earlier DL sessions, hard to know but your right it is a Def Leppard tune.

I feel better now.

All I can think of is....it's not evil...and that's a good thing!

And the awesome, cool, totally fantastic Badlands debut came out in 1989. So that alone made it a purty guud year...

RSS

Question Of The Week

CRB Features (Click photo to visit)

Birthdays

There are no birthdays today

CRB Staff Members

 

In Memory Of

Norma Jean Fox
(11/30/1945-9/7/2010)

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by RJhog (Admin).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service