1001 Albums Summary

Overall, this album does stand the test of time! Belinda Carlisle's vocals are raw, powerful, and uncontrolled but not in the bad way. I had a low level of anxiety while listening because I kept wondering, "Is her voice going to give out?" but, it added to the listening experience as it kept me intrigued and focused. The melodies are very catchy, the band was phenomenal, and supported Belinda exceedingly well. Now for the negatives: lyrically, the album is very surface level and when it tried to delve deeper, it was very trite and predictable, especially on "skid marks on my heart". One major issue I had while listening was the individuality of the songs or rather the lack of it. Every song was very sonically and generically similar, always living in this pop-rock world, steady drums, strumming electric guitar, talk-singing, growing pre-chorus that explodes into a catchy chorus. Don't get me wrong, it sounds good but I would've loved to see a wider range of sounds explored on this album especially considering how well this band could sound with a little more creativity. A track shout-out for me is "Automatic", its very different from the rest of the album, its a lot quieter and inward than the rest of the album. The guitar strumming is haunting and the pause at the end of the chorus is perfection!

Damn, the harmonies are fantastic! Karen Carpenters vocals feel like a warm hug, very nostalgic. Truly a great album!