Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A grower on your taste buds!, 26 April 2002
By A Customer
Since it's release this album has recieved a mixed reaction
and continues to divide fan opinion. Blondie however, have
never been content to merely be pop-punk hitmakers and
nothing else ("Attack Of The Giant Ants", "Victor" or "Cautious
Lip" anyone?).
Until 1999's "No Exit", "Autoamerican" was Blondie's most
diverse album. Right away the album takes a different
direction with Chris Stein's moody futuristic classical piece
"Europa". The rest of the album takes in show tunes ("Here's
Looking At You"), reggae ("The Tide Is High" originally by The
Paragons), jazz (Debbie's composition "Faces") and ends
with "Follow Me" from the musical "Camelot".
Deborah Harry and Chris Stein's "Rapture" was a pioneering
rap hit. Debbie's rapping is flawless, her harmonising verses
are seductive and the song ends with the coolest guitar
solo ever. Nigel Harrison's co-penned "T-Birds" is breezy and
Debbie gives an alternate take on history. I love guest
Wa Wa Watson's wah wah guitar on the soaring "Live It Up"
(which comes out even more in the extended disco mix, sadly
not included in this reissue).
Jimmy Destri scores as always with album tracks. "Angels On
The Balcony" is one of Blondie's finest album tracks, has a
great guitar solo in the middle and should have been a single.
"Walk Like Me" is a punky garage number about anti-conformity
and has a great marching bassline, twangy guitar and growly
vocals in that way that only Debbie can do properly.
It may not have the instant appeal of the first four albums
but after a few listens it can prove a rewarding experience
and really grow on you. Blondie managed to experiment
artistically and deliver some hit songs at the same time.
Long term fans of course will have spotted the lyrical link
between "Walk Like Me" and the 1999 hit single "Maria" (also
by Destri).
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inspired Masterpiece, 26 May 2004
If PARALLEL LINES is Blondie's greatest collection of songs - snappy, clever and direct, in ideal compliance with their standing as the perfect pop group - their 1980 AUTOAMERICAN is their greatest album, one that is dignified and complete, perfect in its total unity and harmony. Ironically it is at a time when Blondie were most alienated as a group that they sound most like a band, a contradiction evoked in the record's beautiful cover art.On AUTOAMERICAN Blondie, in spirit at least, step outside New York and breathe in the vast scope and beauty of America. The record's opening sequence "Europa", a somewhat intellectual concept of the automobile voiced robotically by Harry, is the statement of intent, giving way to the perfect disco bass of "Live it Up", containing one of Blondie's great lines: "you know its so passé/to sleep without you every day". "Go Through It" cruises along an open highway with tender love and gutsy charm. "Do the Dark", tinged with North African allusion, is a shadowy and mysterious invitation to "do the Sidewalk Shuffle/do the Invisible Dance" and is one of Blondie's most intoxicating songs. Admittedly "The Tide is High" becomes increasingly easy to skip over as the album's finest moments become even more alluring; The old time dance-hall number "Here's Looking at You" - lazy, smoky and poignant, voiced through a glass of bourbon while pining for Monroe; The immortal "Rapture", cooler now than it ever was, and a significant piece of pop culture in itself, pin-pointing the exact moment when the New York elite chose hip-hop over power pop. Evoking Basquait and Warhol as effortlessly as it does huge yellow taxi cabs and brownstone buildings; space mutants and b-movies; Coca Cola and Studio 54. In fact there is not a song on AUTOAMERICAN that does not shimmer in the searing heat of a Manhattan summer, not least Jimmy Destri's sublime "Angels on the Balcony". Lucid, warm and effervescent, it is imbued with magic and a bittersweet nostalgia and is perhaps the most beautiful song Blondie ever recorded, where Harry's touching vocal is both as cool and as sweet as vanilla ice-cream. "Walk Like Me" is Destri's call to arms, invoking the individual in a grid-locked, press frenzied America where everyone's merely a number - "change the way you comb your hair and watch what you walk under" states Harry over Clem's stabbing drum punches, before straining angrily "why don't you walk like me?". The record closes with Harry's lovely rendition of the Lerner & Lowe classic "Follow Me", as if one needs proof that Blondie, despite their modern sensibility, belong in all times, any time. Genius.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blondie will never equal this diverse and amazing album!, 21 Aug 2003
By A Customer
On it’s release in 1980, ‘Autoamerican’ was bashed mercilessly by fans and critics (and still is now) for being so diverse. To this day, it still divides the opinions of thousands of Blondie fans. Some say it was a failed attempt to try something new and that Blondie should stick to the tried- and-tested formula that had worked wonders on the previous albums- upbeat, intensely hummable punk-pop songs. Others say it’s Blondie’s most ambitious and artistic work ever and applaud them for having the courage to make such an eclectic LP.
Right from the start, ‘Autoamerican’ sees the band embracing a different genre altogether. ‘Europa’ is Chris Stein’s very moody, darkly atmospheric classical composition. To top that, there are disco songs, reggae songs (in the form of massive No. 1 cover, The Tide Is High), a jazz song or two, country-style pop. Another single was ‘Rapture’. Blondie were always fantastically good at crossing styles and breaking boundaries- ‘Rapture’ is the perfect example of this, combining white disco-rock with black hip-hop for a completely pioneering hit (a note- Blondie are credited with having the first commercial hit song to feature rap, which is quite something!). Definitely one of the most creative songs of the 80s.
However, the Blondie of old is not completely lost. The beautiful ‘Angels On The Balcony’ is pure power-pop, reminiscent of any of the previous albums. ‘Walk Like Me’ is a very punky number about anti-conformity (‘We don’t wear that uniform…tell that girl you like her badge/tell that man that you’re the Nazz) and one of my favourites. ‘T-Birds’ is another classic example, with a soaring guitar break.
Some really great bonus tracks are available here, including the incredible Electro-rock anthem and transatlantic No. 1, ‘Call Me’ in it’s original long version. ‘Suzy And Jeffrey’ (B-side to ‘The Tide Is High’) is a tragic tale of romance and what happens when you crash your girlfriend’s Audi into the side of a recording studio (and it’s true). Finally, ‘Rapture’ pops up again in an extended disco mix. Great to dance to, but at nearly 10 minutes long, it really drags.
All in all, ‘Autoamerican’ is an amazing album and there are some fabulous ideas behind it. That said, when I first bought it, I hated it. It really does not have the instant appeal of the first 4 Blondie LPs. However, I can now honestly say that it’s probably one of my most-played Blondie albums and I love it. So, if you’re a fan, buy it now and please, please give it a chance. After a few listens I think you’ll find it’s really grown on you. If you’re just ‘getting into’ Blondie, though, look elsewhere.
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