|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great collection for a unique act, 16 Aug 2005
Lime are an intriguing, faceless group from the 1980's who churned out a massive amount of music without anybody really knowing who they were. The group consisted of Canadian husband and wife team Denis and Denyse LePage, who produced all the music and shared the vocals, but they never performed in person, so all public appearances were made by two fresh faced young stand-ins, to give the fans something to look at. Lime produced an impressive nine albums, with varying degrees of success. Their trademark sound was rampant synthesised Hi-NRG supporing two very distinctive vocal styles, the high, birdlike trilling of Denyse, complemented by the gravelly rasping voice of Denis. You won't easily mistake this group for anyone else! Actually, the style I have described really only applies to the singles, as Lime's albums mix these in with the occasional slow tracks, and some songs are little more than electronic doodlings. For this reason, a greatest hits package is the best place to start if you have liked what you heard in clubs, although it's a shame that this album isn't a little longer as it's only really a taster, which is a compliment to the group in that they have more good material than would fit on one album. The two best tracks have to be "Guilty" and "Unexpected Lovers", although they are not necessarily the ones that met with most success. Two of the groups biggest hits were "Babe We're Gonna Love Tonight" and "Your Love", (both included here), but I find them a little less enjoyable then the two previously mentioned. Some, like "Angel Eyes" and "Take It Up" have a really strident robotic beat, which the group excelled at turning into pretty hot dance music. If you enjoy this aspect, try some of the albums where you'll find some very diverse sounding tracks, but as mentioned earlier, they often experimented with odd rhythms that mean not every track can be danced to. I wish this package had cast it's net a bit wider, as there are many other strong tracks that could have been added, such as "On The Grid", "Did You See That Girl", "Do You Like To Love" and "I Don't Wanna Lose You" to name but a few. A final word about the remixing, normally I would have reservations about buying a collection where the songs are not in their original versions, so be warned that nearly every track is different to it's previous album or 12" single incarnation. My real regret is that my favourite song "Guilty" has had quite a severe makeover, with too many electronic special effects piled on top of it, and much of it's charm has been lost. The original 12" single release had a far less cluttered feel to it, with a long slow build up from the simple opening bass-line that set a great mood. Don't worry too much though, because the others are all good mixes, and all are long versions. It's a great way to add Lime's music to your Hi-NRG collection, but make sure you get the Unidisc remastered version of this album, as there is a other one around with the same cover, with far fewer tracks on it. As an aside, these album covers are as much a trademark of the group as their sound, adorned as they are with really cheesy airbrushed paintings of cosmopolitan lounging model-types drinking cocktails (with lime in them, of course!)...you can find out more for yourself, as the wonderful Unidisc have also released the entire Lime back catalogue onto CD, all with extra 12" bonus tracks. If you decide to investigate further, I would recommend the middle period of their albums, especially Lime 3 which was one of thier biggest sellers. As I said, a group unlike any other, and an eccentric national treasure!
|
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home