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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect reissue of classic album, 21 Oct 2006
Sparks' 'Kimono My House' ranks as one of the greatest albums of all time- despite the fact Sparks have created a wealth of excellent records, this is one that stands out. It's a record that has been cited as an influence, or just is an influence, by/of such acts as Morrissey, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees, New Order, Faith No More, Franz Ferdinand, Associates, The Darkness (and so on...)It's also one of the great long-players of the glam-era, taking its place alongside such classics as Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust', T-Rex's 'Electric Warrior', Roxy Music's 'For Your Pleasure', Todd Rundgren's 'Something/Anything' & Lou Reed's 'Transformer.'
Recorded in the UK, where the Mael-brothers were joined by Dinky Diamond (Drums), Martin Gordon (Bass) & Adrian Fisher (Guitar) - Sparks' had a suitably rock-band sound for their Mael-pop. Whoever said this album was rubbish & nothing more than 'This Town...' is clearly talking out of their posterior. 'Kimono My House' is loaded with pop-classics, even bonus-track 'Lost and Found' (a dead ringer for Suede, like Ultravox!'s 'Life at Rainbow's End') is a classic!
Highlights on an album populated by highlights include 'Amateur Hour', the caustic 'Talent Is An Asset', the prog-ish 'Equator' & the fantastic ode to narcissism 'Falling in Love with Myself Again.' & these are probably not the uber-highlights, which include the caustic gripe 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - which with 'Here in Heaven' (Juliet bottles out of the suicide pact) makes clear the reason why Morrissey adores them. The humour is fantastic, and possibly the reason why people don't take this album as seriously as they should- classic-lines include "It's a lot like playing the violin/You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin" ('Amateur Hour') & "You mentioned Kant and I was shocked/You know where I come from none of the girls have such foul tongues" ('Hasta Manana, Monsieur'- up there with Monty Python's playful Philosophy Song!).
The two ultra-uber highlights have to be the most well known track 'This Town...', which is a glampoprockrush which nods sinisterly to war ("You are a Khaki-coloured bombadier- it's Hiroshima that you're nearing...the bullets cannot cut you down")& have the euphoric repetition, "Heartbeat/Increasing heartbeat." & my personal favourite 'Hasta Manana, Monsieur' - which manages to allude to 'Strawberry Fields Forever' intelligently (note to Oasis' 'Go Let It Out') and sounds wonderful with such odd lines such as the refrain, "Kimono My House, Mon Amour/I am sure that this motion don't need no accompanying words/Guess I was wrong because you've fled/Leaving me with my Michelin Guide and a half-empty foreign bed." It's kind of amusing and melancholic, a happy-sad-odd pop-rush that makes me wonder if they're the Kurt Vonnegut of pop-music?
'Kimono My House' is quite reasonably the number one album in heaven (though a later Sparks album from 1979 might count too?) - though follow-up 'Propaganda' is as great too! As are the latest two Sparks albums...this is the best version released, coming remastered with great sleevenotes and pics and at a budget price...
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique, 18 Dec 2006
It's always the sign of a stone cold classic album when you can't place the year it was made in. Despite recording it in 1974, square in the middle of the glam fad, this could be released any time in the past 32 years and it would still be considered a work of genius. Obviously the Roman Candle of the record is 'This Town Isn't Big Enough...' but it's just soaked in great tunes, brimming with hooks and almost intimidatingly intellectual lyrical wit. Particularly love 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' and 'Here In Heaven'. I actually put off buying this for years, purely because I was so familiar with The Hit, but having listened to it solidly for the past two days, I can assure any coy shoppers that it's one unalloyed pleasure - even the extra tracks are brilliant, particularly 'Barbecutie'. Highly recommended.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a perfect album , 14 Jul 2007
great songs , great musicianship , a production that was light years ahead of it's time . this album is up there with the likes of the first velvets album re the influenece it had on many a future popstar . i'd recommend this band and this album to anyone who likes great music and cutting edge smart lyrics .. brilliant stuff .
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