If you suspect that I am burdened with an abundance of pride, my first album selection for review out to dispel you of that notion. Yes, the first album I have chosen for this feature, the first album I remember listening to obsessively, is none other than “Savage Garden,” a mostly forgotten album of syrupy pop music, by a band whose singer’s gender was not immediately clear to me from voice alone. Having this album as a starting point isn’t very masculine, nor does it lend me the music snob cred an album like “Led Zeppelin II” might, but what can you do? Like romance, we don’t really choose what music we fall for, and sometimes we make mistakes and we learn from them. That said, as easy as it might be to feel embarrassed about once liking this album and to sweep it under the rug, the purpose of this column is listen with open ears, and to turn back time and revisit the memories of days gone by, days when I listened to this album constantly. And perhaps it won’t be as hard on the ears as I’m expecting.
At least two or three of the songs on this album were radio staples before I got the CD, which I think was a birthday gift for my seventeenth b-day (or maybe it was Christmas). Anyway, wouldn’t you know it, the first three tracks on the disc are the ones that got radio play:
“To the Moon & Back” - This might be the song that holds up best on the whole album; at any rate it is a fine example of putting your best foot forward. As a piece of unapologetically studio-crafted Rock/Pop, it does an admirable job drawing you in and layering in enough sounds to keep you interested. It appeals to the alienated and hurt, to that universal feeling that things have to be better out there somewhere else, but it might take a rocket ship to get there. I dig the guitar and bass riffs, and even though the singer’s voice is soft and high, there is enough of an edge that I can get into it un-ironically and without embarrassment.
“I Want You” - I think this was their first big hit, and while undoubtedly a lot of that comes from the ultra-high-fructose pop energy fueling the song, I’d bet the biggest draw was simply the rapid-fire lyrics in the verses. The song feels a little corny now, maybe even overdone, but I appreciate vivid (if slightly clunky) lyrics like, “Conversation has a time and place in the interaction of a lover and a mate but the time of talking, using symbols, using words, can be likened to a deep sea diver who is swimming with a raincoat.” In short, I can see why it was a hit, but it won’t be making it into my iTunes regular rotation any time soon.
“Truly Madly Deeply” - The other mega-hit. From the second the first piano chord plays, everything about it screams, “Ballad!” Which isn’t necessarily a problem. I remember lying on my waterbed one morning, hearing this song on the radio, and thinking of my current crush. Foreshadowing: the bitter/angry songs that follow later on the album closely mirrored the arc of my feelings for said crush, who, if you talk about it in terms of burning people, probably qualified as some sort of relationship pyromaniac. Ah, to be a teenager again! Okay, not really. Anyway this is still a sweet song, and believe it or not it still has the power to move the cynic in me (a little bit). A little too schmaltzy for regular play, though.
Now we are on to the stuff only people who own this album have ever heard before. I predict a precipitous drop off in quality, though I remember especially digging some of the later songs.
“Tears of Pearls” - One thing most of the songs on this album have in common is a strong dance beat, often tinged with anger or sadness. I’m not sure why. Club music is all about forgetting reality and giving into either a fantasy or our baser natures, so I’m not really sure what to make of dance music that bemoans bruised feelings and broken hearts. Anyway, “Tears of Pearls” is the first song that truly captures this angry dance feel. It’s all right, as that genre goes, but nothing worth writing home about. Also the lyrics are just silly. But not as silly as...
“Universe” - I’m pretty sure they were going for sexy, or maybe sexy and bittersweet. What they got was corny. Some of the ideas here are good, like the idea of how a desire granted can leave you more confused than fulfilled, but you gotta really want to find it to see past the generic beat and hokey melodies (and let’s not forget the bell trees).
“Carry On Dancing” - Let’s just call this part of the album the rough patch. “Carry On Dancing” has some intensity, which is a plus, but it is trying to be intense about the need to keep dancing. So it is pretty much comical to me in the same way as a clown that has to be serious and give bad news. The style and the content don’t quite match. Though I have a weakness for faux strings and drum breaks, so I find it’s worth a listen or two if I ignore the words.
“Violet” - This song starts with someone knocking on a door repeatedly, and then the music kicks in. Is the idea that they are getting into a club? If so, can we turn around and leave? I’m kidding - sort of. This song is also tres corny. Speaking of french phrases, I could be wrong but the dance music on this album sounds kind of euro-trashy to me. Like most of the intense dance songs on this album, it goes down much smoother without paying attention to the words. Although I like the way he sings, “Little things take a daaaaamn good shot at you and me.”
“Break Me Shake Me” - Here we go. This is the first song on the back half of the album I remember being really into. This song and the next song were the tonic after I got burned by the crush I was into back on “Truly Madly Deeply.” Suffice it to say that lines like “your soul is slowly fading,” “you abused me in a way that I’ve never known,” and “you’re the kind who deals with the games of the mind” spoke to me. And how does it hold up now? The bass riff is kinda cool, and I like the anger and pounding drums on the chorus. The effect is weakened by the voice of the singer, but I’d say it is still a song I can legitimately enjoy.
“A Thousand Words” - I remember sharing this song and the previous song with a friend on a school trip. I wanted - as I still chronically want - to share anything that speaks to me with those around me. I hoped he would like it, but inside a little voice was also worried that the music was not masculine enough, that even though the emotions in the song felt real, that pop sung by a man with a fairly effeminate voice would never be appealing to the majority of high school boys. I don’t remember much of a reaction, but at least that means he probably did not turn around and say how ridiculous I was to like it (or call my masculinity or heterosexuality into question). This song is kind of silly, using synthesized accents for dramatic effect that sound like they came right out of a 90’s JRPG (I’m looking at you, Vay). That said, I love 90’s JRPGs. And I can get behind the idea now (as I could then) that after enough cruel actions, sweet words don’t mean a whole lot.
“Promises” - Another song I don’t quite know what to make of. It has a lightness to it, a bounciness, that doesn’t quite gel with the emotional appeal made to choose your words carefully. It’s a little too bubble-gum for me, and has some truly bizarre lyrics, like “patience and elated wisdom don’t share a common phrase.” And a couple too many falsetto “whoo-ooh”s (which is saying something, for this singer to need to go falsetto).
“Santa Monica” - The closer, and the most puzzling song on the album. It is slow, but not a ballad or a romance song like “Truly” or “Universe.” It does a pretty good job at conjuring up a feeling to match the lyrics of walking around a town where you don’t quite fit in and just looking around at everyone living their normal lives. I still don’t know what to do with the random shout out to Norman Mailer. I admit, though, I kind of like this song. It has a reality to it that a lot of the dance songs don’t, and in its way, it succeeds by not trying too hard.
So there you have it. Is this album a rediscovered treasure, a rightfully buried embarrassment, or something in between? On balance, I would say that while there are some songs worth listening to, it mainly has value for me as nostalgia. Far too often it takes itself too seriously, and ends up being even sillier as a result. But at least they know how to make a good underlying beat and synth line, which is a rarer skill than you might think.
Next up, Duncan Sheik’s self-titled album, and deeper into the mind of a seventeen-year-old drowning in emotion. (I’m sorry.)
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