Search - Divinyls :: Desperate

One Of The Best Albums EVER

Stephen B. O'Blenis | Nova Scotia, Canada | 09/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first full-length album by my personal pick for Greatest Band Of All Time; ten tracks, nine fronted and one co-fronted by the gorgeous, enthralling and mesmerising Christina Amphlett. The one 'co-fronted' song is "Siren Song", which trades lead vocals back and forth between Christina and a male singer (the liner notes do not specify whether it's Mark McEntee or Bjarne Ohlin, both of whom provide back-up vocals elsewhere on "Desperate"), the only time a DiVinyls record has actually used male vocals in a co-lead position, and wonderfully effective; even though it's Amphlett's performance that kind of steals the show here too. "Siren" ends up being all-in-all one of the quirkiest, most energizing and most adorable songs in the DiVinyls catalogue.



As for the other nine songs on the album, every last one of them lives up to the DiVinyls standard of excellence. "Boys In Town", the album's opener (and apparantly a major hit single in some countries; it's good to know that the outstanding "I Touch Myself" from their self-titled CD wasn't their only song to receive some of its just due, at least internationally) captures the album title perfectly and sets the stage for a truly powerhouse album; one of the best Hard Rock tracks ever. "Only Lonely" mixes longing, gloriously overt come-ons, touches of melancholy, and quirk, the way Only a song with Chrissie Amphlett

on vocals can. "Science Fiction" is both outstanding power rock and more new-wavy than much of the album, with great intro vocal effects and an excellent showcase for the whole band's musicianship.



"Elsie"...this one is something else. The diVinyls have occasionally done stuff in a somewhat-similar vein (like "I'm Jealous"), but this one is...not better, but certainly different.

Never have I heard vocals - not in doom metal, not in Bruce Springsteen's "Live In New York City" rendition of "Murder Incorporated", not in anything King Diamond has ever recorded -

*Never* vocals that so completely and so shockingly capture the depths possible of emotional anguish and pain as the formless screams in the latter parts of this song. You know how sometimes when you're sad you need sad songs or when you're angry you need angry songs, to cauterize your own dark or bleak emotions. On probably the darkest night of my life, it was this song - augmented by its shadows in a couple of the other 'dark' DiVinyls songs, that resonated in me and gave me one thing to hold onto, even if it was something very dark and cuttingly sharp. None of the horror movies I'd seen were quite dark enough, none of the metal I'd heard quite savage or despairing enough, just this. I guess I owe the band and especially its vocalist something for giving me a crutch to help me through some pretty rough stuff there until situations in m own existance

changed for the better.



Not to dwell too much on just one song (actually, it's kind of ironic that "Elsie" appears on an album where so much is just purely sexy and fun and romantic), on to the other songs - "Only You" is a perfect example of Amphlett's ability to mix weird vocal effects into the mix, and of a song whose lyrics are deeper on subsequent listens than the first time around, but not at the expense of losing its sizable 'fun' quotient. "Ring Me Up" is pure delight punctuated by little non-threatening jaunts of melancholy that only make the whole more endearing; with thinly veiled lyrical sexual advances that are veiled So thinly that it's like dressing in nothing but sheer fishnet (which Chrissie actually did for the photography for the self-titled "DiVinyls" album). "Victoria" is another delight - although written entirely by a male (guitarist Mark McEntee), the fact remains that it's a female singing a love song to another girl, complete with more veiled come-ons (though these ones not so obvious; few songwriters in the world veil their come-ons quite so thinly as Amphlett - she just does it so skillfully that it's even more enticing than if she didn't veil them at all), in what was probably a bolder move in the early eighties than it is today. "Take A Chance" is actually a very heartfelt inspirational song, about making life all it can be and actually believing it can be wonderful (all done without a single come-on!), sincere and motivating, in league with Blaze's "The Brave" and Blind Guardian's "Precious Jerusalem" for impact. "I'll Make You Happy" is possibly the most Pure Pop

thing DiVinyls has ever done, gloriously fun and carefree, proving, along with artists like Nelly Furtado and Natalie Imbruglia that, despite its looked-down-upon status, pop, when done right is just as valid and respectable a form of music as rock, metal, jazz, bluegrass, classical, or any other genre one could name.



There you have it: summary descriptions of ten awesome tracks on an unsurpassed album. I can't urge music lovers of all

stripes strongly enough to get this one."

Ignore The Fools!

Stephen B. O'Blenis | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first Divinyls album I bought in the early 80's and I still have it!, even though I had to purchase the CD yrs later. Please don't pay attention to the boobs who slam this CD or claim it sounds like Roxette...IT DOESN'T FOOL! you know who you are! I am so sick of boorish oafs who have not an artistic or musical bone in their body bashing a good rock band. (they're more rock than new wave) I enjoyed Desperate then and still do now...start with the album "What a Life" first if you are unfamiliar with them, it's a little more commercial friendly obviously this one's not for the meek!"

This IS the Divinyls!

FLK6677 | 02/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you want the sell-out pop hit "I Touch Myself" this is not the Divinyls CD for you. If you want to hear Christina Amphlett at what I believe is her absolute best, and you what to hear what the Divinyls are really about--buy this. I agree with others. There is no comparison to Roxette or any mega commercial band. Even with the success of "I Touch Myself" I cannot think of this band as commercial. If Christina Amphlett had wanted to pump out hit after hit there would have be no problem. That's not what the Divinyls are about. The one song on this CD that did get minor air play and considerable MTV play was "Boys in Town". This is a very talented, intense, and fun band to listen to. Not to mention they put on a live performance that stays with you for life. I actually love pop music, but this is so much better!"