Search - Trans Am :: TA

Guilty pleasure

07/01/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, as a long time Trans Am fan, I guess I won't even try to defend this album intellectually. It is what other reviewers have said it is, an 80's Survivor mess in post-rock clothing masquerading as a party album. Nonetheless, I like it, and find it very listenable and melodic and friendly, especially "A Different Kind of Love" and "Cold War." Although I prefer other Trans Am albums ("Future World" and "Red Line"), I believe "TA" will spend more time in my disc player than "Surrender to the Night" or "The Surveillance" or even their self-titled debut, and it just doesn't deserve the antipathy that has been leveled at it since its release."

They're back

05/08/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Trans Am never fails to amaze me. They possess the ability to perform any style of music well. Here they shoot for an 80's new wave/synth pop sort of feel, almost reminicent of Philip Manley's side project, Knodel, but more dance oriented. Unlike the other Trans Am albums, however, nearly every song on TA has vocals (without vocoder, too). This is not a bad thing though. The vocals on this album are much stronger than those on Red Line.
There are still a few songs that will please the purists, too. While the first half of the album sees them venturing into newer territory (for them, at least), the latter half echos the musical beauty of Surrender to the Night.
All in all, TA posesses all the fury of old Trans Am while keeping the band pushing themselves in new directions."