Search - Wax :: Wax Works: Best of

A photograph of English 80s pop by the men behind the scenes

ericlynnhill | FL USA | 10/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You probably haven't ever heard of Wax or remember their biggest hit "Building a Bridge to your Heart" but they are an important part of English pop culture. I know, I was there. I'll give a review first, but it means nothing without knowing who Wax is so I'll follow the review with what history I know of Wax and why they are important in musical history.Wax, like all musical experiments, had its ups and downs; Waxworks is a collection of only the ups. The songs range from fun dance oriented pop (Building a Bridge) to soulful social comentary (Some Other World). If you like English 80s pop you should give Wax a try and here is why:I was a young teenager when I was in England in the 80s. I remember great music being produced on almost a weekly basis and I was surprised to learn, back then, that the same producer duo was responsible for most of the hits I heard on the radio. So when I heard that they formed their own band, Wax,in an attempt to recreate the success they had with other artists on their own I was eager to buy their first LP. The critics, however, panned the album saying it was pop music at its worst, how dare two producers play at musician using their tried-and-true "formula" to create hits. Well the formula worked, and they had a few hits in England, but more than that, Wax was able to use their talent for hit production to release more meaningful songs, songs like "Some Other World" which talked about the harm human corruption (apathy, political dealings, dirty preachers i.e. Falwell) caused in the world and to denounce the culture of greed prevalent in the early 80s. Their songs split 50/50 between pop dance tunes and political/soulful statements. I'll admit on each album there were hits and big misses, but Waxworks is all about the hits. Give it a try."