When is a tribute album not a tribute album? Well, ordinarily we'd say it doesn't seem like much of an honor when the subjects of the homage are actually paying tribute to themselves. |

But since the soon-to-be-released Plagiarism, on which legendary helium-pop duo Sparks does exactly that, is such a blast, it might not be such a bad idea to let it slide this one time.

It's been more than a quarter-century since brothers Ron and Russell Mael first tweaked listeners with cotton candy-wrapped tales of debauchery, and their following (while admittedly cult-ish) has grown to include movers and shakers on all sides of the musical pond. A slew of those folks show up to jam with the duo on their auto-tribute.

Sparks-ophiles as varied as Faith No More (who made their last studio collaboration with the Maels on Plagiarism's new renditions of Seventies hits "Something for the Girl With Everything" and "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us") and Erasure (who pitch in on the lesser-known "Amateur Hour") are among the acts chipping in.

In all, the aptly-titled Plagiarism sees the brothers -- California natives who once convinced naive Anglophiles that they were hot exports from Limeyland -- deconstructing nineteen tunes spanning their full history. If nothing else, you've gotta give 'em credit for admitting that they're recycling their own ideas -- a confession that's long overdue from just about any Nineties chart-hog you'd care to mention.

DAVID SPRAGUE(August 31, 1998)