Necessary Evil : Debbie Harry : Review : Rolling Stone

Believe Debbie Harry’s claim that love moved her to create her first solo album in fourteen years, with the obscure New York production team Super Buddha. Professionally, she must like these people; artistically, she’s old enough at sixty-two to feel that life is too short for irony -- for the role-playing she’s specialized in since Blondie. Unfortunately, Super Buddha’s pop rock tends toward the ordinary just like these excellent values. Yes, their songs can be playful. You’ll notice when the guitars escalate on “You’re Too Hot,” when Harry sotto-voces her sexpot act on “Dirty and Deep.” But you’ll really notice when a long diminuendo fourteen tracks in proves a bridge to the last three songs. The first is punky Afro-pop played by Harry’s Blondie-mate Chris Stein, the last a first-person meditation on suicide bombing by another old pal, Jazz Passenger Roy Nathanson. Both dwarf the rest of the record.

ROBERT CHRISTGAU

(Posted: Oct 18, 2007)

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4of 5 Stars

Debbie Harry's voice is showing her age, and that's a good thing. Her voice has a gravity to it that makes it more alluring than ever, in my opinion. That's not to say that she doesn't stil show the same spunk that has always made her vocal performances so entertaining; she does.

And why does the reviewer find the tracks 'ordinary'? They may not be stratospherically groundbreaking, but I found them all to have great hooks, along with enough quirky flourishes to keep each song interesting without overpowering it. These tracks are not ordinary. Period.

I like this version of Debbie Harry better than any previous one. With talent like this you don't have to be a sex kitten to warrant attention.

Nov 9, 2007 09:53:01

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