 "Excellent" | 2008-05-05 |
| - Reviewed By jtruchsess@digi-frame.com |
| Those who've outgrown blasts of white noise and feedback at the beginning and end of each song may well enjoy this album more than the Raveonette's earlier material. I like all their stuff but I disagree with those who say this album is inferior because it's less raw. It's more mature, and it's excellent. |
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 "MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ALBUM" | 2007-07-18 |
| - Reviewed By truckzilla |
| This is my one CD I would want while stranded on a deserted island. I guess I think of this music as the most elegant, mature, and subtle way to be entirely creepy, and it's the kind of thing that refuses to stoop to desperate means in order to be creepy. You have to meet this album half way to even notice it's scary quality...it's not some aggro/Americana kind of violence. It's more like a disturbing calm like ghosts from the 50's and 60's that you don't ever realize are ghosts. I listen to this CD mostly alone because it means too much to me for me to waste one second letting someone badmouth it. If you don't like this then you must have worse ADD than me, because this is the music I am requesting when I'm institutionalized and they are looking for something to calm me down. |
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 "Come on baby, You're my best fix" | 2007-07-05 |
| - Reviewed By tylermustdie |
Inventive Denmark duo, The Raveonettes, have outdone themselves with their 2005 sophomore effort "Pretty In Black". Changing up the pace considerably from their debut album "Chain Gang of Love", "Pretty In Black" ranges from slow weeping guitars to fast paced surf rock and most places in between on its way there. Believe me, they're all the better for it as well.
The songs on the disc intertwine quite well, and all seem to have a sense of modern rock feel to them, though they wouldn't seem to out of place on the top 40 chart from 1960. This is certainly evident on a cover of The Angel's 1963 hit "My Boyfriend's Back" and "Here Comes Mary" which is almost too similar to an older Everly Brothers hit. "The Heavens" gets things started with a nice euphonic ballad that really showcases the vocal talent of both singers. Singing simultaneously (like they do much throughout the disc) creates another aspect to their amply unique sound.
All in all the album has it's highs "Love In A Trashcan", "Uncertain Times", "Red Tan". And its lows "Twighlight", "Ode To LA". The creative, modern retro feel, gives it enough originality to be worth a listen to just about anybody who enjoys something different. And who knows, you just might fall in love with the smooth melodic voices of both Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. I did. |
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| "Buy This!" | 2006-05-06 |
| - Reviewed By moxxy5 |
| I heard The Ravonettes "Chain Gang of Love" in a music store several years ago and bought it... have loved listening to it, but wished there were slightly more variations from song to song. Well, this cd seems to be it!!! I listened to every song, and I was happy to do it. I have to love the foundation sound of a band...then look for fluxuation from song to song...this is still The Ravonettes, which is great, but even better! Sounds like a fusion of so many other classic sounds from the past- 60's splashed with 80's era with a modern twist ...modern that's good that is, poppy/punk-ish...so, listen and see if you don't agree...bet cha won't! |
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| "Righteous" | 2006-04-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1QPJIUPDWPJOJ |
| This is an album that has some of the best hooks that I've heard in years. These people have intensity and discipline and beauty. They emulate Phil Spector with breathtaking effect. Using Ronnie Spector is a ballsy move, and they make it effective. |
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| "(three and a half stars) similar in quality to "Chain Gang of Love"" | 2006-04-10 |
| - Reviewed By trainreader61 |
With the Raveonettes third album, "Pretty in Black" (a play on the Psychedelic Furs' track "Pretty in Pink"?) I can basically repeat my Amazon review for their preceding album "Chain Gang of Love." The band, consisting of the Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner (the writer of almost all of the songs) and Sharin Foo, is obviously interested in several genres of American rock-and roll, including Motown, 60's girl groups, surf music, and western themes; as well as British bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain.
To put it simply, I like the Raveonettes when they have some pace to the song. On "Pretty in Black," those songs are "Love in a Trashcan," "Sleepwalking," "Twilight," "Somewhere in Texas," and "You Say You Lie." I guess hearing Sharin Foo singing a perhaps too faithful rendition of "My Boyfriend's Back," and Ronnie Spector doing "Ode to L.A." is kind of fun, but it makes the band sound more like a novelty act than anything else. I do appreciate, however, the tribute to the theme from the "Twilight Zone," in "Twilight." The band's slower songs are O.K., but that's as far as I'd go.
Anyway, after three albums, the Raveonettes remain one of the more exciting bands of the last few years. I'm looking forward to seeing them live, as well as to their fourth album, which I hope marks a return to the sound of their debut E.P. "Whip It On," still the best thing they ever did. |
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| "Opened for Depeche Mode..." | 2006-01-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1O3FLHSW55V1Z |
| They were decent live, but they had some technical disadvantages. Sounded good enough for me to want more... |
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| "Excellent!" | 2005-12-22 |
| - Reviewed By pattygoo |
| I cannot stop listening to this. I like every song on this cd. I honestly stumbled onto The Raveonettes when I heard The Christmas Song on the O.C. Chrismakkah cd. I was instantly drawn in by their sound. Not a bad song on here! Love it! |
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| "Less bite, but still lots of fun" | 2005-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By franko77 |
On their first full-length release, 2003's Chain Gang of Love, The Raveonettes offered up a collection of songs that sounded like the result of a jam session between the ghosts of Buddy Holly and Joey Ramone. Its bubblegum melodies were filled with distortion and bizarre, spooky street imagery, creating a package that somehow worked. Pretty in Black, the follow-up, finds the Danish duo and their now fleshed-out band turning down the noise and incorporating a bit more variety, which will probably leave half their audience disappointed and the other half pleased.
The Raveonettes have never been shy about citing their heroes. Their name is a constant reminder of their love for Brill Building '60s girl-group pop (take out the "-ave-"), which marks some of the high points of the album. Sharin Foo coos through a fluffy, surprisingly faithful cover of The Angels' 1963 hit, "My Boyfriend's Back." You almost have to wonder why it's there, but it becomes irrelevant as it is just as infectious and fun as the original. For their "Ode to L.A." (and to retro girl-group pop itself), the band sought out former Ronette and seasoned bad girl Ronnie Spector for guest vocals. It's an overt effort to mimic the lush, "wall of sound" style that Phil Spector mastered with the Ronettes, and perhaps that's why it works so well. The band makes no secret of the fact that these songs are the result of an intense love of the music that inspired them.
The first single, "Love in a Trashcan," is a swaggering guitar number with disposable-yet-memorable lyrics about girls falling for trashy, no-good guys. When Sune Rose Wagner proclaims, "If you touch that girl, you know it's OK/People say she's a whore anyway/I think she looks like a nice vamp/Looking for love in a trashcan," you know you're in for music that doesn't take itself too seriously. Almost as fun is "Twilight," which employs a churning disco stomp that truly allows The Raves to rave.
"Here Comes Mary" combines a lilting melody with disturbing lyrics, and could be the equally grim sequel to The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack." It's a novel idea to follow up on the aftermath of that musically infamous motorcycle crash-quite possibly the most melodramatic moment in rock 'n' roll history-and the result is captivating. Also downbeat, the folk balladry of "Uncertain Times" manages to be dreamy, dark and hopeful all at once, boasting the lyrics, "And if the atom bomb should end us both/I'll be happy to go to the stars with you."
Some songs don't fare as well. "The Heavens," a sleepy ballad that Wagner says he wrote for Elvis, had he been alive today, is nice after a few listens but ultimately a dull, forgettable opener. "If I Was Young" suffers from the same problem. "Somewhere in Texas" is a wasteland of a song that succeeds in conjuring desert imagery but not in going anywhere musically special.
Overall, The Raveonettes justify the changes they made to their sound on Pretty in Black enough to make it a must-have disc for fans and a worthwhile listen for curious observers. The noisy bite of Chain Gang of Love is noticeably absent and will no doubt be missed enough by some to consider this material a letdown. But what the album lacks in intensity it makes up for in variety-and variety makes for a more interesting rave. |
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| "very retro, could be more interesting" | 2005-08-15 |
| - Reviewed By djinnman4610 |
I object less to this album's concept than its execution. It's perfectly OK, and often necessary, for a band to depart from its previous style and embrace new ones. From reading the other reviews you should have a sense that this is much closer to a shlock rock homage than their other stuff. Well, this record keeps up another dated pop music tradition also; time was, before the iTunes music store, a so-so album could be held up by a monster lead single, and that's what this one hopes to do. "Love in a Trashcan" is fast and exciting and terrifically catchy. A number of the other songs, such as "Sleepwalking" are also quite interesting. However, a lot of them just seem to drone on with acoustic guitar and drum arrangements that lack ingenuity, passion, and--most damningly for a release like this--pop catchiness. A large portion of this album just sort of happens, and that goes for the much-anticipated "My Boyfriend's Back" cover, which I guess was supposed to be ultrahip but is mostly a minimalist rehash of the original.
But "Love in a Trashcan" is darn good... |
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