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The bad news about Pat
Benetar’s latest album “Get
Nervous” (Chrusalis) is that
the broadcast media will
overkill it. The public can be
assured of constantly hearing
tunes from “Get Nervous” on
top-40 radio for at least the next
six months.
The good news is that the new
album is excellent, catchy and
listenable. Critics continually
blast Benetar for the one-track
nature of her subject matter
love lost and love found. These
same critics can’t deny that
-The Dark Crystal -
Fantasy enthusiasts of all
ages have waited with varying
degrees of patience for the ar
rival of The Dark Crystal, our
anticipation whetted by a
remembrance of things past-
Sesame Street, Yoda, and La
Belle Piggy. When the long
expected wonder finally came
to Harrisburg during the
Christmas holidays, it proved to
be, on the whole, a disappoint
ment. There were some magic
moments, but not enough to
outweigh the heaviness of the
story and the attempted sym
bolic devices.
Somewhere, on a planet with
three suns, a millemum ap
proaches, when at the conjunc
tion of the suns, a missing frag
ment is to be placed in the Dark
Crystal-freeing the planet from
the dominion of the evil Skexes
and restoring the rule of the
Gelflings. The crystal had been
shattered at the previous con
junction, a thousand years
before, at which time the
Skexes, twelve evil bird-like
creatures, and the Mystics,
Michael Markle
Benetar is a very talented per
former who has blazed a trail
for women in rock.
“Get Nervous” was co
produced by Peter Coleman
(along with Neil Geraldo), who
also produced the hard-driving
sound of Benetar’s debut LP
“In the Heat of the Night.”
Guitarist Scott St. Clair Sheets
-has been replaced by keyboar
dist Charlie Giordano whose
virtuosity richly embellishes
the ten tunes on “Get Nervous.”
Side one opens with “Shadows
of the Night” which, in case
you’ve been living in a cultural
void (or in Middletown), is the
first top-ten hit Selected from
the many potential chart
busters on the album. The first
few acappella lines of the song
immediately confirm Benetar’s
status as the “First Lady of
Rock.” Guitarist Neil Geraldo’s
impending power chords add to
tiie overall intensity of the in
itial vocals while Giordano’s
keyboards prevent Benetar
from relying on familiar vocal
intonations and phrasing.
Other obvious hits include
“Little Too Late,” (likely to be
the next single), “Looking for a
Stranger,” and “Tell it to Her.”
Benetar delivers an especially
impressive vocal performance
on “Fight it Out”- balancing
serene interludes and
twelve semi-reptilian four
armed creatures, had ap
peared. The Dark Crystal hangs
in the tower of the Skexes,
while the Mystics, in their
desert retreat, have saved one
young male Gelfling, who is ap-
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
The Reel World
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□!□□□□□□□□□ an □ □ □ □
parently the last of his kind and
is the appointed saviour who
must find and restore the
shard
His travels through the flora
and fauna of the planet are all to
brief, for it is in these scenes that
the real magic of the film exists :
the creation of original, im
aginative life-forms. He soon en
counters a girl-Gelfling, raised
vociferous discourses about
love that is lost.
By using different vocal in
tonations and adding a
keyboard player to the band,
Benetar has broken out of
previous routines to deliver an
impressive album that sets her
far apart from her peers.
Eo®
Duran Duran’s second album
“Rio” (Capitol) continues the
“New Romantic” style that
Adam Ant originated in
England in the late Seventies.
The “New Romantic” bands
contend that style and image
are as equally important as
talent.
Like their contemporaries
(Haircut 100, Psychedelic Furs,
The Fixx, etc.), Duran Duran
stresses simple lyrical and in
strumental melody over pro
found lyrics and complex
rhythms. Such lines as “Her
and protected from the Skexes
by the Podlings, to whose village
she takes him. The Podlings
throw a party, another of the
rare moments of delight in the
film (with music to start viewers
dancing in the aisles), which is
soon crushed by the destructive
but stupid crustaceans, who
carry off Podlings but let the
Gelflings and her fluffy, toothy
pet escape.
Random applause was heard
throughout the theatre when it
became known that only female
Gelflings have wings. But old
stereotypes threatened to con
tinue in tiie new Eden where only
the boy has been taught to react,
calculate, and think rationally
by the Mystics. The girl has none
name is Rio and she dances on
the sand/Just like that river
twisting through a dusty land”
may not affect your outlook on
life, but it sure does sound
alluring when it comes out of
the speakers.
Such choruses will stay in
your mind long after the song is
over-precisely what Duran
Duran intended.
The title track “Rio” and
“Hungry Like the Wolf” are
both destined for airplay on
progressive Album-Oriented-
Rock (AOR) stations, while the
colorful, exotic videos of both
songs are currently shown on
MTV.
“Rio” transcends the bas c
Duran Duran sound- relying
heavily on melodic lyrics
streched out over arcane
techno-synthesizer harmonies
and clean, simple guitar work.
The subject of the song is a
woman named Rio whose
description is as mysterious as
the overall “sound” of the song.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” ef
fectively uses a juvenile sing
along chorus as a “hook” to
make a long-lasting impression
in the listener’s mind. It is dif
ficult to forget the chorus after
you’ve heard it- maybe these
guys should write jingles for
advertising agencies.
The remainder of the album
continues in the same mystical
vein of “Rio” and “Hungry
Like the Wolf.” Duran Duran’s
latest effort may not break any
new ground in the music world,
but it does provide a melodic
form of escapism that is highly
enjoyable after a rough day at
school or work.
of these skills, but has been
taught by the Podlings to com
municate with animals and to
know the ways of plants. (One
also must assume the existence
of other hidden Gelflings of both
sexes to prevent second
generation incest in the new
order.)
Some of the dissatisfaction
felt at this undeniably happy-in
fact, transcendent--ending
might have been alleviated by
the infusion of a bit more boay
to counteract the cold spirituali
ty of the Skexes-Mystic fusion.
It would have been a good time
to have anotherPodlingparty,
to bring somelightnOssiritb'the
light. As it was, there was
something important missing
from the ambience of the film
a lacking in life, echoed in the
strangely inexpressive faces of
the Gelflings, whose smooth
placidity made them far less in
teresting than the ugly Aughra,
the evilly complex Skexes, or
the exuberantly lovable Podl
ings. Hopefully, the Podlings
will get to be the heroes at the
next millenium, perhaps simply
by continuing to avoid preten
ousness.