Label: Paisley Pop
Category: Music
Average customer rating:
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
UPC: 678277050525
EAN: 0678277050525
ASIN: B00008DCSY
Release Date: 2003-02-25
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Artist: Broken Hearts
Label: Paisley Pop Category: Music Average customer rating:
Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 678277050525 EAN: 0678277050525 ASIN: B00008DCSY Release Date: 2003-02-25 |
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Album Description
For fans of early Marshall Crenshaw, The Beat, and Mersey-inspired rock 'n roll Before going on to mastermind the Power Pop acclaimed NYC band, The Rooks, Mike Mazzarella sharpened his teeth in the early 80's in Hartford, CT with The Broken Hearts. Originally released as a vinyl LP in 1985 with 9 songs, Paisley Pop is reissuing this nearly forgotten gem, a collector's piece amongst pop fans, for the first time on CD. In addition to an expanded booklet including many photos from the band's heyday, the CD also includes 11 BONUS TRACKS! <P>Mike Mazzarella's jangle pop songwriting earned his band The Rooks a spot on Rhino Records' Poptopia Power Pop Classics of the 90s…The Broken Hearts share the same fondness for Mersey Beat music.Customer Reviews:
Junkmedia.org Review - The epitome of punk?.......2003-04-07
The Broken Hearts were one of those bands who took up the mantle of Merseybeat during the mid '80s, producing wonderful artifacts such as the recently reissued Want One?. To celebrate the reissue 11 tracks have been added to the original nine, all of which were recorded 20 years after the ascent of Mersey's first musical incarnations.
The Broken Hearts offer an interpretation of the original sound augmented with an American garage rock sensibility. By way of comparison, the high church of modern Merseybeat is usually considered in the context of the Spongetones. Where the Spongetones created wonderfully upbeat and catchy early '60s inspired pop rock, the band's commitment to capturing the sound reduced them to slavish imitators at times. The Broken Hearts, however, used the era of the 2:30 pop rock single as a source of inspiration and built on that foundation.
This inspiration -- along with the urgent garage-rock feel -- is particularly noticeable in the bonus tracks. Many of them were recorded in rehearsal spaces, apartments, or live in various studios in the northeastern United States during the mid '80s. Given the Broken Hearts' commitment to classic pop music forms, one can almost sense their urgency (and near desperation) as they race through these numbers in preparation for a gig at one local dive or another -- after all, what were you listening to in 1985? Remember that three of the biggest hits of the day were "Like a Virgin," "I Want to Know What Love Is," and "Wake Me Up, Before you Go Go." Clearly, sounding like the Beatles was not in vogue, and even the developing indie rock underground was in the throes of devoting themselves to post-punk irony, beer and tiny tour vans.
So -- why buy this CD? Because it represents musicians practicing their craft at a time when doing something so unconventionally unconventional represented the epitome of punk. Besides, the melodies are good, the playing is tight and you can dance to it. Drop a dime in the record machine and let the Broken Hearts provide the soundtrack.
Ken King
Junkmedia.org Review
+1/2 -- Long-lost slice of power-pop heaven.......2003-02-27
And much like The Fab Four, the Broken Hearts sported three singer/songwriters, each taking turns at lead and backing vocals. Their lyrics fall into the earnest can't-quite-find-love camp traditional to power-pop, backed by harmonies that bring to mind The Hollies, The Searchers and other British Invasion harmony groups. The twin guitars spin insanely catchy riffs, and the drumming has a terrifically punchy DIY sound.
This album is a proverbial tackle box full of hooks. The opener's chiming guitars, urgent drumbeats and pop-soul vocal are the epitome of power-pop perfection. "Better Start Now" and "While You Were Having Fun" bring to mind The Nerves, and the harmonies and melody of "Play That Song Again" provide an appropriately nostalgic underline to the song's wistful lyric. "When I See You Looking My Way" could be a long-lost Gary Lewis & The Playboys song, if Gary played uptempo and put a bit more sock into his drumming, and the twangy "Tuesday Evening Girl" brings to mind the best Beatle-esque qualities of The Knack.
The album's original nine tracks are augmented with eleven bonus tracks, collected from pre-album 4-track demos, and post-album VHS and stereo cassette recordings. The sound quality of the VHS tracks isn't quite as polished as the rest, but the songs are every bit as good as those on the original LP. Highlights include the raging rock 'n' roll of Mazzarella's "Circle of Fools" and "Want To Be Sure" (the latter sounding like an early George Harrison song sung by John Lennon), an extended take of "Just Love Ya'" and the outstanding acoustic-guitar drenched folk-rocker "Not Really in Love."
This is a hugely welcome re-addition to the power pop ouvre, and Paisley Pop's archaeology of previously unreleased bonus tracks, period photos and show posters makes this one incredibly sweet package. A must-have for any power-pop fan who missed its brief appearance in 1985.
Music Album:
Music
Light as a Feather ~ Return to Forever
Mambo Moves Garner ~ Erroll Garner
1944-1946: Lucky Start ~ Lucky Thompson
The Collection ~ Yngwie Malmsteen