Reviewed by Jim Coursey
Released: 1981 Broken Home Life Genre: Prog Pop Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Despite Aaron and Allen’s 2 star rating for their 1980 album, UK’s Broken Home came back for seconds, and they manage to outdo themselves here. Aaron wrote of their debut, “I don’t hate anything.” I wonder whether he’d change his mind after this one. Well my better angels were on a coffee break for this one and I can say that *I* hate this. You certainly can’t blame the production values. From their predecessor band Mr. Big through the present, they’ve had a polished sound; here they’ve enlisted Mutt Lange to helm the album. The band is fine too, even if there is nothing particularly notable about them or their songs. The major change between the previous album and this is that they’ve gone full on 80s, awash with synths, electronic drum kit, and spacious reverbs. So far it’s not my cup of tea but I’d go 2.5-3 on the music and production. What sinks it is the execrable voice of Jeffrey Robert Pain, also known as, “Pain,” “JR Pain,” and now “Dicken.” (He got it right with straight up “Pain” IMO.) Looking back, I was surprised that nobody commented on his voice in the previous review, but actually I think that stepping further away from rock instrumentation has underscored his awfulness. Don’t get me wrong, Dicken/Pain is technically proficient and has a soaring falsetto. While his voice has a general quality I find strange, what pushes it over the line are all the interpretive elements he adds. In particular, he has this horrible way of sounding like he’s crying as he sings a line that turns up repeatedly. (I find this to be a desirable element when listening to various singers from Turkey, Iran and various Middle Eastern countries, but it doesn’t work for Dicken/Pain.) I’ve put far more effort into this review than the album deserves already, but I’ll touch briefly on four lowlights before I go, ironically the four most streamed songs from this album. The album kicks off with “Life”, a New Romantic number, but not in a way that would have threatened Duran Duran or Japan for that mantle. Dicken/Pain wails “I’m free” during the chorus, and indeed there is nothing that holds him back for the rest of the album. The “big hit” with 800k streams “Oh Yeah” follows - in spite of its life-affirming sing-a-long vibe, I’d probably kill myself if this was in heavy rotation in the US. (Apparently at least a few people in Norway were more forgiving.) [1] Track three “I’m Losing You” sounds like it could be the soundtrack for an 80s fantasy movie, and as a break-up song features Dicken/Pain’s most gut-wrenching cry-singing vocal performance on the album. Finally. “Rainbow Bridge” isn’t so weepy, but Dicken/Pain takes extreme liberties with his vocal performance here. While I think it may be worthwhile for people to hear this voice for much the same reasons that gory car crash footage is shown to driver’s ed students, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to linger. ********** 1. This song was a minor hit in Norway and Germany it seems. Seeing them perform it live humanizes them, but I can still hate the recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5toZKqaeDU
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