Go-Gos, “Beauty and the Beat” (IRS, 1981)
This record is so great everyone keeps stealing it! So here’s yet another copy. Punk sparseness and propulsion, pop sparkle, and a truly mystical feel for the pleasures and pains of L.A. days and nights, this is a perfect record.
Try 1/ 1, 1/ 3, 1/ 5, 2/ 1, 2/4, all
1/23/14
Go-Gos “Beyond the Valley of the Go-Gos’s” (IRS, 1994; original recording 1978-1994)
Stellar career overview ranging from their earliest days as pioneering L.A. punk no-chord wonders through their glory years of hard-edged, melodic new wave splendor and ending with some actually good reunion tracks.
Try CD1: 1, 4, 6,8, 12; CD2: 3, 6, 18
10/4/14
Go-Gos, “God Bless the Go-Gos” (Beyond, 2001)
Actually-quite-good reunion album by my favorite band. They’ve lost some bounce and the songwriting isn’t as incisive as their peak work, but that is a pretty high standard. These are fine, hard-driving pop songs, with their patented surf/rockabilly undertones intact, performed with the warmth, abandon and genuine joy of musicians who know each other better than anyone else by now.
Try 2, 10
7/26/12
Go-Go’s, “Return to the Valley of the Go-Gos” (IRS, 1994; original recordings 1979-1994).
A truly comprehensive grab-bag of stuff from my all-time favorite band, ranging from some barely coherent Masque punk-era rehearsal tapes through the glorious hard-candy guitar pop rush of their peak era to some actually-quite-excellent ’94-reunion tunes. A lot of the “rarities” are up there with their best.
Try Disc 1: 5, 6, 18; Disc 2: 3, 6, 18.
2/26/13