いやぁやっぱいいですよ、フーターズ!学生の時、よく聞いてたなぁ、なんてことを思い出した、復活のニューアルバム。いったい何年振りですか?1st「Nervous Night」2nd「 One Way Home」いいアルバムだったなぁ。あの頃もっともっと売れるバンドだと思っていたんだけど、3rd「Zig Zag」以降なぜかサッパリで・・・。 デビュー当時から大ベテランみたいな熟練さがあったバンドなので、今作とデビュー当時と並べて聞いてもほとんど違和感がないのがある意味微笑ましい。曲も粒揃いだし、当たり前だが演奏も確か。4th「Out Of Body」時代の女性ボーカルも抜けたらしく、より“彼ららしい”感じの音だね。 惜しむらくは“熟練”の部分ばかり目立ってしまい、「Zig Zag」以降急速に薄れてしまった、あの若さ溢れるハード・ドライヴィングな、ぐいノリの部分はやっぱり出せていないね。この部分も魅力だったんだが仕方がないか・・・。あとドン・ヘンリーのカバーも今ひとつ。
メジャーデビューから23年目、メンバーも相応に年を取りました。Nervous Night 、One Way Home 、Zig Zag のアルバムに見られた爆発的ドライヴィングな勢いは影を潜めました。ドン・ヘンリーの「BOYS OF SUMMER」のカバーも収録されていますが、私的には全曲オリジナルの方が良かった。
Time Stand Still is one of those rare albums where your'e waiting for the "ok" track so you can refill your glass or go for a wee... and it never arrives. Before you know it the album has come to an end and all you want to do is go back to the beginning and play it again.
I'm tempted to say that this is the best album that The Hooters have ever released, but I don't want to be roped in with all those reviewers who reckon everyone's latest album is their best.
I can't listen to this album without having a big smile on my face because it's so obvious that The Hooters have completely "nailed" what they do best. Every track is a hook laden "winner".
I'm not the sort of person to go through an album track by track, but let's take as an example their cover version of Don Henley's "The Boys Of Summer". Normally I can't stand acoustic versions of classic rock songs...I'm just dying for them to end so I can put the "proper" version on....but in this case it actually works, which is a massive compliment to The Hooter's musical and compositional abilities.
And whoever thought sea shanties could rock?
I think The Hooters have built a similar machine to Ritchie Blackmore. They can take any song you care to mention, put it through the "hooterisation" process and it sounds at least as good, if not better, than the original, but with the artist's unique sound.
Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman must surely be hot contenders for the "best songwriting partnership" of all time along with Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions and Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night of Blackmore's Night.
I'll probably have to edit this tomorrow after I've sobered up.....blame The Hooters.
5つ星のうち4.0"The Hooters Are Back With A Bang & They Are Alive".
2010年2月4日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
Amazonで購入
As a fan of this incredible band since their debut album "Nervous Night", I was very nervous as how their music gonna sound after a long hiatus! I was however reassured by the opening track "I'm Alive". It is a beautiful melodic sound, typical of The Hooters & much more. This should have been the title track I feel. Other beautiful tracks include the title track (Time Stand Still), "Until I find You Again", "Morning Buzz", "Ordinary Lives" and "Free Again". The usual beautiful ending of songs is still there,but different & matured, e.g."Morning Buzz" ends with an interesting buzz sound. The slow beautiful song "Ordinary Lives" is reminiscent of the old Hooters classic "Where Do The Children Go? "If it was not for a poor Don Henley's cover version of "Boys of Summer",would have given the album five stars. I could not put this CD down for five days after it arrived. The Hooters are back with a bang and they are Alive!