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If you ever wondered what happened to the trendy, downtown stylishness of Blondie in their proudly classicist reunion albums, Necessary Evil provides the answer: Debbie Harry was saving all those tricks for her first album in 14 years. Necessary Evil finds Harry delving deeply into all sorts of trends, both past and present, as she overstuffs this album with electro-beats, passing hip-hop references, allusions to her collaborations with the Jazz Passengers, worldbeat, retro-new wave -- basically anything that she's tried before on record is detectable here, along with nods toward modern music inspired by Blondie. On paper it sounds interesting, almost like a culmination of her work, but as Necessary Evil plays, it feels like a mess, as it careens between extremes and feels unformed, both as a larger work and often on individual songs. That untidiness makes many of Harry's explorations -- the angular fuzz-funk of "Deep End," the farting synths of "Love with Vengeance," the skittering rhythms of "Charm Redux," her singing of the devil's dick on "School of Scandal" -- sound vaguely desperate, as there is nothing connecting these adventures from song to song (and sometimes within a song, it all falls apart). There are interesting moments here, but they're fleeting, crying out for a bit of the deliberate craft of Blondie's comeback albums, which may be predictable but at least they're focused, which makes for easier listening than this long 17-track slog of sound.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - DLXPRO Publishing (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Muzzle Loader (ascap), MusicPublisher - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Athame Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Toi Rock Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - ESXP Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Chin Chin Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - ESXP Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Debbie Harry, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Young Gabe Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher - Ware R U Publishing (BMI), MusicPublisher
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
Album review
If you ever wondered what happened to the trendy, downtown stylishness of Blondie in their proudly classicist reunion albums, Necessary Evil provides the answer: Debbie Harry was saving all those tricks for her first album in 14 years. Necessary Evil finds Harry delving deeply into all sorts of trends, both past and present, as she overstuffs this album with electro-beats, passing hip-hop references, allusions to her collaborations with the Jazz Passengers, worldbeat, retro-new wave -- basically anything that she's tried before on record is detectable here, along with nods toward modern music inspired by Blondie. On paper it sounds interesting, almost like a culmination of her work, but as Necessary Evil plays, it feels like a mess, as it careens between extremes and feels unformed, both as a larger work and often on individual songs. That untidiness makes many of Harry's explorations -- the angular fuzz-funk of "Deep End," the farting synths of "Love with Vengeance," the skittering rhythms of "Charm Redux," her singing of the devil's dick on "School of Scandal" -- sound vaguely desperate, as there is nothing connecting these adventures from song to song (and sometimes within a song, it all falls apart). There are interesting moments here, but they're fleeting, crying out for a bit of the deliberate craft of Blondie's comeback albums, which may be predictable but at least they're focused, which makes for easier listening than this long 17-track slog of sound.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 17 track(s)
- Total length: 01:04:26
- Main artists: Debbie Harry
- Label: Eleven Seven Music
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
2008 Eleven Seven Music 2008 Eleven Seven Music
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