Big Beat

Performer: Sparks
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Most of this album finds Sparks doing what they do best: spewing out clever, mile-a-minute lyrics over solid-rocking accompaniment (this time, provided by a superior group of studio musicians). Drummer Hilly Michaels and guitarist Jeffrey Salen lend the Mael brothers' songs considerable rock & roll authority. Standouts include the opening blast, "Big Boy" (which was featured in the film Rollercoaster), the propulsive "Fill-Er-Up," and the falsetto-delivered proclamation "I Like Girls," apparently a leftover from their previous album, Indiscreet. Generally, however, they eschew the elaborate arrangements of Indiscreet and go for a powerful, stripped-down sound. As titles such as "Everybody's Stupid" and "Thrown Her Away (And Get a New One)" suggest, the album brims with decidedly politically incorrect (and often hilarious) lyrics. ~ James A. Gardner

From the very beginning Sparks was at odds with the conventional rock & roll archetype. Based around brothers Ron and Russell Mael, the band had an unusual sound and image, with Russell's freakishly high voice and Ron's glam-meets-cabaret keyboards and provocative Hitler moustache. After a few albums of quirky art rock that prefigured New Wave, Sparks hooked up with disco producer Giorgio Moroder in the late '70s for a danceable, synth-driven sound that proved well ahead of its time. Always more popular abroad than at home, the CA-born Maels were destined to remain beloved cult figures in America, but continued recording into the 21st century.

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