The Bangles "Sweetheart Of The Sun"

In my humble opinion, the best all-female band EVER!  "All Over The Place" in 1984 was easily one of my favorite albums from that year and Custom Sound sold its share of copies, but domestic success was elusive and international sales were only slightly better.  I was hooked on the jangly, Beatle-esque songs with their sweet harmonies, and Susanna Hoffs was HOT!  Best legs in rock and roll.  Being a single, horny buck in his mid-20's and aware that the girls were in the same age range, I actually joined their new fan club, Bangles 'N Mash.  OK, you can stop laughing now.  But look at what I received...

No, I never met them in person...I would've melted into a pool of blubbering fool.  They were awesome in concert, more garage rock than pop, and those legs...!! 

Anyway, I was glad to be driving the bandwagon when they hit it big with the followup album and fellow Hoffs' stalker, Prince, and his "Manic Monday."  Huge songs like "...Egyptian", "Eternal Flame" and "Hazy Shade..." made their breakup in 1989 a major tragedy.  I followed all their subsequent musical flings on a diminishing scale, finally forgetting about them all until they reappeared on a track for an Austin Powers movie.  Kept hearing about a new record for a couple of years and then "Doll Revolution" arrived in 2003.  Boy, was I psyched...boy, was I disappointed.  What a turd of an album!  It was beyond bad and unfathomable to me that they would release such crap.  Officially gave up on them.

Eight years go by and I start seeing mention of a new album.  Psssst, who cares?  Certainly not I.  Then I catch a YouTube clip of them live and damn if they didn't sound great, and Susanna still is hot for 52 (happy birthday 1/17).  So I look for reviews and find that most are very positive, "returning-to-their-roots" kind of yada yada.  Ah, what the hell, let's give it a sampling............well, it was good enough for the investment so let's give it a complete spin...

...and they are truly back to their 80's heyday!  This is the lead off song...

 

Those incredible harmonies...I love them.  There isn't a turkey on the entire CD.  They even added a version of concert staple "Open My Eyes" by Todd Rundgren to close the record.  Wisely done, ladies.

"Sweetheart..." hasn't exactly flown off the shelves (I guess nothing really does anymore), but if you were ever a big fan of all their music and not just the hits, you will want to add this to your collection.