'Til Tuesday
's debut album,
Voices Carry
, contains hip photo imagery (
Aimee Mann
's smile on the back is priceless and beautiful) and excellent songwriting, all credited to drummer
Michael Hausman
, guitarist
Robert Holmes
, keyboard player
Joey Pesce
, and bassist/singer
. The follow-up would be more specific as to who wrote what. While most bands from Boston suffered from lack of production,
Mike Thorne
does a decent job on much of the album and excellent work on the title track. Former manager
Randall Barbera
spoke with this writer prior to the album's recording, when
Human League
/
Pete Shelley
producer
Martin Rushent
was being considered for the task. The question for fans was, like
the Cars
before them, what was wrong with the hit demo of
"Love in a Vacuum,"
which saturated Boston airwaves prior to the record deal? As good a job as
did on the song
"Voices Carry,"
the world at large has not heard the inspired and innovative recording that was the original
"Love in a Vacuum."
If memory serves,
Will Garrett
did the production work, and like certain tracks by the band
Private Lightning
, the demo to
"Love in a Vacuum"
was superior to what came out on
Epic
. As
Roy Thomas Baker
polished
"Just What I Needed"
for
, filling it with
Queen
-style thickness, the
new wave
edge of the demo, on release on
Rhino
's
Cars Deluxe
, will give a good example of the transition these songs go through. The big difference is that the original
was perfect and needed no changing, and the
version is over-produced, creating a good album track when the true follow-up hit was actually in hand.
Legacy
simply has to expand this disc with the original
demos.
"Don't Watch Me Bleed"
has the same kind of mesmerizing bass that makes
"Voices Carry"
so captivating, while the final track,
"Sleep,"
could be
the Human League
going deep into the underground. The song would also work well with a
girl group
hero like
Barbara Harris
of
the Toys
, showing the versatility of this unique ensemble.
's major-label debut shows rapid maturity when compared to her
Bark Along With the Young Snakes
EP, and there's something about this combination of
Pesce
,
Hausman
, and the brilliant
that would make a
reunion a welcome thing. The haunting lyrics and dark tones of the keys and bass on songs like
"I Could Get Used to This"
or
"No More Crying"
separate this recording from the work of similar '80s bands.
"Looking Over My Shoulder"
has a bubbling intensity which
Holmes
' guitar adds drama to.
may have achieved success because of the
MTV
video, but there were nine other songs to go along with the hit, and this album and its follow-ups should have had as much commercial success as
, because artistically, they are equal to that band's dynamic debut. ~ Joe Viglione