Press Reviews of New LP

Noel · Dave

RE: Press Reviews of New LP

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Noel wrote:
Well MB certainly is a great writer whether one agrees with him or not. Just don't get why is has it in for Simon and Garry.
The only song I really find myself listening to is Monster Monkeys. Here's a Postcard is real Geldof solo territory as is Passing Through. He has written much more urgent songs with better melodies like Hotel 75 and Dig a Ditch, both of which easily could have Rats songs.
Just all feels so anticlimactic for me. Way too much water under the bridge to ever get that old thrill back.

Shame he left the forum. The odd thing is all the bingo wingers have gone, so dunno whats stopping him.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Noel wrote:
Well MB certainly is a great writer whether one agrees with him or not. Just don't get why is has it in for Simon and Garry.

I have a vague recollection of something to do with getting a clock off Simon via mail order. Need to check the archive...

raticus · She's So Modern

louderthanwar.com/the-boomtown-rats-citizens-of-boomtown-album-review/

best review yet.

Mark L · Loudmouth

raticus wrote:
louderthanwar.com/the-boomtown-rats-citizens-of-boomtown-album-review/

best review yet.

Awesome review. The majority of the reviews are towards the 7 or 8 out of 10 end of the scale, which is where I sit with this. KISS, Trash Glam Baby and Passing Through are amongst the best tracks ever recorded by the Rats.

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

Mark L wrote:
raticus wrote:
louderthanwar.com/the-boomtown-rats-citizens-of-boomtown-album-review/

best review yet.
Awesome review. The majority of the reviews are towards the 7 or 8 out of 10 end of the scale, which is where I sit with this. KISS, Trash Glam Baby and Passing Through are amongst the best tracks ever recorded by the Rats.

Hear hear. Totally agree here. 100 per cent

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

this was on the sun today.

Mark L · Loudmouth

manatthetop wrote:
this was on the sun today.

Not bad. Effectively another 7 out of 10 review

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

100 per cent. But I laughed at the way it starts. Saying they should have left it. Then he comes good at the end funny

Mark L · Loudmouth

https://www.longlivevinyl.net/new-releases-and-reissues-13-march/

Notwithstanding the kleptomania allegations throughout, another 7 out of 10 review.

Mark L · Loudmouth

https://www.liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk/2020/03/16/the-boomtown-rats-citizens-of-boomtown-album-review/

Liverpool Sound and Vision go much further with a class leading 8.5 out of 10

Mark L · Loudmouth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkpqZbxoW8k

He doesnt score this, but clearly left the best til last, so I would say nine out of ten aww

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

Hand on heart. This album in amazing. Loving it. Come on you rat fans inbrase this. Really loving Passing through. What a song. For me this album is the best thing the rats have done since ATFTT. My top 3 rats albums are now.

1 A Tonic For The Troops

2 Citizens Of Boomtown

3 The Boomtown Rats.

This is going to end up another very underrated album. Such a shame.

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

manatthetop wrote:
Hand on heart. This album is amazing. Loving it. Come on you rat fans inbrase this. Really loving Passing through. What a song. For me this album is the best thing the rats have done since ATFTT. My top 3 rats albums are now.
1 A Tonic For The Troops
2 Citizens Of Boomtown
3 The Boomtown Rats.
This is going to end up another very underrated album. Such a shame.

Mike menzies · V Deep

I totally agree I love this album it is my fave after in the long grass and then tonic I admit I love. All the rats albums and bobs solo stuff we need to keep this band going nits the only thing keeping me sane while in lockdown

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

Mike menzies wrote:
I totally agree I love this album it is my fave after in the long grass and then tonic I admit I love. All the rats albums and bobs solo stuff we need to keep this band going nits the only thing keeping me sane while in lockdown

Hear hear. Good thing about this lockdown is I have been going through my rats and geldofs records. Have to say forgot how good the someone's looking at you single was/ is. As like most I just stick a cd on. Pity you can't get this version on CD sane with House on fire. And Mondays. And Elephants grave yard.Alow I do like the long version of this song and I have a few different endings to Banana Republic

Mike menzies · V Deep

Yeh I am playing records as well as cds love the sound of vinyl so play them quite often

TIMBO · Someone's Looking At You

Only yesterday I was thinking about where to place Citizens in the list of the Rats albums. I would definitely put A TONIC FOR THE TROOPS at the top, but after that I am unsure between The Boomtown Rats, The Fine Art of Surfacing and Citizens of Boomtown. I think that Tonic is The Rats defining album with for me, I never loved Eva Braun and Rattrap standing out PLUS another 5-6 very strong tracks and NO poor ones. With Citizens, the ones that do it for me are KISS and Postcard with 5-6 other very decent tracks and only for me THE BOOMTOWN RATS (ironically) not really doing it for me.

I will be posting my review on Citizens on another thread in the next 2-3 days.

Timbo

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

manatthetop wrote:
manatthetop wrote:
Hand on heart. This album is amazing. Loving it. Come on you rat fans inbrase this. Really loving Passing through. What a song. For me this album is the best thing the rats have done since ATFTT. My top 3 rats albums are now.
1 A Tonic For The Troops
2 Citizens Of Boomtown
3 The Boomtown Rats.
This is going to end up another very underrated album. Such a shame.

4 ITLG

5 TFAOS

6 Mondo bongo.

7.VDeep. But in saying that I have been playing this alot

TIMBO · Someone's Looking At You

Further to my last reply, I think that I would put the remaining albums in order having thought about it a little more. If I was to give ATFTT 9.5 out of 10, these would all be in the 7.5 to 9 range.

2. The Boomtown Rats. Joey on the Street and Looking After Number 1 my favourites. Like ATFTT has some very strong songs and an excellent debut. 9

3. Citizens of Boomtown. Much better album than I thought it would be as when first read about a new album was initially sceptical if I'm honest. However, a pretty good listen. 8

4. The Fine Art of Surfacing. A fine collection of songs but Citizens just edges it (but only just). 7.5

Timbo

Mark L · Loudmouth

https://music.mxdwn.com/2020/04/02/reviews/album-review-the-boomtown-rats-citizens-of-boomtown/

Another generally good review, with KISS and Rock n Roll Ye Ye panned however. No score given, but feels like 7 or 8 out of ten to me.

TIMBO · Someone's Looking At You

That is a very decent review. The KISS track appears to split the audience more than any track. Just listening to PASSING THROUGH as I type.....beautiful song which seems to get better the more I hear it.

Timbo

Mark L · Loudmouth

TIMBO wrote:
That is a very decent review. The KISS track appears to split the audience more than any track. Just listening to PASSING THROUGH as I type.....beautiful song which seems to get better the more I hear it.

Timbo

Passing Through is fantastic, sung tenderly with more than a nod to Perfect Day but it's all the better for that. KISS divides the critics more than the fans, but the few fans who do dislike it, do so with a passion.

Rats Fan · Never In A Million Years

His review is totally inaccurate. There is zero Big Bill Broonzy influence on 'She Said No'. Big Bill Broonzy played acoustic blues. I love music journalism but it's very badly researched. I don't mind if he didn't like the record but I do mind if it's just slack and lazy writing.

Mark L · Loudmouth

Rats Fan wrote:
His review is totally inaccurate. There is zero Big Bill Broonzy influence on 'She Said No'. Big Bill Broonzy played acoustic blues. I love music journalism but it's very badly researched. I don't mind if he didn't like the record but I do mind if it's just slack and lazy writing.

Which review is totally inaccurate? The most recent one simply refers to 'the bluesy, harmonic-augmented She Said No'.

Rats Fan · Never In A Million Years

The M Boyle review on Amazon.

Mark L · Loudmouth

http://illinoisentertainer.com/2020/04/spins-the-boomtown-rats-%E2%80%A2-citizens-of-boomtown/

Yet another sparkling review, 8 out of 10. We will have to forgive the reviewer muddling up Dunn for Fingers.

Mike menzies · V Deep

Review on Bob's Facebook London punks very good review apart from flagged off passing through as dirge which is wrong I think its a very strong track but that's just their opinion I love this album and rate it as very high on my faves list

Junkyard Smile · Lookin' After Number 1

The italian music webzine 'ondarock' gives the album 5 out of 10 in a classic game of 2 halves (see rough translation of review below)

https://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2020-boomtownrats-citizensofboomtown.htm

We liked Bob Geldof for I dont like Mondays and for all that he wrote and sang during the his time with the Boomtown Rats. Even if the reasons for his personal notoriety, especially in Italy, are nearly exclusively related to Live Aid. The bills are paid, even the mortgage, and after a brief reunion tour seven years ago, the decision was made to return to record a bunch of new material, back once again with the original line up. We liked him and still do, also for some fine solo work, but when we heard about this new record we smelt a rat.

We were nearly re-believers, because the first half of "Citizens Of Boomtown" holds up well. The effective hybrid Bowie/Bolan "Trash Glam Baby" is a more successful result than that managed by lots of contemporary mimics (did someone say Giuda?), "Sweet Thing" rolls the dice of one of those nirvanaesque riffs that is good for every generation, "Monster Monkeys" goes along melding typical classic rock structures, "She Said No" is based on the Stones style blues, and it could not lack a delicate ballad, hyper-melancholic, "Passing Through". We could have been talking about a completely successful record. But that feeling was short lived, vanishing in a second half that has more than a few falls in tone.

The attempt to introduce a rapped section cant disguise the approach on "K.I.S.S." that is too much celebration in the town square, the chorus of "Rock'n'Roll YéYé" is a pointless stadium anthem, "Get A Grip" is techno-rock, and alienating, with the only merit to trigger a bit of electronica as an appropriate distraction. Also absolutely insignificant is the closer "The Boomtown Rats", in which Geldof and companions play at being Primal Scream, where it is ultra-evident that it could only have worked if performed by kids that could be their grandchildren.

So is it all to throw away? Absolutely not: weve witnessed much worse come-backs and for sure Geldof and companions will have hugely enjoyed recording these 10 tracks. We will continue to like, dear Sir Geldof, for how many good things hes created in the past, including in the social and humanitarian field, and for the courage to make a come back, despite everything.

(20/03/2020)

Mike menzies · V Deep

I still think this is a fab album there is nothing to touch it best album of year so far imho I love it great times playing this and also back catalogue is feelings going

Junkyard Smile · Lookin' After Number 1

Another 5 out of 10 review, this time from American 'Allmusic' site:

During their original ten-year run, Irish new wave combo the Boomtown Rats drove a bevy of hit singles across the U.K. pop charts, painting seedy pictures of the urban underbelly with a blend of snarling punk energy and pop sophistication on songs like "Rat Trap" and "Up All Night." They even made some noise across the pond with the anthemic "I Don't Like Mondays." As the '80s wore on, however, their star began to fade as enigmatic frontman, Bob Geldof, became increasingly involved with humanitarian efforts and, following his organization of the massive 1985 Live Aid charity concerts, the Rats eventually threw in the towel and disbanded a year later. They reunited as a part-time touring act in 2013 and in 2020, 36 years after their last release, they've made a rather unexpected return to the studio with their seventh album, Citizens of Boomtown. Although keyboardist Johnny Fingers and early-era guitarist Gerry Cott are both absent, the Rats of 2020 -- Geldof, guitarist Garry Roberts, bassist Pete Briquette, and drummer Simon Crowe -- are all original members, and despite the messy and uneven nature of this record, they each bring a surprising amount of energy to the project. After so lengthy a gap, it's hard to imagine what a modern day version of the Rats would sound like and to the band's credit, they don't spend a lot of time trying to recapture their early days. Instead, Citizens of Boomtown mines a busy hodgepodge of stylistic tropes that occurred during the group's absence, most notably a dated electronic dance influence that makes this album sound like it came out in the early-2000s. Grafting sizzling blues-rock guitar riffs onto pulsing techno beats, songs like "Get a Grip" and "The Boomtown Rats" miss their mark widely, yet are attacked so fervently that they almost work. That the Rats pour themselves so willingly into these odd experiments is a mystery, but there is an odd vitality even to the songs that fail. Far better suited to their talents are the nostalgic glam throw-back "Trash Glam Baby," the wistfully Beatles-like "Passing Through," and the irresistibly charming "Here's a Postcard," the latter of which turns a sunny two-chord folk-rocker into a richly arranged harmonic gem. The bright rave-up "K.I.S.S." is a confusing mix of ebullient bubblegum pop with a rap section that feels wholly out of place, yet is somehow not unlikeable. For his part, Geldof swaggers and snarls with plenty of charisma and acerbic wit while the group's strong vocal presence recalls the Rats of old. There is some good material here and they've certainly taken their reunion record somewhere unexpected, but as a whole, Citizens is a bit of an inconsistent mess.