Make A Killing: Aimee Mann, song-by song

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, Feb 21, 2021.

  1. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    The Young Snakes' sole EP is promising in retrospect but seems too derivative of other artists of the time to have garnered much attention. There's not one song I like unreservedly, although the first and last tracks come closest. I definitely hear some of the raw components of what makes Aimee Mann so great in these songs but they are lacking refinement to my ears. 'Til Tuesday is where I think Aimee's talent began to flower and, even so, more on the later albums than on the debut.

    2.5/5 for the EP
     
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  2. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for Bark Along With The Young Snakes.

    1-0
    2-4
    3-2
    4-0
    5-0
    Average: 2.15
     
  3. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "Love In a Vaccuum", lyrics by Aimee Mann; music by Michael Hausman, Robert Holmes, Aimee Mann and Joey Pesce.

    Lyric.

    This song was originally recorded and independently released in 1983; it gained heavy airplay at Boston's WCBN radio station, which helped 'Til Tuesday gain a record contract with Epic Records.

    It was released as the third single off Voices Carry; it failed to chart in Billboard but it chated at #88 in the Cash Box chart.

    Note: the song was remixed for the single, and also there was a 12 inch extended remix released.
     
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  4. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Original demo, produced by Ian Taylor.
     
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  5. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Extended Mix for the 12 inch single:
     
  6. captouch

    captouch Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Love in a Vacuum is still fairly lightweight stuff to me, lyrically and musically, with dated production.

    Despite what ‘Til Tuesday would become, this doesn’t really work for me as far as something I’d want to listen to given all the other better things to spend time listening to.

    2.4/5
     
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  7. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    A step up from the Snakes, but yeah not a great song. Her vocals are inching towards maturity though. 2.5/5.
     
  8. groovelocked

    groovelocked Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus OH (USA)
    Oh the memories.. my girlfriend did her hair like Aimee’s, tail and all.. man we loved everything about Til Tuesday.

    hard for me to separate good times associated with the music and rate the songs.

    I truly love Love In A Vacuum, Aimee has clearly learned to tame her vocals or they learned how to record them right.

    I just gotta give it a 5/5.
     
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  9. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Ignore this, this is the wrong song, obviously.
     
  10. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    This is a fantastic new wave song...Written (and originally recorded) in 1983, it (and indeed the whole album) seems a little dated for 1985 -- but I think that had they released this in 1983 when it was actually written, it might have been a huge hit for them as that song was really on then.

    This sound was getting old in 1985, though; and maybe too spare fo the times -- it is a very spare recording isn't it? And of course the extreme gated drum dates this very squarely to the mid eighties.

    But it's masterfully done: the odd rhythm of the guitar, the popping Chic-ish bassline, the plethora of synth hooks -- so many ideas going on, all tightly packed into this yet it doesn't sound busy and indeed, it all sounds very pretty.

    The vocal harmonies are really very good, some of the finest examples of that kind of thing that I can remember on record from this era. A really good band.

    The lyrics depict a moment where a relationship goes wrong: and I think that there's a connection with some of the lyrics from the Young Snakes stuff.

    Aimee's voice is lovely and expressive. This stuff is so much better than the Young Snakes. A pop masterpiece, even if it seems to have come two years late.

    5/5

    Some people think that hte original demo has more pizazz: I like it all right, and maybe I think that Aimee's voice has a little more emotional punch there, but overall, the simplified arrangement and demo-like, two-dimensional sound drags it down for me...4.3/5 for me. I haven't heard the 12-inch (since the link I provided was wrong) but I can imagine it and I don't like what I imagine. This song does not need to be stretched out any longer, the densely packed hooks should stay densely packed.
     
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  11. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Kinda like that: 4
     
  12. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    "Love In A Vacuum" certainly represents a change from The Young Snakes! I think this is a pretty good New Wave-inspired mid-80s pop/rock song. Aimee no longer sounds like she's imitating somebody else's vocal style - she sounds like herself. The song lacks a truly memorable hook that might have propelled it to the upper reaches of the singles charts, but I think it's pretty strong for an album opener and the sound is quite good. 3.5/5

    The single remix is really not very different. The synths are boosted somewhat and there's a slightly crisper, brighter sound but it's not any sort of radical makeover. The 12" version was only released on a promo single and is basically about 25 seconds longer than the single remix but is otherwise the same. It's the same length as the LP version, just in the same remix that was done for the 7" single. I'll give the remix (both edits) a slightly higher 3.7/5.
     
  13. tenor1

    tenor1 Forum Resident

    I had always wondered about the Young Snakes songs. Thanks so much for assembling them here!

    Sometimes artists are way too harsh on their earlier material but here Aimee Mann is 100% right in dismissing it. The only interest is the occasional glimpse of some sounds or phrases you might find in some of her future music, and of course the historical interest in seeing that our heroine did not suddenly emerge fully-formed with those wonderful 'Til Tuesday songs.

    I was living in Boston at the time and can't recall ever hearing about the Young Snakes when they were gigging, only one 'Til Tuesday's debut album came up. They were mediocre or less even by local standards, much less national or international.

    Love in a Vacuum is a wonderful pop song, one of the highlights of the debut and one of the songs that got played a lot on Boston radio.

    I'm not one for numeric ratings so I'll skip that part. Thanks so much for starting this thread!
     
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  14. Elliottmarx

    Elliottmarx Always in the mood for Burt Bacharach

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The incessantly repeating 2 chords wears me out.
    I think waiting 2:20 before getting to the bridge
    also requires an awful lot of patience from the listener.
    Happy that Mann is singing without a European affectation here,
    which makes this better than the earlier songs.

    2/5
     
  15. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    our votes for "Love in a Vacuum"

    1-0
    2-2
    3-0
    4-2
    5-2
    Average: 3.6833
     
  16. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "Looking Over My Shoulder" music by MIchael Hausmann, Robert HOlmes, Aimee Mann and Joey Pesce.

    Lyrics.

    This song was released as the second single from Voices Carry on August 16th 1985 it peaked at #61 and #62 respectively on the US Billboard and Cashbox charts.

    The single mix was a shorter edit, remixed by Bob Clearmountain.
    A "Long Version" was also released on the 12 inch, but was still a few seconds shorter than the album version.

    Some stellar acting in the video.
     
  17. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    A dumb video (though Aimee is radiantly beautiful), but a great song led by Holme's magnficient big, ringing guitar. The chorus and the verse seem so well integrated and Aimee switches from the low Chryssie Hynde-type register to the pretty high register of the chorus pretty nicely. Nice and simple drumming propels this one to wear it needs to go.

    The lyric is pretty serviceable, if fairly stock guy-girl type stuff: a woman pining for a relationship that has ended -- connections with the last song. ONe thing that strikes me in the lyric is the sense that there's not much regreat on her side: it's always the other party that has done her wrong, these songs are very outward looking in a way, and there hasn't been much self-criticism that you often get in dramatic love songs about lost love like this one: Mann is definitely the one done wrong, although here there's not even anger, just sorrow -- for eternity!

    I guess there's something kind of sweetly innocent about it; it lacks the bitter accusatory twist of cynicism that some of of her later work acquired.

    Mann popped out with this album as a pretty good melodist: I assume the melody is mostly hers; I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't a bigger hit than it was, also, considering the sweetness of the tune and how photogenic she is: the video is cheesy as hell, but part for the course for 1985.

    5/5 for me, like the other singles from this album: I think it is a bit dated (sounding like 1983 more than 1985) but better than much of what was on commercial radio at the time.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
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  18. captouch

    captouch Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    A fine song, but nothing too special to me. Just fairly repetitive - it would have appealed to me more as a 2:30 song with the same content not repeated so many times. Don’t think the melody/lyrics are particularly strong, but more traces of what Aimee would become.

    2.9/5
     
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  19. tenor1

    tenor1 Forum Resident

    This is another of my favorites from the debut album. It's not as lyrically distinguished as Voices Carry, but melodically I think it's one of the more wonderful songs on the album.
     
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  20. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    "Looking Over Your Shoulder" has a nice pop melody but it lacks that certain something that would have made it a memorable listen. I can see why the single stalled at a relatively low chart placement. I do enjoy the song and it has a lovely, soaring chorus. The synths are also quite nice (in that 1985 style). It's a good song, but falls short of being a great one for me.

    The Single Mix was done by Bob Clearmountain and, although I'm generally a fan of his work, I like this mix less than the album version. It's duller and highlights that guitar motif throughout the chorus in a manner I find distracting.

    The promo-only 12" single had a "Long Version" that I'm fairly certain is just an edit of the LP version.

    Lp version: 3.5/5
    Single mix: 3.4/5
     
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  21. groovelocked

    groovelocked Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus OH (USA)
    Looking Over my Shoulder..

    love it, but a lesser fave on the record. 4/5
     
  22. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "Looking Over My Shoulder"

    1-0
    2-0
    3-1
    4-2
    5-1
    Average: 3.85
     
  23. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "I Could Get Used to This", written by Hausman, Holmes, Mann and Pesce.

    Lyric.
     
  24. captouch

    captouch Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    A pretty simple song, kind of a single groove, but I don’t find anything really pretentious or objectionable about it. Just not as rich or layered lyrically or musically.

    2.75/5
     
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  25. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Yes, this song is catchy enough: I like the opening guitar salvo, very Edge-like; and I also think that the keyboardist was really working overtime to add hooks to this. It all goes down easily and is hardly an embarrassment; but ultimately it's fairly ordinary album track with fairly ordinary and commercially aimed relationship lyrics. Aimee's voice has a yearning quality to it that I like.

    3.1/5
     
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