I agree. We haven't looked at it yet because it was included as the last track on a reissue of AOTP, so we will bget to it later.
All About You Solid track written and sung by Vicki (who really seems to have done the lion's share of writing on this album). It is a head bobbing track. Nice bassline and drumming and great jangly guitars, with not one, but, two solos.
"All About You" - Pretty good song. I really like that first guitar solo, very Beatles-esque. The song is definitely a toe tapper.
I like it okay. I wish it had more of that grungy guitar - it was lot better live. Vicki can definitely sing, but there isn't much personality to her voice. I like the way she sings with a lot of conviction, but her tone is just kinda plain. I'd call this song really instructive about the Bangles career - never again would a song like this make it to one of their albums.
Live -- A great pop tune given a great turn by Debbie Peterson. I always thought Debbie had a more attractive voice than Vicki's (not that Vicki's is bad), and I wish she had been given more leads (instead of David Kahne trying to take away her solo spots). Putting this 2nd off the top is surprising, but I guess they recognized its strength. I can't imagine any functional human not enjoying this track. It's fantastic. James -- A Bangles' classic. I adore this song! Vicki wrote it, but I think it was a good move to give it to Susanna to sing. Along with 'Hero Takes A Fall', it's one of the two best songs on the record and an 80s' classic! All About You -- Another very strong Vicki song. Great guitar-pop.
You don't usually think "rockabilly" when discussing the Bangles, but that was the first musical style listed on Susanna's ad looking for musicians to work with. "All About You" definitely has a rockabilly rhythm going on.
All About You -- one of my favorites on the album -- very melodic and extremely Beatlesque. AOTP goes 4-for-4 so far. Revisiting this album here keeps reminding me how great it is.
I agree that the track could have used a little more drive, as nice as it is. I also agree that Vicki's voice, though consistent and forceful, was not as dazzling or identifiable as Susanna's, as arresting as Steele's or as nuanced as Debbi's. But, as we shall see, I think it matured a bit a few albums in.
All About You - I love how assertive this song is. The verse is just two lines in a hurry up and get to the chorus move. I love this album because it is loaded to the brim with catchy original songs. Another good one.
Dover Beach We come now to my favorite track on the album, and one of the best Bangles songs period. Clearly, Vicki and Susanna were going for something epic here, assembling rather simple pieces into a kind of whole with some definite depth to it. Musically, it is striking, with a melodic line that is somewhat angular, culminating in crescendos where all four members' voices soar. The Rickenbacker features prominently here, and Vicki's guitar lines are great, with three solos this time that correspond to the thematic direction behind the lyrics. Debbi's drumming is perfect here, and I love how it is subdued at the start, increasing in intensity, and finally thumping alone with Steele's simple, but aggressive bass line after the final guitar solo disintegrates. Susanna's vocal is interesting here, and she carries it off admirably, but I can't help but feeling the songs would have been even better if she and Vicki would have given it to Steele, who has no lead appearances on the album. Lyrically, the song borrows from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and, of course, Arnold's Dover Beach. Romance would, at first glance, appear to the primary subject, but a soft feminist interpretation focusing on female friendship could also be argued (as it was in a scholarly article by Peter Mercer-Taylor), with the fact that the lyrics speaking of freedom from the confines of "all that is duty or required" are followed by a shift in the song's chordal structure perhaps backing this up. Anyway, fantastic song. Sometimes I wish they would have rerecorded it after their comeback. Would have been nice to hear how they'd approach it then.
I just found this thread! I have been a fan since their EP came out, and I still have my original copy. We used to see some of the Paisley Underground bands back in the day: The Three O-Clock, Long Ryders, but never got to see the Bangles unfortunately. I think the EP and All Over the Place are tops. There aren't any songs I dislike.
Dover Beach -- great ending to side one. All of Side One got the most plays because there was not a bad song on it.
Dover Beach is my favorite track from the Bangles. I picked up the 12” Going Down To Liverpool” recommended for it’s “jangle” as that was my style back then by my favourite record shop in 84. Still play it regularly.
One of my personal concert highlight moments happened during a show promoting "Sweetheart of the Sun". People were posting different song requests on the band's Facebook page (as if they really had time to read them), so I threw in a request for "Dover Beach" just for fun. Towards the end of the concert that night, my mind was blown when Susanna announced that the next song was by my request and they launched into "Dover Beach". Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived when one of my friends got a glimpse of the setlist that another fan had managed to grab from the stage after the show and we learned that "Sweet and Tender Romance" was bumped because of me. I think that was the last night of the tour and I don't believe they have ever played SATR since.
I wonder if this song was originally intended for Annette to sing? The band did say they tried out some "rockabilly" material with her.
I don't know but the song is very much in the same vein as those EP tracks and early recording and performances so it might have been. Do we know much of anything about Annette's singing. I don't think she sang lead on any song when I saw them, but I could be mistaken. Wish I could have heard them having a go at some rockabilly, that would be fun!
As far as I know, she never sang lead with The Bangles, though she did sing on some solo and other band projects after she left.
"Hero Takes A Fall" - not, as it turns out, about Steve Wynn. Or at least, it didn't start out that way.
"Dover Beach" - What a song! Incredible melody with some great harmonizing throughout. That last little guitar solo that starts at 2:57 is so raw and powerful for being fairly simple. Quite an accomplished song for being so early in their career. 5+
Tell Me Side two gets started with a standout track. Another Vicki and Susanna collaboration, with lead vocals credited to both of them. It is a track that feels very thrown together and spontaneous, but all the better for it. Also, it is the main bass showcase on the album, and Michael really has rapid fingers and nice tone here.
I always assumed "we could steal away like jugglers and thieves" was some literary reference. Googling just now all I find are the Dover Beach lyrics. Love that line. But why do jugglers need to steal away?
