Disco de The B-52's: “Time Capsule”

The B-52's were formed 6 years before I was born, but I was aware of their presence growing up, thanks to "Roam", but it wasn't until last year when this album came out that I realised how funky they really are. I can truly say that I have 18 more favorite songs than I did before I heard Time Capsule. I hope the B-52's make a whole new album once Cindy Wilson has finished making babies, but in the meantime I am looking forward to hearing two of their other albums, Wild Planet and Mesopotamia. I really like the vocal style of Kate Pierson, and I think she is brilliant on "Good Stuff". Fred Schneider has a kind of weird voice but it is really effective on "Quiche Lorraine". I think one of the resons the B-52's are so enduring is that they use their strengths instead of trying to be like something else. My favorite tracks are "Rock Lobster", "Strobelight", Mesopotamia" and "Debbie". The one song that took me a long time to get to like was "Song for a Future Generation", but I got there in the end. Having listened to their other stuff, I feel that "Dance this Mess Around" should have been included, but what are you going to do? Another good point about Time Capsule is that it has one of the most stylish sleeve designs ever, and'll look great in anyone's collection.

A distillation of the B-52's oeuvre into one small CD. Whenever I listen to best-of CD's, however, I feel the need to put on my nit-picking hat - and there's a few nits worth picking. Their second album WILD PLANET seems to get undue attention (four tracks?) while the good album BOUNCING OFF THE SATELLITES doesn't get any ("Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland" would've fit in very well here). And I was somewhat dismayed to see that "Legal Tender" didn't make the cut, either. The two new tracks are decent but forgettable. For those new to B-52-land, however, this is probably the best place to begin.

Who cares if the B-52's are a combination of space music/funk/beach blanket/rock 'n roll psychodelia? They are still one of the most original bands from the last century. Sure, the best cuts are all here in this collection. The classic "Rock Lobster", "Private Idaho", "Quiche Lorraine" and the irresistible dancer "Love Shack". This is THE 'dance party disc'. Big hair, big voices, big guitar licks and big dance hits send this collection back and forth from outer space. "Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland" (another classic) is missing and the new tracks, "Debbie" and "Hallucinating Pluto" are fair fodder from this gang, but you have to love everything on this CD. Get yourself and party - oh-oh!!

This is a great album. It is a great representation of the music they have been putting out over the years. But the real treat of this disk is it's HDCD encoding. So if you have a CD player with HDCD decoding instead of hearing the rather flat 16 bit CD sound, you will get the full 20 bit HDCD sound. This may not sound like a big deal, but the difference in sound quality is remarkable. You will hear more music than ever before, with far more depth and realism than is usually possible with a normal CD. Buy this disk! You owe it to your self and your children.

First allow me to clarify one thing. In my mind, the B-52's legacy ended with the departure of Cindy Wilson in the early 90s. Without her vocal contributions, I think their songs are severely lacking in texture, making them tedious and boring. Therefore, I always stop the CD after "Roam," and I have never heard the rest of it.

That being said, I think this is an excellent collection. Their inclusion of "Mesopotamia," which was always one of my favorites, was a pleasant surprise. I love contemporary music, but sometimes I prefer to listen to something less self-conscious, something strictly silly and fun with a great beat, and this is that album! My only complaint is that it should have included "Legal Tender." If it had that, I'd have to give it six stars!