Debbie Harry...okay, no wait, Deborah Harry is one of the greatest artists since, well, forever, and is a personal favorite of mine. When I first heard the spooky and dark-humor sound on her 1981 debut album KooKoo, she had me hooked by the ear, despite the fact that it has been universally panned as a cheap and sloppy experiment. I, in turn, see it as art. In 1986, after a long hiatus to tend to Blondie-bandmate Chris Stein during his illness, Debbie came back and dropped Rockbird, another 5-star release that solidified the woman as a total chameleon. Then, a few years later, after the Rockbird project that barely kept her head above the proverbial water, she released her third record, Def, Dumb & Blonde, which, in the UK at least, would serve as her comeback. The time was 1989, just rolling over to 1990, and the leading single was riding high on the charts. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep it hot due to lack of promotion and poor management.

I'm always very wary of music made in the earlier half of the 1990s, as an artist's sound tend to get very cheap. In the mid-90s, Blondie released a slew of abysmal remix singles and compilations that made my ears bleed, and, really, the only artist who kept the music fresh in the early 90s was Debbie's arch-nemesis Madonna. This album is on the cusp of this hollow decade, just before techno would take over. Instead, she took her sound in another direction: rock. Whereas her work with Blondie ranged from grungy punk rock to rap to reggae, the band never managed to do a harder-edged rock sound. At least, not well. This album also dabbles in other styles, but there's a very rock sensibility.

I Want That Man is, to date, her most successful single, serving as a platform for her career to take off again. This single is very important for keeping Debbie in the mainstream and introduction a new generation to not only her stuff, but also to Blondie's work. As a song itself, it's also very, very good. It's drenched in an unmistakable 1990 sound, though. By the end of the late 80s (yes, the END of the late 80s), people in the rock circuit were abandoning their synth-pop twists and going for something a little more straight forward. This track features some good, simple drumming and some more guitar, with very few keyboard-ish effects. Tragically, the song's writing credit does not belong to Debbie, despite the fact that her songwriting skills are very strong. "I wanna dance with Harry Dean. Drive through Texas in a black limosuine. I want a piece of heaven before I die..." This cutesy song deals with a longing for something exciting and fun, and it's very catchy.

At this time, one will notice that Debbie's vocals sound fresh, just as strong as they were on 1980's Autoamerican. On first listen, however, everything aside from this song didn't thrill me. In fact, a lot still doesn't. Lovelight is so...Vegas-showgirl-The Stardust-Casino that I really can't bare to listen to it. All I envision is Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkely in Showgirls) thrusting and twirling on stage on a tacky Las Vegas stage. The rock sound is cool, but the melody isn't very catchy and neither are the lyrics. It's one of the few misteps the Chris Stein/Debbie Harry pairing has made. I do, however, enjoy the single Sweet and Low, a cutesy little pop song that screams "Welcome to the Decade of Trivial Crap." It's not the deepest song she's ever sung, but it's really catchy and addictive to listen to. I'll Never Fall in Love (not available on cassette or LP) is downright hypnotic, that I could listen to it for hours, with its reggae stylings that honestly remind me a little of The Electric Slide. By far, it's my favorite track on this album.

Now, Def, Dumb & Blonde is a very long album, clocking in at 15 tracks (on the disc. Differs on LP and cassette). How does the rest of it stack up? Well, I don't love it as much as the three songs mentioned, but it's not terrible. Bike Boy draws inspiration from Blondie's sophomore Plastic Letters album-- in fact, it sounds like a demo from this era. Debbie's vocals are super crisp and crazy wild, as she was in those days. The melody is fun, but it can get on your nerves quite easily. That said, it's appropriately short, not even hitting the 3-minute mark. DD&B marks the first time, for a solo Debbie Harry project, that the music is totally schizophrenic(phonic? Geri Halliwell anybody?). Blondie always made crazy albums that span 1,000 genres, but Debbie's work tended to be a lot more solid and grounded. This album is all over the place with reggae, pop, then reggae, then rock, then rock again, then punk rock, then pop and dance. Get Your Way takes us back to the dance floor, a six-minute Grace Jones-esque track that is really enjoyable for the first half, but then you get to the two-minute mark and ask yourself, "Is this seriously still playing?

If you didn't like Debbie's solo debut, then you're going to hate Calmarie, as that's exactly what this song reminds me of. Very much based in jungle rocks and mysteria, this track is downright odd, especially considering where it's placed on the album. It's a good song, but another one where you can't believe it's still on. Enough of the mediocre, though. Let's get to the crap. Brite Side is awful. I don't care if it's a "fan favorite"; it's still frakkin' awful. Debbie's vocals are weird and the awkwardly minimal instrumentation is too (ironically enough) abrasive for me to enjoy. Comic Books and Forced to Live also attempt to bring back some of that punky Blondie magic, but, well, that doesn't really work with Blondie. Blondie isn't just Debbie Harry and Chris Stein-- it needs Clem, Leigh, Nigel, Frank, etc. It's a dynamic. I don't know what happened on this album, but it still sounds a little unpolished, and not in the good way.

DDB is not my least favorite Debbie outing, but it's not my favorite. It's a very middle-of-the-road album, probably the best suited to casual Blondie fans. Those who are a little more interested in the experimental and crazy Debbie are more inclined to give Rockbird and KooKoo a spin.

TRACK LIST
I Want That Man (5 Stars)
Lovelight (2 Stars)
Kiss It Better 3 Stars)
Bike Boy (4 Stars)
Get Your Way (3 Stars)
Maybe For Sure (3 Stars)
I'll Never Fall in Love (5 Stars)*
Calmarie (4 Stars)
Sweet and Low (5 Stars)
He Is So (3 Stars)
Bugeye (4 Stars)
Comic Books (1 Star)
Forced to Live (1 Star)
Brite Side (1 Star)
End of the Run (3 Stars)
*Not available on cassette or LP; only on CD.
Overall score: 3 Stars (3.13-)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Exercising