Possibly the greatest pop-rock band to come out of the 1970s punk movement, Blondie disappeared after their The Hunter LP wasn't what it was expected to be, especially after the incredible Autoamerican was keeping them at the top of the charts all around the world. Well, during that down time, Chris Stein got rather sick, and Debbie Harry released Rockbird, Def Dumb and Blonde, and Debravation, all three of which were minor successes-- mainly in the UK, which continues to embrace all the strange concepts Blondie comes up with. 17 years after their last single was released, Blondie came back out of nowhere in 1999 with a new sound, a new look, and a new edge.
I can remember seeing the album cover in store, thinking that the band visually reminded me a lot of Ace of Base. I didn't end up hearing the record until years later, and I don't really know exactly why I waited so long. The first I noticed was just how different they all sounded. No Exit was that classic Blondie sound, but mixed entirely with the 1990s rock style. I dunno what happened, but it's like Rentcame by and threw up all over the band. That said, it's still another great release from a great band.
This album is a total tug-of-war. For every great song, there's another song that doesn't thrill me. In fact, this record stars off on a boring note-- Screaming Skin is a hard-rock ska track complete with throbbing accordion-esque beats. The tempo, though, turns this song into a midnight carnival's theme-song. The verses themselves are very catchy, but the chorus is a wreck, and, for this time in a long time, Debbie's vocal is drowning in the overproduction. I couldn't make it all the way through this song when I first heard it, but for pushing the skip button, I was rewarded with Forget And Forget (Pull Down the Night), a song that I absolutely adore. For me, this is a song that epitomizes Blondie coming back, doing another musical style, and still being absolutely genius. Debbie introduces this dramatic song with a spoken introduction-- really, the twinkling synth beats and effects sound like it would be a great ending to her 1981 KooKoo album. This has an incredible chorus that will be stuck in your heard for...ever. Forever. Other than that track, though, not many songs show true growth within the band's style. Under the Gun is a rare exception, and it fits in perfectly with their back catalogue. Fans of Parallel Lines and their eponymous record will probably love how the band sounds here-- the instrumentation perfectly matches Debbie's vocals. In my opinion, they sound the best on this song: Oh, el Diablo, why did you spend your life in California? I should have warned ya ... Oh, Jack Daniels, I feel your hunger. The song is a tribute to the late musician Jeffrey Lee Pierce, and the song is extraordinarily sad-- but still, Blondie did have a knack for making such a thing catchy.
Out in the blue hills, you're feeling hollow.
For as great as those two songs are, we get a bunch of mediocre. Nothing is Real But the Girl is that generic rock song. And if I can wrap up my feelings for a song in one sentence, then there really isn't anything to say. Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room is a song that sounds like it could have come directly off of the Autoamerican album; that is to say it sounds out of place. However, unlike anything on the very slick Autoamerican LP, this song is klutzy and almost sounds like its tripping over itself. It's got a very catchy bridge, but the production is so cheap that it's hard to listen to this song more than once-in-a-blue-moon. That and Debbie's vocals are all over the place. Night Wind Sent has got another great hook and melody, but the production is just... so damn No Exit, meaning that is has a rapid, soft drum beat in the background, Debbie's vocals are strange, and there's a whole lot of long, drawn-out synth notes going on here. This is the only place I can see this song fitting in, but if needs to be there, I wish it sounded less like a B-Side, because all in all, it's not a terrible track.
Our title-track No Exit begins off with a sample of Toccata e Fuga, none to many as "that song that plays when Dracula shows up." This is the strangest song on the whole record, making use of a hardcore rock sound, Debbie's spacey vocals, a guest spot, and, of course, a Debbie-rap! That's right folks, Blondie is back from the grave and they brought the Debbie-rap back with them. This song is just a giant cheeseball, but I just freaking love it. It's just what Blondie is about-- making you laugh, but then making you think. The title comes from Satre's famous play of the same name, in which we learn that "Hell! Hell is other people!" after it revealed that Hell is a simple room with no room. Just other people, with whom you torture each other just by talking. The song itself probes the following question: Who's gonna cry over you?
And did I mention that Coolio raps with Debbie Harry? Oh, yeah. That's right. Coolio's here, and he's gonna save this album.
The big hit from No Exit was, of course, Maria, a typical rock song that put Blondie back in the public eye. Personally, I find it no better or worse than Nothing is Real But the Girl, and it doesn't thrill me. In fact, I'm constantly skipping over it. I think No Exit is filled with a bunch of better material, like Out in the Streets, which revisits the eerie sounds of the 1960s, adds a pop flavor, monotone vocals, and a catchy melody. It gives off a certain vibe musically as well. The type of song you'd hear while the crying Homecoming Queen runs through the gym-- anybody see the end of Jawbreaker? The song, in all actuality, is an experimental in cognitive dissonance: the narrator is rather bummed-out because she's totally neutered her boyfriend-- metaphorically: He don't hang out with the gang no more ... He used to act bad, but he quit. It makes me so sad, 'cause I know he did it for me. In ends on a happy note, though, as our narrator implies she's going to let her little butterfly go. Awww. So sweet.
Proving that this album is Autoamerican part II, The Dream's Lost on Me is a folk-bluegrass song with a great melody and hook. It's incredible how well Debbie's voice can match almost any musical style thrown at her. The song is melancholy, as if somebody's going to die the next die. Very dramatic: I wake up laughing, thrown from a nightmare!
All in all, No Exit is an enjoyable record, but I can't help but find it a little strange this album was a lot more commercially successful in comparison the far superior 2005 The Curse of Blondie. Those interested in hearing what Blondie became after the 80s, you've got to here these two records, because they really do go hand in hand.
TRACKLIST Screaming Skin Forgive and Forget (Pull Down the Night) Maria No Exit (featuring Coolio) Double Take Nothing Is Real But the Girl Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room Night Wind Sent Under the Gun (For Jeffrey Lee Pierce) Happy Dog (For Caggy) The Dream's Lost On Me Divine Dig Up the Conjo
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