Part of being a fan is giving an artist your full attention. It's not fair to ignore certain projects just because you're happy enough with the few songs you like. When I started listening to Debbie Harry, every album that came out after Rockbird left me feeling less than non-plussed. Def, Dumb & Blonde was super generic and 2007's Necessary Evil was fine, but didn't sound like her to me. I chose to more or less ignore 1993's Debravation after not only reading scathing reviews, but also hearing snippets from the record. I'm not a huge fan of that generic 90s sound, so when I first heard the lame dance beats on Lip Service, I chose to avoid the record at all costs. After a while, I felt it ridiculous that I ignore an entire record Debbie made for no real reason. Overtime I began to appreciate her other work, so I sat down, took a big gulp at sat through her only 1990's record.

1989 proved to be a good year for Debbie. Her single I Want That Man was released to rave reviews and proved to be somewhat of a comeback for the rock diva in the UK. So, what did she do? She decided that success wasn't for her and she released a bunch of crap to follow it up! Well, that's not entirely true. But she really didn't know how to market herself. In 1993, a dance song hit the scene and the Debravation era began.

THE GOOD

To date, the only song from this record to instantly grab my attention was Strike Me Pink. This not-a-ballad, not-a-jam track is about a tug of war love that leaves her basically feeling overly bitter, jaded, and sarcastic: "Maybe your touch it magic. You strike me pink." In the music video, which was rather infamous at the time, featured Debbie sitting in a chair in somebody's basement as she watches her lover drown in a tank. Just before the man dies, she lowers the shade on his phone-booth-esque tank. The video proved to be too risque and was eventually banned. Rather than providing the song with some mysteria and chart success, it just tanked even further. As Debbie once said on 1981's KooKoo: BACKFIRED! IN YOUR FACE! Regardless, it's one of the better tracks from the record.

Unfortunately, aside from Strike Me Pink, I couldn't care less about this record. It took me a very long to embrace any other song. The second one to peak my interest was fellow single I Can See Clearly, which is not a cover of the song that you're thinking of. This song is an upbeat dance track that would be so much better if it didn't have that stupid 1993 rave sound. There's a terrible chorus of "doo doo doos" before the verse kicks in and it really annoys me. That aside, it's still a very catchy song that is just a victim of its own time.

The strongest track from the album musically and vocally is Dog Star Girl, which ends the record. It's got a great, dark, and brooding production that reminds me very much of Cyndi Lauper's One Track Mind from 1986. The thumping beats mixed with Debbie's creepy vocals are just pure ear candy: "The fire is in focus [...] oh, let me be your Dog Star Girl..."

Other catchy pop tracks include Stability, which is another rap exploitation, and Keep on Going, a softer track based on a simple lyrics and a pleasant melody.

THE BAD (THE HORRIBLE)

The song to ruin this record for me, as previously stated, was Lip Service, a song that just epitomizes everything wrong with the 1990s. We've got stupid production. Bad dance beats. Generic house sound. Generic rave sound. I think it had potential, but this mix is just too obnoxious for words. Mood Ring doesn't do much for me either with its awkward pacing. The melody is bland and, again, the 90s thing just keeps rearing its ugly head. In fact, it's more 90s than the 90s was as a whole. Every single trick used in pop music in that decade is present on this album, then amplified to point where you just want to drink poison.

Rain follows suit. It may show off how powerful Debbie's voice is, but the cheap and lifeless dance production sounds like it came directly from a Casio keyboard. Communion has a great melody, but its been mixed and remixed and remastered and killed and given all these effects and overproduced to the point where I just don't care to listen to it anymore. The chorus is really nice and does a good job of combining the religious theme to the music. I just really wish all those Casio whirrs in the background and keyboard flourishes would get the hell away. It's a good song (it should, really, be in the Good segment of this review), but Madonna did it four years prior.

The worst song on the album, though, by a long shot, is The Fugitive, which just, flat out, has no melody. It has no hook. The lyrics are .. well, I don't know them because I just don't care to listen to them. I've never been able to listen to this song past 1 minute. That says a lot.

I dreaded writing this review, knowing that it might I'd have to listen to it. But after all is said and done, it scored a whole star higher than I anticipated it would.

Not her best effort.

TRACK LIST
I Can See Clearly (4 Stars)
Stability (4 Stars)
Strike Me Pink (5 Stars)
Rain (1 Star)
Communion (4 Stars)
Lip Service (1.5 Stars)
Mood Ring (2 Stars)
Keep on Going (3 Stars)
Dancing Down the Moon (3 Stars)
Standing in My Way (3 Stars)
The Fugitive (1 Star)
Dog Star Girl (5 Stars)

OVERALL SCORE: 3 Stars (3.01-)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Cleaning the House