Barbez, Insignificance

This will make the fourth time I’ve sat down and tried to write a review for this album, with many apologies to our illustrious editors. I can honestly say the delay is in large part due to the feeling that I wasn’t giving Barbez enough of a try before I reviewed the album. I would sit, and begin to criticize, and then stop myself; reminding myself how many listens of OK Computer it took for me to appreciate it.

Finally, I’ve some to the conclusion that Barbez is not Radiohead, and does not merit the same time commitment, because after innumerable listens, I’ve reached the same conclusion time after time: man, do they need a new lead singer. And I mean that with all due respect; I get the Marlene Dietrich thing they’re trying to pull off. It’s just that, well, Miss Dietrich wasn’t all that great a singer, and the only reason she sang as much as she did was that she had an impressive screen presence.

A voice on a CD, however, has no screen presence.

The musicianship on the album is quite good, and musically all the tracks are actually quite listenable, but once that voice kicks in, you long for the karaoke version of the album — the one without the singing.

For all you skeptics out there, thinking to yourselves, “He just doesn’t enjoy unusual singing voices,” I say to you that I own the Tiger Lilies musical Shockheaded Peter and quite dig it, and on top of that, I’m a big fan of both Rush and Blossom Dearie. So stick that in your hat and smoke it.

All in all, if you’re a big fan of Marlene Dietrich’s singing and the more experimental music of Dead Can Dance, you’re in for a treat, but if you really only like the latter, leave this album be.