Black Samurai (The Best Of Alpha Blondy) - Alpha Blondy

Advantages: The first high ranking new wave album by any artists or band
Disadvantages: A couple of flat tracks that dampen the spark of the album

...of the band. The sharpness of the black and white, bold stripes behind the black suited band and Debbie in a white dress and shoes denoted the new wave feel that the music held within. For 1978, it was design ahead of its time and a style that was soon adapted to the up and coming Ska movement of that time. Blondie, were very much the fore runners for a new type of sound. It is within this album, that the listener can generate the music tastes that were going to happen in the near future. Very much a Blondie album, it experimented with different music genres that were big in the late seventies. The examples of this are, 'Heart Of Glass', a fusion of disco and glam to suit the diverse vocals of Harry. 'Hanging On The Telephone' is pure Blondie punk, although not their own song, it was originally the product of a band called The Nerves, even... Read review

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Advantages: Some good songs, lyrically sharp
Disadvantages: Inferior to Blondie throughout

...of Blondie and the confines of being in a band. She has become a very respected actress, starring in 'Videodrome' with James Woods, John Water's 'Hairspray' and the Liv Tyler black comedy 'Heavy'. She spent a fair amount of time with the Jazz Passengers, a jazz combo based in New York. And of course she has perfected her status as a counter-cultural icon. And she has had, of course, a solo career (I say of course because without a solo career there wouldn't be such an album as the one I currently write about…). Harry's solo career was actually launched in 1981, shortly after the release of Blondie's monster 'Autoamerican' album, an album which had showed signs that Blondie were starting to falter with their more leftfield, art-rock leanings. She teamed up with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the geniuses behind the sassy, sexy disco behemoth... Read review

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Advantages: The songs are still timeless
Disadvantages: Pub rock tendencies, improvised bits get a bit tedious

...After a slew of remixes, bootlegs and illegal recordings appeared during the long gap between Blondie's 1982 split-up and 1998 reunion, the band (or, most probably, the record company executives) decided to cash in and release an official live album. 'Livid', as the sticker on the sleeve informs you, boasts 'the only official live version of 'One Way Or Another'', believing that this fact alone necessitates purchase. 'Livid' is compiled from various gigs during Blondie's comeback tour of 1998/99. Six of the tracks here are taken from a November 1998 gig at the Lyceum, London. A further six are taken from a gig at Las Vegas's House of Blues. 'Forgive And Forget' comes from New York City's Town Hall, while three more tracks come from Chicago's Riviera Theatre in an August 1999 gig. One of the albums best moments, however, comes from... Read review

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