Track Listing

1. Pump
2. Hot Corner
3. Ultraviolet
4. Juliet of the Spirits
5. Funplex
6. Eyes Wide Open
7. Love In the Year 3000
8. Deviant Ingredient
9. Too Much To Think About
10. Dancing Now
11. Keep This Party Going

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1369 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-25
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Along with producer Steve Osborne (New Order, Happy Mondays, Doves) the band have created an album as cutting edge, distinctive & danceable as their debut album in 1979. The B-52's influence cuts a wide path through much of so-called Modern Rock-- from the low-fi efforts of nouveau garage bands and the Retro-Hip of Ultra-Lounge to the very ascendance of Dance music itself. Twenty years and 20 million albums into a career that began as a low-rent lark in Athens, Georgia, the B-52's remain the most unlikely Pop superstars ever. The first band to glorify Pop culture with an almost Warholian sense of purpose, their absurd B-movie style and off-kilter sound celebrated the weirdness lurking just beneath the surface of Americana. EMI. 2008.

Amazon.co.uk
16 years between albums is a gap virtually unprecedented in modern music, so no surprises that the first question you want to know about Funplex is: how does it sound? Going on the opening track "Pump", you'd be forgiven for thinking not at all: there's Fred Schneider's delirious, delightfully unselfconscious shout, there's Kate and Cindy whooping like dropout cheerleaders, there's the enjoyably garish mish-mash of early rock'n'roll, B-movie kitsch and surfboard funk that's been the group's stock in trade since their emergence in the new-wave boom of the mid-'70s. Deeper into Funplex, though, there's evidence of a new electronic edge, which can be owed in part to the input of producer Steve Osbourne, who's previously worked with New Order and Sophie Ellis Bextor. At times, the presence of dance beats, echoing effects, and pulsing synthesiser make Funplex feel a little clinically handled, like a B-52s remix. But it's worth admission just for the glorious title track, a chaotic cops'n'hippies dust-up at the mall, and the mighty "Ultraviolet". "Keep doing what we're doing cos we're doing it right!" shouts Fred. "Four miles to a breakdown!" shout Kate and Cindy. 16 years on, the party's still going. - Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Back on track
It hardly seems as though they've been away. The B-52's in "Funplex" have reproduced their happy, almost neo-hippie sound of the early '80's. Improved production makes it sound a little less chaotic (for them, not entirely good), and the degenerate come-ons of the past seem less attractive after the breakout of HIV-AIDS. Still, while not quite as zany as their past raves, some of the new ones, like "Juliet of the Spirits" (named for the lead character/title of a great Fellini movie of the '50's), show some real flair.

The party keeps on going, on and on and on
I was always a moderate fan of B-52's in terms that the only album I actually owned was the Time Capsule compilation. But they could always lift me up and put a smile on my face.

Great news is, Funplex has the same effect. I can listen to it in one go and you know it's quality stuff when you have certain songs from the album playing in your head EVERY DAY, for over two months. Fun, catchy, energetic and well executed with nice mix of innovation and signature sound. Get it by all means.

Great news people of Planet Earth (& Claire)
Great news people of planet earth (and Claire!)- B-52's have come up with another winning combination of fun and funky! Saw them perform in Denver at the True Colors tour in July! Purchased the CD beforehand to allow my 16 yr old daughter, who joined me at the concert, to hear the latest. We were not disappointed. Music is as fresh and fabulous as past efforts. Also purchased Time Capsule for daughter, even though I have all the rest of the CD's. She is already a fan, but the concert cemented her love of all things Fred, Kate, Cindy and Keith!! Buy this album. Everyone needs to remember what fun is, especially now. This group is the epitome of frolicking fantastic fun and musical greatness.