Ah Robin Beck. I adore her. And she is back! You may well remember her from her chart-topping UK smash, First Time (aka, the best Coca Cola song ever) - which more recently returned to the top ten in sample form when Sunblock released a dance version in 2006. What her loyal army of fans know, but the casual observer may not, is that Ms Beck has continued with her career of releasing slamming rock-pop tunes over the past 25 years including recording Save Up All Your Tears before Cher did & more recently releasing her 8th album (entitled The Great Escape) which included much of her own music as well as a brilliant track called Baby I'm Not A Bitch. Anyway, Robin's 9th album, Underneath, is on the way and is out on Monday 12th August in the UK (YAY - pre-order here). You can visit her official website, RobinBeckRocks (and she does!) for all the information you need about that - and while I shall return for a review when my copy arrives, I'm focusing today on the track that I feel should be first single. Entitled Wrecking Ball, it's the lead off track on Underneath and as Robin herself says "Wrecking Ball is just me all over the place. The sentiment is my life story in terms of dynamics in many relationships... I'm a tough cookie but I gotta soft center. I'm a wrecking ball, and you're lucky that I am..." Luckily, while those are the sentiments of the song, the track is not all over the place and is actually a perfectly produced piece of AOR that thrills from those first electrifying guitar chords & that persistent, mesmerising beat. Robin herself sounds incredible, her throaty vocals giving the track such vibrant personality and emotion that it almost feels like she is just out of your peripheral vision, singing right behind you. There's a gutteral energy inherent within the song that gives it's impetus, a galloping thrust that propels the track on it's way - however what is evident is that the song was built around the raw honesty of the lyrics, and given an intricate melody (that Robin performs perfectly with her voice) that explodes in that fiery, passionate chorus. And therein lies the genius of the song - it's brilliantly constructed so that it works as this engaging rock ditty but you can almost imagine Robin in a softer setting, maybe just some haunting piano giving the song a more wistful, intimate feel. If you want a modern day comparison, the song is kind of like a rock remix of Pink's U + UR Hand, but also not really. It's all Robin and she stands tall just fine that way. A brilliant introduction to the album and would make for a thrilling first single. Amazes.
UPDATE (9/9/13): Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs as me dear old Nan used to say. I think it was meant to convey surprise, though why you'd go and stand at the bottom of your staircase is beyond me. Old people, eh? Anyway, after hoping that Robin's Wrecking Ball would be the first single from her jolly good indeed new album, it turns out that wishes do come true - and that sometimes they come with a spirited & sparkling remix too :) Brillo! Of course since I wrote the original post above, Miley Cyrus has twerked her way across televisions around the world and ensured plenty of promo for her own Wrecking Ball single (though a completely different tune - and I prefer the Chris Salvatore cover of it because he's prettier to look at :D). Hers is quite nice if I'm honest with you but Robin's remains the superior song - and the remix package puts it miles in front. Ricardo Autobahn remains one of the most reliable remixers in the biz - what he can't do with a song isn't worth knowing. An insistent & throbbing beat enhances (rather than overpowers) Robin's assertive vocals while the dark & swirling synths permeate the music giving a superbly evocative & moody atmosphere. This, in turns, highlights the sentiments of the lyrics, bringing front and centre the message of the song with a new, more electronic score. All too often dance mixes overpower what made the original version so great, but Ricardo knows how to tease the best out of the song. An excellent alternate version that will have me grooving, slut-dropping and twerking all the live long day :D Here the remix here...
No comments:
Post a Comment