Track Listing

1. Our Lips Are Sealed
2. How Much More
3. Tonight
4. Lust To Love
5. This Town
6. We Got The Beat
7. Fading Fast
8. Automatic
9. You Can't Walk In Your Sleep
10. Skidmarks On My Heart
11. Can't Stop The World

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60626 in Music
• Released on: 1995-12-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
L.A.'s the Go-Go's had shed a lot of the strict punk rock-isms of their past by the time of their first album, though the best moments of BEAUTY & THE BEAT still present them a touch closer to punk than to pop. It is as a result of recordslike this that new wave came into being. The Go-Go's were one of the first American punk bands to achieve significant commercial success (probably only Blondie really preceded them), and this album is no sell-out to "the man".
The record spawned two huge hits, "Our Lips Are Sealed", "We Got theBeat", and one not-as-huge one, "Can't Stop the World" (written by bass player Kathy Valentine). All three feature GinaSchock's powerful drumming way up into the front of the mix, Belinda Carlisle impassioned (and slightly unschooled) vocals, and brief allusions to surf-guitar rock. As good as those tracks are, "Skidmarks on My Heart", an awesome nitro-injected, adrenalised pastiche of '60s girl-group standards, and "This Town", a scathing character study of L.A. life, are possibly better. For all of its enormous commercial success,this record is one of the very best albums of the early '80s.

Customer Reviews

Remember the 80s and good music!
I first heard this album when a friend brought it back from America in 1981. It is at the pop end of new wave, but still sounds good twenty years on. O.K. so Belinda Carlisle (one of the GO GO's) is pretty but this harks back to the days when records were about music not how good the singers looked. The line up also includes Jane Wiedlin ( probably most famous for her single Rush Hour). If you like either of these artists take this opportunity to check out their early work. You may remember the first track "Our lips are sealed" as a Fun Boy Three track but the GO GO's version is a lot more melodic. My favourite track is" We got the beat" which probably sums up American new wave and this album. Groovy sound without the angst of some UK bands. Finally I've owned versions of this album for twenty years and I still play it from time to time. Enough said?

Music that really gets you Go-Go'ing
While considered light pop by some, Beauty and the Beat stands out among the best albums of the 80s and retains all of its fun and energy even today. The music industry had never really seen a genuinely all-girl group, but the five talented women who joined together to become the Go-Go's did much more than sing--they wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. I personally would not call this music punk rock, but it is fresh and brash. Not only were these ladies having fun, they were boldly announcing to everyone that they could do whatever they wanted all by themselves. I personally love Belinda Carlisle, and I think the less developed, rough edge to her voice works very well on these earliest recordings. Charlotte Caffey is a terrific songwriter, guitarist, and backup singer, and the remaining players (Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock, and Kathy Valentine) play a pivotal role in making this an enthusiastically successful team effort.

There are some great tracks on this album. Is there anyone born before 1975 who could not spontaneously sing every word of the infectious "We Got the Beat?" This was one of those rare songs that never grew old, no matter how often you heard it on the radio. The second prominent single, "Our Lips Are Sealed" was also a big hit. "Lust to Love," a tune about a fun relationship unpredictably turning into a serious one, is probably my personal favorite. The first half of this album, featuring songs such as "How Much More," "Tonite," and "This Town" is terrific. The album loses a little steam after its midway point, though, especially when the group slows down the tempo on "Automatic." It is the only track that cannot be said to have "the beat." "You Can't Walk in Your Sleep" and "Skidmarks on My Heart" have the beat, but they don't have the energy of the earlier tracks; in addition, the lyrics of the latter song, comparing love to auto repair, have never won me over. "Can't Stop the World, " written by Kathy Valentine, ends the album on a high note; the song really seems to exemplify the spirit and message of the Go-Go's. This is just a fun album to listen to and sing along with. Since "Automatic" and "Skidmarks on My Heart" are somewhat weak songs to my ears, I am only giving this CD four stars. I do, however, think the first seven tracks are five stars all the way.

SEAL YOUR LIPS

THE FIRST SONG ( our lips are sealed ) IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS TO COME OUT OF THE 1980S

THE REST OF THE ALBUM IS LIGHT,FUNNY AND VERY WELL WRITTEN.