Bangles - Doll Revolution (album)

NinthElement OP

15 years ago

Thirteen years on since the Bangles broke up... while on top of the charts and top of the world... here comes a reunion album that makes it seem like not a minute has passed since they went away. The group's jangly-Byrdsy pop-rock feels every bit as palatable today as it did in their glory days. Unlike so many comeback albums, Doll Revolution deserves a place in the band's history with their classic platters All Over the Place and Different Light. The wonderful strength of the band is that they have four very different yet complimentary lead singers and songwriters in guitarists Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson, bassist Michael Steele and drummer Debbi Peterson. The album starts off with a smoking cover of Elvis Costello's recent single "Tear Off Your Head (It's A Doll Revolution.)" While that is an auspicious lead-off, the originals that follow are even better. Hoffs' song "Something That You Said" is an irresistibly catchy song which could be a huge hit if it ever gets heard, as would her gorgeous ballad "I Will Take Care Of You" (which is a little reminiscent of Hoffs' classic power ballad "Eternal Flame.") The band has a wonderfully 60s vibe on Debbi Peterson's "Ask Me No Questions." "The Rain Song" is a lovely song that Vicki Peterson has resurrected from her side-project The Continental Drifters (with Susan Cowsill.) Micki Steele, long the band's somewhat overlooked secret weapon, contributes the sweetly nostalgic "Nickel Romeo." Doll Revolution is both up-to-date and wonderfully timeless. The Bangles have been missed. Thank goodness they're back. Review by Jay S. Jacobs