This review was
originally posted on rateyourmusic.
on their community forums. This version of the review has had some editing and
corrections.
"I have seen blooms and blossoms, now I go.
Explosive: The Best
of Bond – This quartet of beauties have loads of musical talent as well as
good looks. I am not sure of the band member’s ethnic backgrounds but many of
their songs have a quick Latin Salsa and or Tango beat to them. They blend
classical standards with an electric synthopop salsa blended sound that is
reminiscent of a late 1970s action movie soundtrack. Track number two the title
track “Explosive” could pass as the
opening theme to a James Bond movie.
I first heard about Bond in an
interview/preview from one of those entertainment tabloid television shows like
“Entertainment Tonight” several years
ago that introduced the group and perhaps plugged their album at the time
(perhaps it was their debut album). I filed the group away as one to look out
for. Unfortunately for a few years I only remembered they were a female quartet
that jazzed up classical music. Eventually I saw or heard something from them
again and eventually got this “dual disc” * [See Note at end of review]
As the group focuses on classical pieces and blend it with more modern musical
techniques and styles this album is virtually instrumental. The few exceptions
are “Viva!” which has a crowd,
perhaps attending a soccer match shouting “Viva”,
the catchy “Shine” which has some
mariachi sounding voices (I’m not sure what they actually say if anything), and
a short part of “Wintersun” (the
lyrics of which I quoted at the beginning of this review) are the only songs
that have lyrics. The track "Duel"
also has vocal sounds but no lyrics.
The soccer match sounding “Viva!”
starts out sounding like a Blue Man
Group song it has a sort of PVC pipe instrument sound to it. “Wintersun” has parts that remind me of
the popular 1970s Moog syntho-tune “Popcorn” by Hot Butter. The track “Duel”
has some nice violin with some backing vocal sounds that are Enya-esk in its style. The traditional
Christmas time classic “Dance of the
Sugarplum Fairy” is even covered but simply titled as “Sugarplum”
Overall even though this album is reminiscent of a 1980s syntho-pop disco club
soundtrack it is quite enjoyable. Casual listeners may recognize some of the
standard pieces with that “I know that song but have no idea what It’s called”
like those character actors you see in film after film but never know their
name. When you see them you say, “Hey I saw that dude in the sequel to that
Psycho Horror movie with that other dude”. The final track “Carmina” has that surreal eerie choir
vocalizing that is used countless times in Demonic Haunting Horror Movies and
trailers or epic fantasy movies with a huge battle on a mountainous plain. For
years and years, I had heard that tune but never knew the title. I often forget
the title, but now I tend to remember that it is on this album.
The DVD side of this Dual Disc only has 3 videos (Explosive, Fuego and Victory)
*NOTE: for CD/DVD combination discs
like these Dual Discs (audio on one side video on the other) and packages that
include both an audio disc and a video disc I do NOT review the DVD/Video
portion here. Sometimes I review them on my personal blog, but rarely. I tend
to forget about reviewing the DVD portion.
