We're gonna put you in a trance with a funky song

Continuing my trip back through the 1990 album charts.

21/01/90 : Hangin' Tough - New Kids On The Block

Oh joy - our THIRD visit with the kids this year and their previous two offerings have been strong contenders for the worst albums of the year.  I believe this one is supposed to be better, but I can't say I'm expecting to be converted - and surprisingly, I never owned it (8/50 - double figures is looking unlikely)

Well.  Quite.  I can understand the argument that this is better but, by any normal method of comparison, I'd have to say that this is still a BLOODY AWFUL album.  I mean, it's really, really bad - the songs are just dreadful and it also features a surprisingly number of bum notes.  What were people thinking?!?

We're at #3 in the charts this week on their eighth week of an obviously totally deserved 41 week run, with it having peaked at #2 in the previous week.  The rest of the top five were The Christians (a new entry, and the only album apart from Phil to get to #1 in a sixteen week period), Phil Collins, The Sundays (a new entry which I would much rather have listened to) and Tina Turner.  It's a very solo artist kinda top ten this week with three guys (Phil, Eric and Chris) and four women (Tina, Dionne, Lisa and Kylie) in there and the next highest new entry is The Happy Mondays (all the way down at #63).

Wikipedia has loads on the album and tells me the music is "urban contemporary, blended with popular rock music" - I suspect there are a few urban contemporary or popular rock artists that would argue with that.  The rest of the entry is depressingly all about how successful it was - even the critics seemed to like it, with Robert Christgau declaring that "isn't the rank offense its demographic tilt would lead you to expect..Funkier than the Osmonds or Milli Vanilli. As hip as New Edition".  I will agree it's funkier than The Osmonds, but that's as far as I'm gonna go there.  Even allowing for that, its commercial success somewhat beggars belief - #1 in the US and #2 in their year-end chart, selling over ten million copies over there.  Seriously people - you needed help.

"Customers also listened to" Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Ana (whoever she is) - you're welcome to the lot of them.  The only good news here is that I believe I will never, ever have to subject myself to a NKOTB album again - and even that feels too soon.

14/01/90 - We're not finishing the year on a high
28/01/90 - Somehow less than the sum of its parts

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