TERMINAL JIVE

You might have noticed that skipped by a few albums between Indiscreet and Terminal Jive, but you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that those albums are far from a the essential Sparks classics that I've covered so far. Now let's move to the band's Electronica period!

No. 1 In Heaven was the point when the band moved away from rock music and into the domain of Disco/Synth-Pop/Electronica. The band recruited the talents of the synthesizers wizard Giorgio Moroder (or maybe it was the other way around?) to help them with the transition. Unfortunately I don't think that the result of this collaboration truly bloomed until the follow up release Terminal Jive, which is why I decided to skip that release in favor of the only really major album that Sparks recorded in the '80s.

The album gets into a groovy mood with When I'm With You, which is a perfect intro to such a bouncy record! I actually like that this album is slightly less synthesizer oriented than No. 1 In Heaven since it gives space for interesting experiments with electric guitar sounds mixed within layers of all the Electronica. Speaking of instrumental arrangements, some might consider the addition of an instrumental version of When I'm With You a cheap way to prolong the album but I honestly consider it to be a brilliant move, especially since this instrumental version mixes in new layers of sounds which almost completely change my perception of the original piece!

Overall, I'd still have to rate this album just below the excellent mark since it's a fun and light little record that I can listen to just to chill out but it's really not a good example of why I love Sparks. We'll need to skip almost 15 years into the future for a proper glimpse of that phenomenon!

***** star songs: When I'm With You (Instrumental) (3:45)

**** star songs: When I'm With You (5:49) Just Because You Love Me (4:38) Rock 'N Roll People In A Disco World (4:48) Young Girls (4:51) Stereo (4:02) The Greatest Show On Earth (4:19)

*** star songs: Noisy Boys (3:55)