THOMPSON TWINS - HERE'S TO FUTURE DAYS

I put this cd in tonight and while the first couple of tracks played, I was transported back to the happiest time in my life. I really loved the 80's. The title of the album is a nod to future days and yet the music on this disc hasn't even remotely stood the test of time. It was awesome when it came out, but years later, it bears the unmistakable tried and true tricks of 80's production. The writing is typical for the time period. Usually, this kind of music doesn't survive well. There are a couple of tunes that seem to transcend, but most don't.

Despite the somewhat lackluster start to this review, let me say in defense of this band, when they were at the top of their game, (which was essentially during this record), they were enjoyable, fun to listen to and down right wonderful. There's a Beatles' cover if you're into The Beatles. It's a fairly straightforward rendition with little to no inventive use of instruments or additional arrangement. It hums along and falls right in line with the somewhat haphazard theme of the overall record.

The highlights of the CD are of course the songs they released as singles and got lots of attention on the radio. 'Don't Mess With Doctor Dream', 'Lay Your Hands On Me' and 'King For A Day' are all miniature masterpieces in a tapestry of boring average tunes. I'm not going to go into this much further because quite frankly, I can't think of much to say beyond this. The rest of the record neither excites or bores me. It simply is, and that's enough for me to leave it as is and move on.

For those of you who really like Thompson Twins, take heart in knowing I enjoyed subsequent albums more and will write more generously about them in the future. As for "Here's To Future Days"... My final word is: A BLAST BEST LEFT IN THE PAST.

THOMPSON TWINS - HERE'S TO FUTURE DAYS
01. Don't Mess With Doctor Dream
02. Lay Your Hands On Me
03. Future Days
04. Roll Over
05. Revolution
06. King For A Day
07. Love Is The Law
08. Emperor's Clothes
09. Tokyo
10. You Killed The Clown
11. Breakaway