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Culture Club was an 80's phenomenon, and "The Boy", more commonly known as Boy George, quickly became an 80's icon. The band scored with colorful, upbeat, easily digestible pop-rock; and Boy George became the world's best-known, and for a while best-loved, cross-dresser. At holiday season in 1984, George participated in the Band-Aid project; and when he joyfully sang "Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time!", the world felt and shared in his joy. Ah, but pop stardom can be a fleeting thing. The band was torn apart by George's drug addiction and dissent between George and drummer Jon Moss. They released the album, "From Luxury To Heartache", in 1986, and later broke up. A shame too, because "Luxury", with its harder, louder sound, was a terrific album. Boy George then pursued a solo career, of which I was unaware except for his hit with the title song from "The Crying Game" in 1992.
"From Luxury To Heartache" apparently paved the way for this 1995 solo album, "Cheapness And Beauty", mostly composed of glam rock tracks. All songs were written by George and one of his producers, John Themis, except "Funtime", which was written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop. These glam tracks are pretty straightforward and uncomplicated, just good fun rock. Two of them, "Evil Is So Civilised" and "Blindman", have a little darker grungy tinge, and another one, "Your Love Is What I Am", stands out due to its dramatic backing voices and a brief but blistering guitar solo. Of the five tracks that are not really glam rock, two are more pop-oriented, with "Same Thing In Reverse" leaning only slightly toward a country sound, and the album's title song featuring melodious, rippling piano. The remaining three tracks are slower ones, nicely done with strings, all pretty serious. George's vocals sound to me just about as good as they did in Culture Club, with my favorite being the aggressively teasing harmonized vocal in "Funtime". And just for added amusement, there are phone messages played in some of the spaces between tracks.
I found the lyrics surprising - more revealing, meaningful and on-target than I expected. Of course, there are those that are just for fun ("Baby baby we like your lips/Baby baby we like your pants/All aboard for funtime"). "Sad" is about revenge over a bad relationship: "You were heading for a spin/So you tried to drag me in...Well I got my revenge/My name in neon lights/You got what you deserve/Your sad and miserable life". Some relationships seem promising at first but just aren't meant to be: "I hear you married some Danish girl/I'm so glad that it wasn't me...You break your promise easily". "Same Thing In Reverse" points out that gay and straight relationships are not that different from each other: "Your brother doesn't understand/How you could love another man...It's the same thing in reverse/Nothing better, nothing worse". Self-esteem is important: "Mother hold your tears/'Cause I am happy now...Father it's too late/To make a man of me/I love against the gods/But I don't scare too easily". And let's not forget bourgeois religious hypocrisy: "Behind the perfect picture/Lie fanatical beliefs/White sheets and burning crosses/Strange fruit, blood on the land/Free will, twisted religion/Do you love your fellow man...Sometimes I cry/'Cause evil is so civilised".
I am impressed. I paid a nice sum for this baby and I have not regretted it for one second.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2011