Beauty and the Beat

I NEVER would have listened to this whole album without the 1001 list, and I really would have been missing out. I was surprised to hear that everything on it was as good as the two singles everyone knows. Everything on the else on the album is so good, they could have all been singles too. That sort of consistency isn't something you see very often.

Maybe the only album on this list so far that I wished was longer. It's not very often I hear a great album on this list I don't already have, but this is one. Adding to my collection today

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

It was more fun than I had anticipated really. I liked it pretty much.

Started off well but got a bit samey

Fun, poppy and the perfect length so there's no chance of it wearing out its welcome.

I’ve been searching for an album like this for ages. The musical diet I am fed by “the agreed canon” is very male focused, so its refreshing to get such a single heavy, uplifting new wave record that is also feminine.

It’s astonishing that Beauty and the Beat is from 1981 as it sounds like acts that come from well after them. You have jangle pop guitars that I’d associate with acts from the mid-80s; harsher post-punk moments which add a nice bite to a wholesome overall production. Then, the thing that shines through this is the highly charged, overbright, overbold power pop which harkens back to the soul girl groups of a couple of decades earlier. It makes me feel so positive.

I am looking forward to getting to know The Go-Go’s better!

Brought me back to the 80s quicker than any DeLorean. The best song is Our Lips are Sealed which was co written with Terry Hall of Specials etc fame. We got the Beat is also great. It sounds quite familiar - these songs have been used on many American Films where there is a Jock and a Princess and a Nerd , you know the type. I am debating between 3 or 4 stars. Three stars I think.

Its not changing the world, its fun. Fun is good. Do people need to hear this album before they die? Absolutely not.

would be an easy 5 if Vacation was on this album too

I've only ever heard We Got the Beat from this record, and while it is a great song, honestly it might be one of the weaker tracks. The three songs before it, Tonite, Lust to Love, and This Town are a pretty damn good run of three, with their post-punk urgency. You can also hear how influential they are, drawing a direct line to Kathleen Hanna projects like Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and Sleater-Kinney.

Dunno if I'm surprised by this album being so good, but I definitely wasn't expecting a slight post-punk vibe. Plus, I'm a sucker for some good bass, and Kathy Valentine is providing that in spades. But all the members are at peak form here.

Side note: Aside from We Got the Beat, I've mostly only known them from Jane Wiedlin being on VH1 in the 2000s constantly? Don't remember much other than I think I had a crush on her, but it's weird I remember that, haha.

Really fun punk album masquerading as pop genius.

I knew the two hits, obviously. And I kinda expected the rest of the album to be poppy filler. It’s so much more interesting than that. I loved “Tonite” and every other new-to-me song was solid. The two hits are undeniably fun but they are not what I love about this album, which is its punk insouciance. (Although I do think “we got the beat” benefits from the context of the whole album, which seems to draw out elements of that song I hadn’t focused on before.) I thought about 5 but I think it’s merely a solid 4.

Also I think if I had bought this album in 1981 and then Belinda Carlisle made “heaven is a place on earth” six years later, I would have rioted.

This is fun and pleasant, with great songwriting. I feel like Sleater-Kinney must have listened to this a lot.

Poppy, hooky, upbeat album. Makes me question why Belinda Carlisle left to go solo? From what I can tell she did exactly the same sort of stuff when she left. Maybe it was just greed?
On reflection if she'd stayed with the Go Go's I think they would have been huge. Much better than her solo career. (I may be being simplistic here... they probably all fucking hated each other)
3½

I knew a lot more of these songs than I initially thought I did. This is a really great album. Everything here is really catchy while maintaining the rhythmic baselines and drumming as expected of new wave. The guitar solo on Skidmarks On My Heart is really great. Favorites were Our Lips Are Sealed, Lust To Love, We Got The Beat, Fading Fast, and Skidmarks on My Heart.

One of my Favorites! 4/5
#musicsky
#albumsky #AlbumADay

Kind of interesting but it wasn't strong enough for me to want to listen to on my own

Pure cheesey album. I really enjoyed it lmao

Somehow I knew most of these songs? Bangers

4 ⭐️

Solid album with some excellent bangers.

the 2 singles are genuinely good and catchy. unfortunately, that’s where the positives end for this album. just wasn’t a fan of the album cuts

New Wave ist mein Guilty Pleasure