Bananarama

TrueBeliever

TrueBeliever

1. True Confessions (classic, love listening to this straight through on road trips; highlights for me are "Ready or Not", "Venus", "True Confessions", "A Trick of the Night", and the disturbingly much maligned "Do Not Disturb")
2. Bananarama ST (classic, not a bad song; I adore "Cruel Summer", "Rough Justice", "Dream Baby", "State I'm In", "Robert DeNiro's Waiting", and "Hotline to Heaven")
3. Masquerade (very strong across the board; massive highlight for me is "Masquerade", their best song since "Love Don't Live Here"; I also love "Forever Young", "Velvet Lies", "Running with the Night", "Favourite", and "Stay Wild")
4. Drama (very strong album; 2 great singles; great album tracks, especially "Feel for You", "Frequency", and "Don't Step on My Groove"; but one stinker "I Love the Way")
5. WOW! (hasn't aged well for me, and I dislike the SAW sound now, but I still love all the singles and "Once in a Lifetime")
6. Viva (good album; I enjoy all the songs and the b-sides/extras; adore "Love Don't Live Here", and think it's my very favorite Nana song; also think that "Here Comes the Rain" is hands down their best b-side ever)
7. Ultra Violet (I used to adore this album until recently, but think that the production value has let it down over time; very "of the time"; however, I still adore four songs: "Every Shade of Blue", "Rhythm of Life", "Don't Stop Me Now", and "Time Out")
8. Pop Life (I liked the experimental nature of this back then, but over time, I really only listen to the singles and "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" anymore; I have to say I still adore "Long Train Running" and still think it's their best cover; sadly, I don't love "Ain't No Cure" as much as many other fans do.)
9. In Stereo (I like it, but I can't really remember the songs unless I listen to them; I definitely sing along; I can't remember what songs were actually singles, which confuses me.)
10. Deep Sea Skiving (I normally love this album, but I think I'm just not in the mood for it right now)
11. Please Yourself (I only like 4 songs on this album: "Is She Good to You", "Only Time Will Tell", "Movin' On", and "Last Thing on My Mind")
12. Exotica (again, production value ruined these songs; there are still some good ones, but I only consistently listen to "What You Gonna Do?", "If", and "Crazy" ... still think that the songs that didn't make it onto the album should have replaced the dire remakes of their single hits)
 
burntoutcar

burntoutcar

And I’ve still never made it through even the first track on Exotica.

Pop Life
Wow!
Masquerade
Viva
True Confessions
Bananarama
Drama
In Stereo
Please Yourself
Ultra Violet
Deep Sea Skiving




















Exotica
 
BootedGay71

BootedGay71

WhatKindOfKylie? said:
I would find hard to overall rank their albums. Will say that the run from Deep Sea Skiving to Please Yourself, is quite something though.
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Me too. If I were to purely go by the albums I listen to most then Bananarama, True Confessions, Drama, In Stereo and Masquerade would all be in my Top 5.

I think we can all agree Exotica should never have surfaced
 
Omead

Omead

Pop Life
Wow!
Bananarama
True Confessions
Deep Sea Skiving
Drama
Masquerade
Viva
In Stereo
Ultra Violet
Please Yourself
Exotica

My top two are interchangeable depending on mood. And the self titled is essential Bananarama. I couldn’t imagine a fan not enjoying them here unless they became a fan from the PWL days onwards.

I do think that nothing they did after their trio years ever reached the levels of their earlier works. The duo years have been such a mixed bag. I actually find half of it unlistenable bar the odd song. Please Yourself is a one track album to me.

*Edit* I think i could actually rotate my top 4, they’re that solid. But the top 2 would always alternate between Pop Life and Wow!
 
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burntoutcar

burntoutcar

letuinmybackdoor said:
Deep sea skiving so low? 5 great singles plus Young at heart at least should have it ranking somewhere higher. Some of the album tracks are so so and I guess maybe you had to be there to appreciate the likes of Doctor Love but it's enjoyable.
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I guess I just ranked each album either better or worse than the last, and that’s where the debut came out.

You’re right, though, I got into Bananarama with Venus when I was 10 as a cool track I liked on the radio and Saturday morning tv, and bought Wow! on cassette when it came out, so the first two albums are a bit before my time. In fact, I’d never heard anything other than Na Na Hey Hey on side B of Greatest Hits Collection before I bought that, and it promptly blew my mind. But it was the nineties before I found Deep Sea Skiving and Bananarama on CD, and whereas the latter is a stone cold classic, there are just a few too many shambolic songs on the former for me to really like it.
 
davearama

davearama

I find it difficult to do these still so close to the album release. But here is my current order …

Pop Life
Drama
Masquerade
Viva
Ultra Violet
WOW!
In Stereo
Please Yourself
Bananarama
True Confessions
Deep Sea Skiving
Exotica
 
WhereIsTheFeeling

WhereIsTheFeeling

Ok so I’ll jump on this rating game…

1. Pop Life - (love the varied styles - yes some work better than others and Some Boys and Heartless should’ve replaced the b sides included). But for the singles run alone, Dame Jacquie O’s sultry vocals and Ain’t No Cure it’s a solid 10
2. WOW! - Siobhan’s swan song and amazing pure pop with SAW - what’s not to love? Come Back is one of my faves “I haven’t heard from you in a week….”
3.Bananarama - really great songwriting and classic singles. My only moan is it’s too short! Link could’ve been developed into a proper song as sounded great.
4. Drama - this felt like they were back in business after the “lean” years. Shame it didn’t work out as planned chart wise.
5. True Confessions - So many great songs on here and I don’t even mind the jarring SAW tracks. Dance With A Stranger and A Trick Of The Night are 2 of their best downtempo moments.
6. Please Yourself - higher rated by me than most but I liked what S&W created here with the ladies. The only track I don’t like is Last Thing On My Mind and that’s just due to the limp production as I adore the Steps version.
7. Deep Sea Skiving - yes it is pretty basic in places but the charm and their personality shines through. Outside of the singles Boy Trouble and What A Shambles are amazing!
8. In Stereo - I enjoyed the bulk of this album. The only track I wasn’t sold on was Stuff Like That. I’d like to hear more electro based vibes like Dance Music and Tonight. It really worked for them and On Your Own sounds like a Siobhan song! That’s a big compliment.
9. Masquerade- as I said before this is a solid album as a whole body of work but little has grabbed me. Maybe it needs more time and repeated plays over Autumn and Winter. I don’t dislike it at all but don’t yet love it.
10. Viva - the songs are strong but the “dalek” sounding vocoder vocals are OTT. Here Comes The Rain shoulda been a single!
11. Exotica - don’t all come for me. Yes it’s so cheap it hurts but the original songs are strong - they just need a much better production. Ian Masterton could work wonders with these songs. Worth revisiting. Sleep and Crazy standouts for me.
12. Ultra Violet - it’s the dated production and wafer thin vocals that make me rank this at the bottom. Every Shade Of Blue is the only real standout and even then I prefer the 2010 remake.
 
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WhereIsTheFeeling

WhereIsTheFeeling

Sorry for the double post but with all the chat and ratings of past material I decided to tackle a remix of the much derided album track Let Me Love You One More Time. I believe it was originally created as a more upbeat dance track so tried to reimage it with PWL style early 90s feel with a modern twist... and using the soulful vocals a nice acapella outro for a change. Still a work in progress as I know it needs refined as the vocals off the beat in a few places but thought I'd share what I have done so far.....

 
Pink Frost

Pink Frost

letuinmybackdoor said:
Deep sea skiving so low? 5 great singles plus Young at heart at least should have it ranking somewhere higher. Some of the album tracks are so so and I guess maybe you had to be there to appreciate the likes of Doctor Love but it's enjoyable.
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It is like a mix tape of their early years. Lots of fun! I love What A Shambles and Wish You Were Here started their trend of an amazing ballad, even though quite straight forward - it is a lovely song.
 
idratherjack

idratherjack

BootedGay71 said:
When did most of you discover or when did your love for Bananarama start?
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Love In The First Degree was the first single I loved as I was a big PWL fan as a young teenager. I then got the Greatest Hits Collection and my mind was blown by the "other" side of the cassette hearing classics like Robert De Niro's Waiting and Cruel Summer for the first time. From that point on they have been my all time favourite girl group and that's never going to change!
 
Omead

Omead

i got their greatest hits when i was 4 after i apparently requested their songs constantly. I say apparently as i really don’t recall. And not really understanding the concept of a greatest hits i just thought wow every single one of their songs is amazing! Then my first studio Banana album was Pop Life (partly why it’s always special to me) and then i worked my way back through their albums as for older.
 
letuinmybackdoor

letuinmybackdoor

I was there from t'ain't what you do...onwards and was an absolute STAN by Shy boy. By the time of the self titled they were my obsession but by True Confessions I was still a fan but by then my obsessions were Madonna and Five Star. I've always bought pretty much everything by them. The first single I didn't buy was Trippin' on your love though.
 
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