Track Listing:
Disc one
"Here Lies Love"; Vocals by Florence Welch
"Every Drop of Rain"; Vocals by Candie Payne & St. Vincent
"You'll Be Taken Care Of"; Vocals by Tori Amos
"The Rose of Tacloban"; Vocals by Martha Wainwright
"How Are You?"; Vocals by Nellie McKay
"A Perfect Hand"; Vocals by Steve Earle
"Eleven Days"; Vocals by Cyndi Lauper
"When She Passed By"; Vocals by Allison Moorer
"Walk Like a Woman"; Vocals by Charmaine Clamor
"Don't You Agree?"; Vocals by Róisín Murphy
"Pretty Face"; Vocals by Camille
"Ladies in Blue"; Vocals by Theresa Andersson
Disc two
"Dancing Together"; Vocals by Sharon Jones
"Men Will Do Anything"; Vocals by Alice Russell
"The Whole Man"; Vocals by Kate Pierson
"Never So Big"; Vocals by Sia
"Please Don't"; Vocals by Santigold
"American Troglodyte"; Vocals by David Byrne
"Solano Avenue"; Vocals by Nicole Atkins
"Order 1081"; Vocals by Natalie Merchant
"Seven Years"; Vocals by David Byrne & Shara Worden
"Why Don't You Love Me?"; Vocals by Cyndi Lauper & Tori Amos
Concept albums as these generally don't bode well with me, as they seem to aspire to be some sort of musical soundtrack rather than an album in its own right, but given the more than impressive cast members in this and the length of time this has been in the works, I do not think it was unfair to expect it to be quite extraordinary. The concept: to tell the story, through song and music, of Imelda Marcos, the ex-First Lady of the Philippines best remembered by the general public for owning 3000+ pairs of shoes but, following the
2003 documentary on her has become a sort of icon in some circles, kind of like a more modern Marie Antoinette (we do love our decadent and extravagant women in power, don't we?).
Bryne and Slim's apparent efforts to make the album somewhat exotic sounding instead result in a collective of songs that seem to be the lovechild of the
Dirty Dancing soundtrack and disco that grew up in Barry Manilow's "Copa Cabana." Granted, I know nothing about Filipino music but I do hope it doesn't sound like this. Underneath the cheesy Tropical disco-ness, the songs on this album are surprisingly vanilla sounding. Vanilla, as in they sound like what I imagine adult alternative Top-40 charts on the radio sound. It's been awhile since I've listened to the radio, but songs as these are part of the reason why. Some of the songs are decent; my favorite is probably "Don't You Agree." The guest vocalists include some very excellent vocalists, but vocals are almost never enough to salvage a song or an album. If you're a David Byrne or Fatboy Slim fan, check the album out, weep, send some good vibes in Byrne and Slim's general direction, and hope their next musical projects are better (it would be hard for them not to be...).
My Rating: 4.5/10
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