| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
The Rhythm Thief | Sparks | 5:18 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall? | Sparks | 3:50 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
What Are All These Bands So Angry About? | Sparks | 3:32 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
I Married Myself | Sparks | 4:59 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Ride 'em Cowboy | Sparks | 4:20 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
My Baby's Taking Me Home | Sparks | 4:42 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Your Call's Very Important to Us. Please Hold. | Sparks | 4:11 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls | Sparks | 7:07 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Suburban Homeboy | Sparks | 2:58 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 9 Songs |
iTunes Review
It took a long time to get there, but the inevitable marriage between Sparks’ operatic leanings and conventionally symphonic instrumentation was a perfect union. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael made smart pop and dance music for 25 years before flexing their own orchestral muscle on 1997’s clever Plagiarism, a brilliant recreation of their own music. Two albums later, on Lil’ Beethoven, they took it further, building new songs with layers of grand piano and generous washes of shimmering strings, stacking vocal tracks to sound like lofty choirs, and generally sounding way smarter than your average pop band. The humor is as pointed as ever, exemplified by the stage-worthy “Suburban Homeboy” with plentiful strings and horns and “Ride ‘Em Cowboy”’s rock-opera tale of a guy down on his luck. The tittering choral epic, “What Are All These Bands So Angry About” has a hilarious “up with people” vibe, and the epic and metallic-tinged “Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls” examines the age-old mystery of aesthetically ill-matched pairs. Listening to Lil’ Beethoven is utterly satisfying, and one wonders what Sparks might have wrought if the brothers Mael hadn’t spent all those years mired in synthesizers.
Customer Reviews
Best Album You Never Heard
Well, maybe you have heard it and this review is moot in terms of luring you into the niche "Lil' Beethoven" creates in the musical world. Albeit a niche that touches upon centuries of musical creativity, Sparks intermixes plenty of modern rock 'n roll elements into the classical sounds to produce a rich sonic experience. "My Baby's Taking Me Home" is a fine example. Lyrically, the album is simple -- some would insist too simple for all its repetitiveness. Only when you consider Russell Mael's vocals as another note in the music, a note that has direct lingual meaning, does the true brilliance of the pieces become apparent. "The Rhythm Thief" is the epitome of the genius of "Lil' Beethoven". If it's the sardonic humour of Ron Mael's songwriting you yearn for, explore "Surburban Homeboy" and you'll be sure to smiling to every "yo, yo, yo!".
Conceptual Classic
Lil' Beethoven is Sparks concept album. -And although at first it may seem boring or repetitious, it's an album that, like a good wine, seems better with age. After a few listens, songs like "The Rhythm Theif", "I Married Myself", and "Your Call's Very Important to Us. Please Hold" get stuck in your head (and not just because their lyrics are redundant). These are tracks are ones you'll enjoy for many years to come, and they'll flow perfectly on that mixed CD you've been working on.
Give it a try
Or, at the very least, buy "Ugly guys with beautiful girls". Another fantastic Sparks album that has no chance at all of being a hit. And that's just how we like 'em.
Biography
Formed: 1970 in Los Angeles, CA
Genre: Alternative
Years Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s
Top Albums and Songs By Sparks
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Eaten By the Monster of Love | Angst In My Pants | 2:59 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Angst In My Pants | Angst In My Pants | 3:29 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Cool Places | In Outer Space | 3:25 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us | Kimono My House | 3:04 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Music That You Can Dance To | The Best of Sparks - Music That You Can Dance To | 4:23 | $1.29 | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
I Predict | Angst In My Pants | 2:53 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
ExplicitTemporary Relief | State Property Presents the Chain Gang, Vol. 2 | 4:03 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
ExplicitYou Don't Know (In the Ghetto) | Philadelphia Freeway | 4:13 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
ExplicitIf I Could Do It All Again | State Property Presents the Chain Gang, Vol. 2 | 4:59 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
ExplicitTales of a Hustler Pt. 2 | The B.Coming (Explicit Version) | 4:20 | $0.69 | View In iTunes |
