"Welcome to Blue Island" is the eleventh album from
Chicago Rockers
Enuff Z'nuff.
Z Overture opens the disc. The song has been the opener at most
Enuff Z'nuff shows for the past year. The track is probably the heaviest track EZN has ever written. I was a bit worried about how the song would transform in the studio since the song is almost instrumental with Donnie singing only 6 lines. The heaviness of
Z Overture is well transformed in the studio and the band has added some sitar in the beginning just to set the mood for the disc.
Z Overture is the perfect opener on "Welcome to Blue Island".
Next song
"Saturday" has strong hit potential.
"Saturday" is an up-tempo rocker that in my opinion should be pushed as the first single.
Can't Wait is a perfect love song for Donnie's wife Joni. It is not a ballad but an up-tempo song that follows the tradition from the two previous tracks. I absolutely love the way Donnie is singing the verse. He is singing the words directly to his wife. This is my favorite track off the album.
Good Times (Are hard to find). The song starts with cool guitar followed by a slightly distorted vocal. Halfway in the verse the distortion is off and Donnie sings with his "normal" vocal. When you hear Donnie's fantastic voice the use of vocal distortion is incomprehensible. The chorus is very cool accompanied by the guitar, which plays the melody line.
Sanibel Island is another happy up-tempo song with a great "drive" mainly caused by the brilliant bass line played by Chip. This song always makes me in a good mood. The chorus really says it all:
Sanibel Island waits
We're gonna have a ball
The Women are half your age
Swimming in alcohol.
It's outta control...
I've fallen in Love Again. The last couple of Enuff Z´nuff records have had some depressing lyrics from singer
Donnie Vie. The reason for the up-tempo songs and positive mood are described in this song. This song also proves that Donnie is the best singer in the world.
Roll Me. A bonus track for Japan. This is a really fun fast Rock song. Starts off with a cool acoustic intro followed by the electric guitar kicking in with a cool riff. Overall this is just a great Rock ´N´ Roll song.
Roller Bladin´ in the Shade sounds like an old demo song. Donnie sings very high and the song is a guitar driven rocker just like in their early years. Definitely this song is going back to the early style of the band.
Enuff Z´nuff has always been a diversified. The last songs of the disc understate this.
"Man without a Heart" has the use of horns. The chorus is really cool and has the characteristic vocal harmonies from Chip and Donnie.
Zentimental Journey &
The Sun belong together. The tracks overlap each other, so I will refer to it as one track. The song can be divided in 3 parts. The first part of
"Zentimental Journey" opens with a 2 minute Jazz/Swing part. Then the song transforms into some acoustic Led Zeppelinish chords, which is one of the best chord progressions, I ever heard. There is a certain emotion about this part, where Donnie sings a short verse, which puts the listener in a trance only to be woken by the
"The Sun".
"The Sun" has screaming guitars and great vocal harmonies, which is the perfect ending to this album. Like
Z Overture was the perfect opener with its heavy guitar - this track has to be the perfect ending.
"Zentimental Jouney/The Sun" cannot be compared with anything Enuff Z´nuff ever done. The song also proves that Enuff Z´nuff is not an 80's Glam band, which the band is often labeled as. Enuff Z´nuff is a multi faced Rock band with inspiration from the classic bands of the sixties and seventies.
The fact that singer
Donnie Vie has found happiness dominates both the music and the lyrics in particular. Lyrically a lot of the songs are written directly to his wife Joni. Donnie uses "I" in the lyrics and that way they become very personal.
Donnie Vie has always been known to write personal lyrics straight from the heart. On the last album we got Donnie' s life story told in
"The Beast". Again Donnie is reflecting on the past - this time on a more positive note.
"Good Times are hard to find" is about his time in Enuff Z´nuff with the conclusion (Lookin' back on the whole thing now that what's making me who I am) and his broken heart (But I am over the whole thing now and I remember it from the start).
Enuff Z´nuff is the Beatles of this generation. However I feel that the Beatles inspiration is toned down a bit on this release even though both Lennon and McCartney would envy Chip and Donnie for their songwriting capabilities in
"I've fallen in love Again". Like the other 10 releases from Enuff Z´nuff this album has a high standard.
I think that this album is the most accessible Enuff Z´nuff album.
Candy for old fans and the perfect album to buy for new fans. Again Chip and Donnie has provided us with some consistent and long durable songs. Comparing with the last couple of EZN albums "Welcome To Blue Island" differs in having more up-tempo songs (with a happy twist). This album also has some great guitar work. The diverse styles make this CD recommendable for all fans of music in general.
This is the Japanese version of the album. It should be out in
Europe around late September, while the band and their new manager Obi Steinman is working on a US release in the future.
Written by
Michael Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 9/10Members: 9/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
Member ratings
 | Steen (Staff)
Rating: 9/10
Oh, I'm falling in love with this album.
Enuff Z'nuff are back and I can't imagine a b... · Read more · |
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