Candy's first album "Whatever Happened to Fun" was released in 1985 on Mercury Records. It has become a cult-classic and now 18 years later SongTree Records releases "Teenage Neon Jungle".
"Teenage Neon Jungle" is a mixture of original raw demos, live and re-recorded songs. Everything is spiced with audio clips taken from Radio and answering machines from L.A.'s famous rock clubs, where
Candy played in the mid-eighties. The CD is well compiled and gives the listener a great insight of
Candy's short-lived career.
Candy had their own sound and all 4 members could sing. The harmonies on the Beatles cover
She Loves you sound pretty good for a young band. Listening to some of the Live performances, I cannot help wonder if
Candy was a forerunner of today's boy bands. The audience sounds crazy for
Candy and it sounds like the majority is girls.
Most prominent member of
Candy is
Gilby Clarke, who is on "lead guitar and hair" as Kyle Vincent introduces him at a show at "The Palace", Hollywood in 1985. At the time
Candy played clubs Gilby was only 19-years-old. Other members include Jonathan Daniel on bass, Kyle Vincent on lead vocals/rhythm guitar and John Schubert on drums.
Of course the hands of time has affected the material. However, songs like the catchy
Whatever Happened to Fun and my favorite
The Girl I Love still sounds good.
The booklet has the story of
Candy, who actually continued after the departure of lead singer Kyle Vincent.
Gilby Clarke took over lead vocals and Ryan Roxie joined as lead guitarist.
The CD ends with an "Where are they now" section. After
Candy broke up
Candy's rhythm section John Schubert and Jonathan Daniel joined Ryan Roxie in Electric Angels. They later continued without Roxie in The Loveless. The featured track from Loveless is very catchy and has great vocals.
The listener gets an up-date on
Gilby Clarke's solo career.
Crocodile Tears is from his latest studio album "Swag" and not "Rubber" as stated.
Crocodile Tears follows the tradition form Gilby's other solo albums. Gilby's style is founded in the songwriting tradition of the 70's. Overall Glby's material is great melodic rock with his characteristic vocals.
With almost 70 minutes of music there is full value for money. The sound quality is A+ for these old recordings and everything about this CD is consistent. I never heard
Candy in the 80's, so I don't have any relations to band from their heyday. The songwriting is great, but I do miss more non-polished songs. They could have bought a few distortion pedals, because I think a more raw sound would suit their songs.
This CD is a must for
Candy fans, but for non-fans it sounds a bit out-dated and I advice a listen before purchasing.
Written by
Michael Sunday, October 5, 2003
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 5.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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