Demon レコード& CD

Review: Released in 1993 and now reissued via its original label Demon, Belinda Carlisle's fifth solo album was notable for its standout singles 'Big Scary Animal' and 'Lay Down Your Arms', both of which showed off her raunchy, large, all-American style. At this stage in her career, we witnessed Carlisle deliberate on her femininity; re-form her agency under patriarchy; and subvert classic Westernized images of opulence, romance and wealth; all while keeping things instrumental energized and hey-ho. Now, once more, you can reexperience Carlisle's return to authentic source, with Real.

Review: Released in October 1987, Belinda's second solo album after leaving The Go-Gos proved to be her breakthrough internationally, with the single 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth' reaching number 1 all around the world. It was followed by 'Circle In The Sand', 'I Get Weak' and 'World Without You', all UK Top 40 hits, the last two being written by Diane Warren, writer of Belinda's 2023 'Kismet' EP. This new edition has been expertly mastered by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering from the original stereo tapes using precision half-speed mastering. It's now presented in its original sleeve, pressed on 180 gram heavyweight black vinyl, and features an obi strip and housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve, with all the lyrics and credits on the four page insert.

Review: From The Go-Gos through to her blockbuster solo career, Belinda Carlisle had a busy time of it in the 1980s. In the wake of her huge success with 1987's Heaven On Earth she returned two years later with Runaway Horses, and continued to charm the world with her stadium-sized brand of uplifting drive time pop. The biggest hit from the record is surely 'We Dream The Same Dream', but the likes of 'Leave A Light On' and 'La Luna' are also classics in the Carlisle canon. Now the album has been half-speed remastered, and comes in a tidy reissue format with a booklet and an obi-strip - a collector's edition if ever we saw one.

Review: A surprise addition to the series of Belinda Carlisle reissues mainly slated for 2023 comes this 2024 top-up edition of Real, complementing the already-out Demon Records versions of Heaven On Earth and Runaway Horses. Real is Carlisle's fifth studio album, for which a decided wardrobe reshuffle captures the mood; famously, the singer swapped her prior glamorous look for a jeans and tee shirt drip, coinciding with the ironic theme of authenticity which recurs throughout the album. Famed for its badboy biker-loving ballad 'Big Scary Animal', on which Carlisle confronts the id through coming face-to-face with 'feelings hid', and 'Lay Down Your Arms', on which a wild-western theme is subverted to provoke the sense of a lawless relationship triangle up for grabs.