Review:
All Over the Place was the first full-length album from the Bangles, following a 1982 self-titled EP. “They were the only figures from the L.A. paisley underground scene who would go on to become genuine multi-platinum rock stars,” MD although it wasn’t until their next album that they would “embrace a radio-friendly pop production style (and enjoy attendant commercial success) that separated them from their early peers.” MD For their debut, “the sound is lively and shows more Bangles collaboration and less keyboard overdubs that were used later on their more commercially successful albums.” WK
This is “the record that most openly embraces the folk-rock and garage rock influences that fueled their earliest music,” MD but it also “showed that some of their rough edges were already being buffed away.” MD “Vicki Peterson’s lead guitar and the band's stellar harmonies are the vehicles that drive these 11 songs, and if producer David Kahne was already pushing the group in a more commercially ambitious direction, there’s no disguising the psychedelic guitar figures on Dover Beach or the Byrds-meets-Raiders jangle of Tell Me, and the choice of the Merry-Go-Round’s Live as a cover is especially telling.” MD
Also significant is that “Susanna Hoffs hadn’t yet been singled out as the star of the show, and the round-robin lead vocals, stellar harmonies, and tight, concise arrangements make them sound like a real-deal rock band, and the set’s gentle but insistent sway from British Invasion-styled rock and West Coast pop feels natural, unforced, and effective. And when drummer Debbie Peterson and bassist Michael Steele feel like rocking out, the Bangles generate a lot more heat than they’re usually given credit for, most notably on Silent Treatment.” MD
While this album wasn’t a commercial hit, it started the ball rolling by giving “them the chance to perform as an opening act for Cyndi Lauper and Huey Lewis and the News and brought the group to the attention of Prince, who would write ‘Manic Monday’, their first hit.” WK
Two singles were released from this album, Hero Takes a Fall…and Going Down to Liverpool, written by Kimberley Rew of Katrina and the Waves, which won the Bangles the BPI Award, the British equivalent of the Grammy. The video for "Going Down to Liverpool" features Leonard Nimoy, who plays the part of the band’s chauffeur.” WK
The band’s next album, “Different Light, would sell a lot more copies, but All Over the Place” MD “is the group’s “most unified full-length album” MD and “easily their best and most satisfying LP.” MD
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