Published on Jun 6, 1998
By 1991, the BoDeans might not have been superstars, but they
were walking the line between alternative rockers and AOR radio
staples.
Kurt Neumann and Sammy Llanas, the core of the group,
demonstrated on
Black And White in 1991 that their band was capable of
performing both types of music, and for the most part, this
tightrope act succeeds. However, a few songs fall faster than Karl
Wallenda on a windy day.
A couple of the songs on this, their fourth release, did get
significant airplay, at least here in the Chicagoland area. “Good
Things” is a song that demonstrates how powerful an understated
guitar and vocal can be. Neumann and Llanas’s harmonizing vocals
add just the right touch to this song, and it remains one of my
favorite BoDeans songs ever. Likewise, “Paradise” is a gentle song
that aims for the listener’s heart as well as their ears.
A few other songs have seen the golden airwaves as well. “Naked”
is a stark picture of devotion to a loved one, while “Do I Do” is a
fun little boogie that is sure to incite spontaneous dancing in the
vicinity of the tape deck. However, neither song received as much
airtime as “Good Things”.
One song which stands out as a winner on
Black And White is “True Devotion,” a song which for some
reason didn’t get a chance to shine as a single. Too bad, ’cause
this one captures the roughness of the BoDeans while showing off
their tightness as a band.
The biggest problem with
Black And White is the inclusion of a lot of filler. Some of
it is good (“Black, White And Blood Red,” “Long Hard Day”), some of
it isn’t so good (“Hell Of A Chance”). And while the better
material easily wins out, the filler only tends to drag this album
out a bit, making it a little more difficult to get through.
Neumann and Llanas would easily recover from the mistakes made
on this album;
Go Slow Down would give the band their breakout hit in
“Closer To Free” (helped in part by the television series
Party Of Five). However, one would be wise to turn back the
clock and pick up
Black And White as a primer to their success. This album
paints the picture of a band that was still struggling to claw
their way to the top, but at least they knew which way to travel on
the ladder.