Culture Club - Waking Up with the House on Fire

Full title - Waking Up With The House On Fire. 2003 remastered reissue of 1984 album features 14 tracks including 4 bonus tracks, 'La Cancion De Guerra', 'Love Is Love', 'The Dream', & 'Don't Go Down That Street'. Virgin. Album Description

A Mediocre Effort and definitely NOT A CLASSIC

Reading all the four to five stars reviews to this album, I seriously question if any of these people actually listen to the album. Perhaps they are giving it rave reviews on the merits of two of the bonus tracks from the Electric Dreams soundtrack: Love Is Love and The Dream. Take away these two tracks and what do you have?

Compared to Colour By Numbers, this is a HUGE disappointment. I should know: I was a Culture Club fanatic (they were my favorite musicians before being supplanted by Madonna). None of the songs was, melody-wise or lyrically as strong as the CLASSIC Colour By Numbers.

The album started out with "Dangerous Man" which sounded like the band was trying to expand its sound and be more grown-up and sophisticated. THe second track was the first single was the "The War Song", while it as a bit catchy and silly, it was totally ruined in the middle with a "primal scream" (that is what listed on the album credits, no joke). Mistake # 3 pales next to Victims or Time (Clock of the Heart). Then again, what WAS "Mistake #3"...it lyrically never make it clear?.

There were a couple of songs that I do like, specifically, "The Dive" and "Mannequin".

The group later admitted that the album was a rush job egged on by the record companies, and it shows...for some of the songs sounded like they were not finished (Hello Goodbye) and some were also rather short (lasting under 3 minutes).

The bonus tracks are of course, b-sides or from the Electric Dreams soundtrack. Love Is Love and The Dream is more in tune to the kind of music and songs which propelled the band to superstardom....and unfortunately, they were the last such songs the band would have gone on to write.

In the overall scheme of things, it is no surprise that the band jumped the shark after this album was released: Waking Up With the House On Fire was Culture Club's Mistake #1, #2 AND #3.

September 15, 2008

Uneven

Waking Up with the House on Fire was supposed to be a "back-to-the-roots" album, after the success of the polished Colour By Numbers. But, things didn't turn out that way.

Instead, Culture Club made a record that had more of a sheen than its predecessor (and was digitally recorded to boot), but not enough good songs to make for a consistent album from start to finish. Had producer Steve Levine not had the good sense to record all of the instrument tracks in stereo (effectively limiting the number of tracks available for recording), I suspect things might have got out of hand, and the album might have become a real mess.

The album's first half is actually pretty good, though "Crime time" is a bit stilted, and "Unfortunate thing" is little more than a throwaway. People like to write off "The war song" as silly, simplistic, and/or patronising, but 1984 was pretty much the height of 1980s Cold War nuclear tensions; in the context of its time, the directness of the song's message was much more powerful, even if its "war is stupid" sentiment did come across as slightly childish.

The second half of the album (side B on the LP) starts off with "The dive", perhaps the best song on the album. After that, however, it is all downhill.

This album has some good moments, but it would have made a much better EP. June 19, 2008

EXCELLENT ALBUM

It is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life!!!!!!Its timeless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It definetly ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!! July 17, 2007

Love this album, more than their others

I just finished reading Boy George's autobiography and he thinks this is their worst album. I totally disagree...when this album came out I played it more than when any of their others came out and I had bought each one as they came out. I love the whole album and think it is their best one. It isn't as commerical as the rest but so what. Hey George...this is an EXCELLENT album! July 9, 2006

A forgotten gem

Despite all the negative reviews, Waking Up is strangely a very listenable album, which grows on you with each repeated listening. Sure, it doesn't have the instant recognisable hits from previous albums, and many other tracks here, though catchy, seem somewhat lacklustre. You know, it's impossible to top Colour By Numbers and there are bound to be comparisons. I really love the inclusion of Love Is Love and The Dream, two of the most beautiful ballads Culture Club has ever recorded. Don't be put off by what you hear or read, this is an album worth keeping in your 80's and Culture Club collection. June 13, 2006

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