Blondie – Eat to the Beat (1979)

Blondie was one of those bands that I was completely unaware of when I was growing up. I first got introduced to the band in uni and pretty much immediately, I fell in love with the band. More precisely, I fell in love with their album Parallel Lines. It took me a while to start listening to the other albums and even though there are fantastic songs on other albums as well, Parallel Lines remains my favourite. Eat to the Beat followed Parallel Lines. It was probably quite impossible to improve after such a record, bu the band has really put their best effort in doing just that. The album has more disco influences than the previous albums which gives some of the songs amazing hit potential. Eat to the Beat comes as a good second in my review of Blondie albums. If I remember correctly, this was the first Blondie vinyl I bought.



The album cover is so incredibly 80s that it's difficult to understand that it was released at the end of 70s. I guess in many ways this record was ahead of its time. Also, many of the sounds have 80s tones. But in a good way. It's not plastic yet. As my readers will know, I'm not a fan of 80s as a music decade and I do prefer the more organic sounds of the 70s. Debbie Harry's vocals are phenomenal in many of these songs and the band is playing really tightly together, which makes this album a pleasure to listen to. When I first listened to this album, I noticed something that I hadn't prepared for. There was a song I knew from Trainspotting on this album. In the film, there was the modernised version of Atomic played by Sleeper. I hadn't really heard the original and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the song I already liked sounded even better as the original version.

The album starts with a quick tempo punk rock song Dreaming that reminds me of some earlier Blondie albums, although the organ sounds reveal it to be a more recent song. The song is super catchy and danceable. The Hardest Part has a very common new wave style with funky rhythm section and industrial sounds. It reminds me of some Bowie songs from around the same time. Union City Blues has some airy electric guitars that make this song sound way more modern than its time. Many indie bands in the beginning of 2010 adopted these kinds of sounds into their music. Shayla has very 80s style drums and the electric guitars growl beautifully while Debbie Harry shows some of her best vocals that sound softer than usual in this one. The title-track Eat to the Beat is a proper punk song that reminds me of The Go-Gos or Girls at Our Best. The wild harmonica jam in the middle is great! Accidents Never Happen has a steady rock beat and there's a nice volume change between the verses and the chorus. Die Young Stay Pretty shows the other trend of the era when this album was released. It has a beat has definitely been influenced by reggae even though it's not very authentic reggae beat. Slow Motion has a feel of the 50s rock n' roll dance songs, but the sounds are very much the end of the 70s, which makes it a nice nod to the past musical heroes. As I already mentioned, I knew Atomic Sleeper version before this original one. I love the energy of this song and the melancholic melody that has been linked to a wild disco beat. Sound-A-Sleep is the only ballad on this album. It's kind of a proof that Blondie is better with fast paced songs. This song is the most boring one on this album. Victor has wild and loud, almost metal-style rock sounds and some proper rock yelling. I love the attitude of this song even if the composition isn't that interesting. The album ends with Living in the Real World, which is another proper punk song. It has a similar feel to Buzzcocks songs.

This album was released at a time when music videos were becoming more common. So, of course there is a music video from this album. Atomic music video has been shot partly with a heat camera style. Partly the video shows the band playing the song in an industrial atmosphere. The outfits the band is wearing are absolutely amazingly ridiculous.

I haven't listened to Blondie that much recently, but now that I'm listening to this album, I feel like that's a mistake. I really like the vibe of this album and the sounds and the songs. I guess the reason I haven't listened to this as much is that I'm now older and I find it more and more difficult to find times in my life when I would want to listen to some party tunes. Perhaps I should listen to these Blondie albums while running. They seem very appropriate for it.

Listen to the album on Spotify.