keepers - 2
With dance beats punchy guitars here and there, VHS or Beta has most of the hallmarks of Duran Duran, just without the production or hooks. Without the engineered gloss, the occasionally shrill vocals on most of the album are the least interesting part. Case in point is the opening title song; though it adds some angular noise guitar, is basically "Girls On Film". Things are better on instrumental tracks, such as "Forever"****, which focuses entirely on a spacey guitar hook that gives it an almost Daft Punk poppiness. The second side in general does a better job incorporating melodic hooks, with the lilting guitar melody in "The Ocean", the Flock Of Seagulls delayed guitar in "Alive", to the "Forever"-clone "Dynamize". The Duran Duran mode works for the most part except for the almost tuneless "The Melting Moon", but they all blend in with songs by Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Parties of the time. The Close Encounters Of The Third Kind beacon on the sprawling "Irreversible"**** closes out the album on a high note, and decompresses the tight, claustrophobic set.
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