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Liner Notes

A weekly column by Tampa Tribune pop music critic Curtis Ross

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By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 26, 2009

Bands. They just break your heart in the end.

Just today I heard "Tell Me" from the Bangles' debut full-length album, 1984's "All Over the Place." Man, I love that album. The guitars chime and bite, the harmonies are tough and tender, and the songs are everything that's great about power pop.

Of course, loving the album made me think I loved the band. And I did, until 1986 when I heard "Manic Monday" on the radio. The Bangles were about to be stars but they'd left the sound of "All Over the Place," and me, behind.

Oh, it's happened before. After four albums of brilliant, tongue-in-cheek bubblegum, Blondie released "Autoamerican" in 1980. Except for "Angels on the Balcony," Blondie abandoned all the things that made it great, replacing them with watered-down reggae and rap -- namely "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture," which made "Autoamerican" a hit and me just another jilted lover.

Sometimes, the break isn't so clean. Take "Trust," Elvis Costello's 1981 album. I worshipped the ground he walked on from "My Aim Is True" through "Get Happy." So my heart soared when I saw "Trust," all shiny underneath its shrink-wrap, in the store rack.

I put it on and my heart sank. It sounded like Elvis Costello but something was missing. What? The spark? The passion? Steve Nieve's Farfisa organ? Whatever, it wasn't the same. It was like he went away to school and when he came home we didn't have as much in common anymore.

I pretended everything was fine for a while but eventually "Trust" went on the shelf and I went back to "This Year's Model." I've liked, admired, even enjoyed Elvis albums since then but it's never been the same since.

I really don't fall in love with bands anymore. Maybe I'm too old for something new to hit me that hard. But I keep listening, ready to set myself up for heartache all over again.

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

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