Blondie - No Exit

[POP!]

The album turned 20 earlier this year - did it satisfy the appetite for a proper comeback after "Maria" did so well or is it a bit shit? I really like it aside from a few misfires. ALSO WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE ON SPOTIFY?

00 Screaming Skin
00 Forgive and Forget
00 Maria
00 No Exit
00 Double Take
00 Nothing is Real but the Girl
00 Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room
00 Night Wind Sent
00 Under the Gun
00 Out in the Streets
00 Happy Dog
00 The Dream's Lost on Me
00 Divine
00 Dig up the Conjo

 

[POP!]

06 Screaming Skin
10 Forgive and Forget
08 Maria
07 No Exit
07 Double Take
10 Nothing is Real but the Girl
02 Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room
11 Night Wind Sent
10 Under the Gun
09 Out in the Streets
04 Happy Dog
07 The Dream's Lost on Me
08 Divine
05 Dig up the Conjo

"Night Wind Sent" is really one of the most beautiful things they've put their name to, IMO

 

[Halli]

I have never heard the ALBAM but 'Maria' was one of the best pop comebacks I can remember. Almost as good and out of the blue as Cher with Believe

 

[lolly]

I'd say Maria was a better comeback, in as much as Believe wasn't really a comeback at all - Cher had never been away.

 

[lolly]

Thinking about it, I'd say Cher was REBIRTH rather than a comeback.

 

[jivafox]

i think i appreciate this album more than i actually like it. it would probably be my least favourite of the comeback albums if “ghosts...” didn’t exist.

 

[BoysForSeles]

Nothing Is Real But The Girl was my takeaway from this album which overall fell on the disappointing side for me. Maria was almost a perfect return single for them.

 

[Halli]

I remember being very disappointed as a youngster when Nothing Real made #23 or something. I was desperate for another top 10 and thought it would

 

[Cerro de Casa]

Maria, of course, is a colossus of a song but the album as a whole is not great.

 

[Sheena]

It’s their best post-comeback album, mainly because, in “Maria” and “Nothing Is Real But The Girl”, they have two 10/10 stone cold Blondie classics.

“Maria” is an absolute lesson in how to update your sound and be relevant whilst remaining true to your original glories...

 

[FetchFugly]

I wonder if Nothing Is Real But The Girl might have done better if not for the inferior single re-record. Probably not but still it was so unnecessary.

I played this album so much when it was released. There's an excellent 10/11 track album in there, but the duds really are duds. Aside from the two hits I've always loved Under The Gun the most.

 

[Iguana]

I love this album! I only got it in its second decade but it's a lot of fun and the songs are beautiful, with a lush quality

08 Forgive and Forget
11 Maria
08 No Exit
10 Double Take
09 Nothing is Real but the Girl
08 Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room
10 Night Wind Sent
08 Under the Gun
07 Out in the Streets
07 Happy Dog
08 The Dream's Lost on Me
07 Divine
09 Dig up the Conjo

 

[Halli]

I am not here for anyone that doesn't think Maria is anything less than a 10/10

 

[Sheena]

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the vinyl reissue of this this week. It’s aged very well.

 

[Inner Smile]

I bought the Maria single! Loved it at the time, I will put the album on my to do list

 

[straightorbroken]

They performed Nothing Is Real But The Girl on the short-lived Pepsi Chart Show, so I was mega surprised it comparatively bombed given it had already been a platform for the Spice Girls, B*Witched and Alexia. The contemporary Q review also put me off with a surprising 3 star review that made it seem varied and occasionally experimental, but wildly uneven. I must give it a re-appraisal. Maria was hypnotic - for me it absolutely matched their vintage peaks and not many acts of that nature have truly had a pick up where nostalgia left off comeback moment. With Cher, it was a complete gear shift regardless of her forays in dance with remixes and disco before. Here, it was like they'd never left - it could easily have been a 1982 thing or as if they'd never stopped and countless albums had appeared in the meantime. I remember the video being played at the very end of 1998 on BBC2 - I want to say TOTP2, but I'm lacking memory on that one.

 

[POP!]

Maria sadly never took off here in the States although I think the album managed to shift a half million copies.

 

[straightorbroken]

Maria sadly never took off here in the States although I think the album managed to shift a half million copies.

I always remember Harry saying she felt they should have led with a ballad there.

 

[Sheena]

Nothing would have given them a big US hit in that era…

 

[Sheena]

(And I mean Nothing rather than Nothing Is Real But The Girl)

 

[FetchFugly]

Both the vinyl and CD reissues look very nicely done, I will get the CD at some point.



I've been listening to the audio book of Chris's autobiography on and off recently. It is quite in depth on the pre-Blondie days but then seems to get increasingly scattergun.

 

[GNL]

This album has some dazzling highs but it's not a great listen back-to-front imo.