Boney M. - Original Album Classics (2011)

Boney M. is a Euro-Caribbean vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaican-born singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different personnel.




Take the Heat Off Me marked the album debut of one of the world's most successful disco groups, Boney M. Although they never found much success in the United States, they were a phenomenon overseas during the late '70s and this album makes it easy to understand why. They were the right group at the right time – their unique combination of rocksteady disco rhythms and infectious bubblegum pop hooks created a sound that anyone in any country could easily grasp and find appealing. Some may find the Boney M. sound to be too sweet, but the group's soulful vocals subtly add a little grit into the mix to keep the music from drifting off into the ether. The big hits from this album were "Sunny," a pulsating, string-drenched update of Bobby Hebb's pop-soul classic, and "Daddy Cool," a relentless groove that combines staccato violin stabs, mariachi horns, and an aggressive drum attack to create an irresistibly catchy dance-pop ditty. The other tracks offer a similar mix of poppy originals and odd covers: "Got a Man on My Mind" combines reggae rhythms and choral vocals to great effect and Boney M.'s cover of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" may seem preposterous in concept but works thanks to its effective combination of soulful vocals and slick instrumentation. "Baby Do You Wanna Bump," the only song that strays from the pop song format, drags noticeably, but the high quality of the surrounding tunes makes up for this flaw. Take the Heat Off Me won't win any new fans to the disco cause, but it remains an effective and likable slice of Euro-disco at its most effervescent. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Daddy Cool (3:28)
02. Take The Heat Off Me (4:47)
03. Sunny (4:02)
04. Baby Do You Wanna Bump (6:52)
05. No Woman No Cry (4:58)
06. Fever (3:59)
07. Got A Man On My Mind (3:23)
08. Lovin' Or Leavin' (4:29)
09. New York City (3:43)
10. Perfect (3:17)






Boney M.'s follow-up to their 1976 success Take the Heat Off Me closely adheres to the formula established by that album: a combination of original songs and offbeat cover versions done in a style that marries bubblegum pop hooks to a disco beat. Like its predecessor, Love for Sale also scored some notable international hits: "Ma Baker" is a colorful gangster story that boasts a stuttered vocal hook guaranteed to stick in the listener's head, and "Belfast" is an up-tempo dancefloor stormer that works some surprisingly heavy sounding power chords into the group's slick dancefloor sound. Frank Farian's slick, lush production ensures that the album is a slick piece of ear candy from start to finish. However, the album tracks are not as consistent this time out: the cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" benefits from an effective rhythm guitar hook but the up-tempo arrangement robs the song of its emotional power, and "Gloria Can You Waddle," while catchy, is little more than a rewrite of the group's early European hit "Baby Do You Wanna Bump." With these criticisms in mind, the album still offers enough strong tracks to please Boney M.'s fan base. The most interesting of these is a ballad style cover of the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad," which transforms this rock song into an effective mood piece dominated by the group's Gregorian chant-like humming. In short, Love for Sale is a solid listen for Boney M. fans, but casual listeners who just want the hits should probably opt for one of the group's compilations. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Ma Baker (4:36)
02. Love For Sale (4:45)
03. Belfast (3:30)
04. Have You Ever Seen The Rain (2:38)
05. Gloria, Can You Waddle (3:56)
06. Plantation Boy (4:24)
07. Motherless Child (4:56)
08. Silent Lover (4:13)
09. A Woman Can Change A Man (3:30)
10. Still I'm Sad (4:33)
11. Ma Baker / Somebody Scream (Sash! Radio Edit) (3:25)
12. Stories (Radio Mix) (4:19)






This 1978 album finds producer/Svengali Frank Farian starting to push his pop-disco attraction Boney M. into new and interesting musical territory. The songs are still very much disco tracks with an emphasis on bubblegum pop hooks, but Farian works some interesting musical flavors into the mix: "Painter Man" (a cover of a track by mod rockers Creation) effectively pits a series of heavy, distorted hard rock guitar riffs against its danceable beat, and "Brown Girl in the Ring" adds some distinctive steel drums into its rhythmic calypso-pop mixture. However, the oddest and most unusual and interesting combination of musical elements arrives with "Rasputin," a tribute to the legendary Russian historical figure that uses balalaikas to create its textured rhythm guitar hook. Nightflight to Venus also spawned a major international hit with "Rivers of Babylon," which mixes religious lyrics and a folk song melody with a pronounced beat to create an instantly accessible pop hymn. The other tracks include a few less than colorful moments ("Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night" could have been performed by any disco outfit), but Nightflight to Venus is an overall success thanks to the group's strong harmonies and the slick production from Farian, which keeps everything moving at a fast clip. The end result is one of the strongest albums in the Boney M. catalog, and a treat for anyone who likes dance music that is sugary sweet. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Nightflight To Venus (4:47)
02. Rasputin (5:51)
03. Painter Man (3:10)
04. He Was A Steppenwolf (6:51)
05. King Of The Road (2:36)
06. Rivers Of Babylon (4:21)
07. Voodoonight (3:30)
08. Brown Girl In The Ring (4:02)
09. Never Change Lovers In The Middle Of The Night (5:32)
10. Heart Of Gold (4:05)
11. Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord (5:42)
12. Dancing In The Street (3:59)






By the time Oceans of Fantasy was released in 1979, Boney M. had become a worldwide sensation thanks to Frank Farian's canny combination of bubblegum-ish pop hooks with slick disco-minded production. Oceans of Fantasy continues very much in this vein: "Gotta Go Home" mixes a wordless singalong hook, an insistent dance beat, and some exotic steel drumwork to create a reggae-styled slice of bubblegum disco, while "Bye Bye Bluebird" transforms what could have been a ballad into a bouncy pop tune by raising the tempo and adding an elastic bassline. It also boasts one of the group's finest hits in "El Lute," the sentimental tale of a freedom-fighting Spanish outlaw that is reminiscent of the ABBA classic "Fernando." However, not all the songs on Oceans of Fantasy live up to this high standard of quality: the title track boasts a lush arrangement but lacks the insistent hooks that would bring it to life, and "Bahama Mama" is cloyingly cutesy even by Boney M. standards. Another problem with the album is that its 52-minute running time is simply too long: Boney M.'s effervescent sound is the kind of music that is most effective when delivered in a short dose, and some judicious pruning of the song list could have resulted in a more consistent and engaging album. With those criticisms in mind, Oceans of Fantasy still offers enough solid dance-pop to keep the group's fans happy. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Let It All Be Music (4:53)
02. Gotta Go Home (3:45)
03. Bye Bye Bluebird (4:49)
04. Bahama Mama (3:17)
05. Hold On I'm Coming (3:35)
06. Two Of Us (3:15)
07. Ribbons Of Blue (1:58)
08. Oceans Of Fantasy (5:07)
09. El Lute (5:55)
10. No More Chain Gang (5:23)
11. I'm Born Again (4:08)
12. No Time To Lose (2:55)
13. Calendar Song (January, February, March…) (2:41)
14. I See A Boat On The River (7'' Version) (4:40)
15. My Friend Jack (4:41)






By the turn of the 1980s, German production whiz Frank Farian had transformed his pet project Boney M. into a successful worldwide phenomenon. As a result, he decided to push the group in a more ambitious direction with their next outing, Boonoonoonoos. Since the disco sound that had contributed to the group's fame was quickly dying out, Farian downplayed dance rhythms on this set in favor of international-flavored pop in the vein of ABBA. The strongest example of this development is "Consuela Biaz," a tale of revolution in a Latin American country done in the style of ABBA's "Fernando." Elsewhere, the group tries on a number of different styles that cover everything from synth pop ("Silly Confusion") to African-styled worldbeat ("Malaika"). The best of these experimental tracks is "Ride to Agadir," an exciting tale of religious revolution that starts as a beautifully harmonized a cappella tune and builds into a grandiose orchestrated epic. The problem with Boonoonoonoos is that it lacks the strong material necessary to sustain a double album. A number of the tracks merely take one hook and run it into the ground via endless repetition (the title track) while other songs rely on Farian's glossy production to sell their lackluster melodies ("Breakaway"). Ultimately, Boonoonoonoos is another example of a double album that would have probably made a really good single album. It has enough worthwhile tracks to hold the interest of hardcore Boney M. enthusiasts, but casual listeners would probably be better off tracking down its highlights on a compilation. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Boonoonoonoos (4:40)
02. That's Boonoonoonoos / Train To Skaville / I Shall Sing (5:55)
03. Silly Confusion (7:18)
04. Ride To Agadir (5:11)
05. Jimmy (4:07)
06. African Moon (2:59)
07. We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World) (6:33)
08. Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoy) (4:20)
09. Malaika (3:26)
10. Consuela Biaz (4:37)
11. Breakaway (4:17)
12. Sad Movies (3:21)
13. Goodbye My Friend (5:25)
14. Felicidad (Margherita) (4:33)
15. Strange (3:29)




Thx to ALLexxess