'Balls' was Sparks 18th LP, recorded over 1998 and 1999, and released in 2000.
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'Balls' was Sparks 18th LP, recorded over 1998 and 1999, and released in 2000. It has a more aggressive sound, with techno beats and acid baselines alongside rock and orchestral components. Again, the Mael brothers clearly knew what was going on in the music world and there are tracks that wouldn't sound out of place in a compilation of the time, perhaps the more remarkable for a band who had been around for thirty years. As always, there are some catchy tunes and clever ideas but it doesn't seem quite enough. The lead single 'The Calm Before The Storm' is a straight(ish) dance track but the 2008 reissue added an alternative version 'The Calm Before the Opera' which (IMO, of course) would have been a better single, mixing Beach Boys harmonies, crunchy beats and rock guitar. 'Bullet Train' gets going in the same sort of way, but there's a feeling that somewhere along the line things were toned back, and it doesn't go in either direction. The more I think about, I hear Underworld in there, but then again I hear Underworld in a lot of things.
The LP didn't build on the success of 'Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins' and only reached 16 on the UK independent chart as it was released here by an independent label. It doesn't have quite the same immediate appeal as 'Gratuitous Sax' but it wouldn't have sounded out of place in the charts in 2000. I'd be wondering what I had to do to repeat these one off successes.
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LP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-eoDX31JochHyEPVOVvdyexCsuqXbeTs
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balls_(Sparks_album)