[.ca] Necessary Evil

From Amazon.com:
Anyone hoping for the 62-year-old Debbie Harry to sit up and act her age will be sorely disappointed by the former Blondie vixen's sixth solo album (and first in 14 years). Viscerally contemporary, Necessary Evil harnesses youthful exuberance from across the charts, and Harry and her team of producers and songwriting partners do radio-ready rock, pop, and soul-lite with à la mode savvy to spare. Big-time sing-alongs ("Two Times Blue," "You're Too Hot") rub elbows with spare, distorted guitar lines piled in arena-sized stacks ("Love with Vengeance," "Charm Redux," and the especially vivacious "Whiteout"). "The Devil's dick is hard to handle," Harry growls in "School for Scandal," encapsulating the attitude of shameless defiance coursing through this and other lean, mean, up-tempo numbers like the half-rapped, full-lipped "Dirty and Deep." Between the reversed hip-hop break bisecting "Charm Alarm," the title track's stolen riff from Rage Against the Machine's "Know Your Enemy," and Harry's bits of Internet imagery, this album won't dare let go of its of-the-moment moxie. Gumdrops like the flaccid "What Is Love" and closer "Paradise" are irrevocable but few; in all, the occasional slice of tripe strangely sweetens Harry's otherwise surprising longevity, ready to rock and salty as ever. --Jason Kirk

Necessary Harry - She's Too Hot:
It's been just far too long since Deborah Harry has released a solo album, 14 years in fact. Long by her age of 62, most other artists fade into their past and only to relive it with unimaginative reincarnations of former glory. On Necessary Evil, Deborah not only rivals her past; she abandons and shatters it, completely reinventing herself. The only thing you can predict when you pick up one of her (or Blondie's) projects, is that you are going to hear something that has never been done before. With 17 tracks, there is plenty of room for Ms. Harry to explore her extraordinarily diverse style. The vocals are lush and raw at once. The lead single, and radio friendly "Two Times Blue" explodes with Harry's human sensibility; something that is so inviting and yet, so remote from the icy pop that paralyzed us back in the late 70's and early 80s, when she and her band Blondie first exploded on to the pop music scene. Songs like "Love With A Vengeance" and "Naked Eye" sound so odd at first, but before you know it, they linger in your ear and you're hooked. There's plenty of love songs as well but they all have something just a little twisted, and not of convention; "I just set myself on fire ... what a terrible thing to do you say". Almost sinister, with her unmistakable styling, and wavering lilt, only Harry could sing these songs. My absolute favourite is "You're Too Hot"; she rocks it out harder and better now more than ever. Other kicking tracks are "Deep End", "Whiteout", "School For Scandal", "Charm Alarm", the oh so provocative "Dirty and Deep" and of course, the sizzling title track "Necessary Evil" where the journey of love is metaphorically equated with terrorism. Yes, Deborah Harry's wicked sense of humour and clever writing prevail throughout this album. After the last Blondie masterpiece "The Curse of Blondie" in 2003, it was painfully obvious that Harry has reached a new apex in her career where her creativity and singing are concerned; it only makes sense to strike while the iron is hot. Always the risk taker, Deborah Harry has reportedly funded this current project herself, but Necessary Evil is an exhibition of talent that can be banked on. While her predecessors scramble to mimic her past successes, the sexagenarian forges on into uncharted waters with such signature; completely disregarding the publicly accepted ageism & sexism that contaminates today's pop music culture.

Deborah Rocks Out:
The first solo album by Rock Icon Deborah Harry in over decade, is probally her best solo album to date. The power pop lead off single 'TWO TIMES BLUE" is sweet and reminiscent of the Blondie classic "Dreaming". Harry has show cased her material on her myspace website over the last 2 years and on the recent 2007 True Colors tour. This album is solid through and through, killer tracks like "White out, You're too hot and Dirty and Deep", will have radio and dance clubs pumping the Harry beats very soon. Necessary Evil is as diverse as any Blondie album ever recorded, from the warm and inviting soft rock of "If I had you" to the post punk of "School for scandal", Necessary evil is just the right amount of ear candy one needs on a cd.

• Two Times Blue
• School for Scandal
• If I Had You
• Deep End
• Love with Vengeance
• Necessary Evil
• Charm Redux
• You're Too Hot
• Dirty and Deep
• What is Love
• Whiteout
• Needless to Say
• Heat of the Moment
• Charm Alarm
• Jen Jen
• Naked Eye
• Paradise