Songs (click on the -icons for a small audio-sample)
1. Das Pop "Tonight"
2. Arid "Killer Queen"
3. Arno "All the Young Dudes"
4. Marc Morgan "America"
5. Daan "Hospitality on Parade"
6. Soulwax "Children o/t revolution"
7. Mauro "Dynamite"
8. Praga Khan "Jean Genie"
9. Neven "Rocket Girl"
10. Ozark Henry "Suffragette City"
11. Kiss My Jazz "Cum on Feel the Noize"
12. Jeff Bodard "Get it On"
13. "De Mens "Do You Wanna Touch me"
14. Machiavel "The Faith Healer"
15. Sttellla "Poppa Joe"

Concept : Rudy Léonet
Sleeve : Phil van Duynen

My opinion

Garbage in, Garbage out ... is a principle that reigns in a lot of areas, but not necessarily so in the arts. Thus a lot of ham past-date stuck onto pillars did become an interesting and controversial work of art in Ghent, and thus a confrontation of the songs from the british glamrock-era - not really the summum of good taste or legendary songmaterial - and a selection of contemporary Belgian pop & rock bands manages to provide some fireworks ...
Of course it is impossible that all contributions on "Glittering 2000 - Belgian acts revisiting glam classics" would be of a same quality, given the range of talent in the musicians and given the range of quality in the songmaterial (from David Essex to Bowie), but that's a critique that can be made about almost all "tributes" or compilation-cd's that don't stick to the "all 13 smash hits"-principle.
It was surprising to find out that some of the "big names" didn't live up to their reputation. Thus Arid is much too nice with Queen's "Killer Queen", Arno much too weak with Mott The Hoople's "All The Young Dudes". The contribution of Soulwax is inventive, but it is the first version of Marc Bolan's "Children of the Revolution" that dídn't give me a kick. De Mens shows on Gary Glitter's "Do You wanna touch" why singing in Dutch can't have been a career move back when they started, but the only available option.
It's a pity that the other way round, there are no surprises (acts of a lesser reputation that give a strong performance, I mean) : Marc Morgan & Vincent Venet are rather dull on David Essex's "America", Jeff Bodart sings against his voice on T.Rex's "Get It On", Neven is running past itself in Elton John "Rocket Girl".
But the rest is more than OK : Ozark Henry shines brightly in "Suffragette City" : the song was mangled quite drastically and doesn't sound much like the exciting original, but the result is all the more poignant and moving. Praga Khan has put "Jean Genie" through a techno-blender, and can be pleased about the powerful result. Das Pop demonstrates that even cold sh*t can be turned into an exciting song worth a single, given the right amount of enthusiasm (with "Tonight" of the Rubettes). And Mauro (Pawlowski) on Mud's "Dynamite", Daan on "Hospitality on Parade" of the Sparks and Kiss My Jazz on Slade's "Cum on feel the noiz" show what the good reputation of the contemporary Belgian pop & rock bands is all about : inventiveness, lack of respect, and joy in playing. A class of his own is the nutcase Sttellla who gave "Poppa Joe" of Sweet a treatment that surely had it calling for "Momma Joe".
All in all, that makes 7 fine tracks on a total of 14 (I won't say a thing about the contribution of Machiavel, to keep the peace). If it were the goal/opportunities-ratio of a soccer team, it would be a guarantee for a European title, but as this is a compilation cd, it isn't. But a game that sparkled, yes ...

And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !

This Album in the Press

- Peter Vantyghem in de Standaard : "Glittering 2000 has something typically belgian : the best way to honour music you like is to deform it. It is unimaginable that Zita Swoon would do a réal disco song, and that same attitude reverberates from this cd. The opulent, exuberant glam gets deconstructed to smaller, naked versions ... The result is that there is hardly anything kitschy on this album, doesn't contain any costumes, men remain men".
- Surf-Inn : "Fifteen Belgian bands take on a glamrock cover. A nice idea on paper, a wonderful cd in practice"
- JPS in Stage : "The fourty-something among us can relive this rather bizarre period from their puberty thanks to these ... often rather wayward version of the hits of the glittering seventies that are on this nice collection. But beware : it's not all gold that shines!"
- Dirk Steenhaut in Metro (de Morgen) : "Sometimes ideas are more fun on paper than in practice. Over half of the entries don't do anything useful with the selected song."

Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell me about it !

Where to buy this CD ?

You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on May 5, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	699	0	699 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	---	0	---
Proxis	563	0	563 Bef.	Proxis
Atrecordings	---	3$	---
Netbeat	---	3,51€	---

The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those for customers in Belgium.

Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations : let me know.

More about this group :

- Comments by the artists and a presentation of the project in french & dutch at the site of [PIAS]
- most of the bands / artists have a site of their own, which you can spot through their page in the Belgian Pop & Rock Archives.
- Info on the originals can be found at such sites as A biased history of British glamrock or Glam rock of the seventies

Other recent CD's
Do you want to announce your record here? It's easy (and free) ! Click here for the conditions.