Maps of Music

Different Light (1985)

Where the lyrics of Different Light take you, and where it was really made.

The Bangles' most successful album came from a move away from their 1960s-style rock and roll sound toward Top 40 pop.

Key places

Sunset Sound, Hollywood (1985)

Recording site Sunset Sound — The album credits list Sunset Sound as a recording studio, and the band recorded the album in 1985. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Sound Factory, Hollywood (1985)

Recording site The Sound Factory — The album credits also list The Sound Factory as a recording studio, separate from Sunset Sound. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Different Light: second studio album by American pop rock band the Bangles
• Released January 13, 1986 by Columbia Records
• Recorded in 1985 with producer David Kahne
• Top 40 sound was a break from the band's earlier 1960s-style rock and roll
• Their most successful album
• Reached number two on the Billboard 200
• Produced five charting singles
• Includes Billboard Hot 100 top two hits "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like an Egyptian"
• First album in which bassist Michael Steele sings lead vocals on some tracks

Background

• Lead single "Manic Monday" was written by Prince under the pseudonym "Christopher" in 1984
• Prince first wrote the song as a duet for Apollonia 6's self-titled album
• "If She Knew What She Wants" was first recorded by Jules Shear on his 1985 album The Eternal Return
• The Bangles rewrote its lyrics in the third person
• "Walk Like an Egyptian" was written by Liam Sternberg after he saw people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance
• Those poses recalled figures in ancient Egyptian reliefs
• "Walking Down Your Street" reached number 11 in the United States and 16 in the United Kingdom
• The fifth single "Following" was released only in the UK, where it reached number 55

Recording

• Producer David Kahne
• Engineers Tchad Blake and Peggy McLeonard
• Recorded at Sunset Sound and The Sound Factory, both in Hollywood

Cover

• Most cassette pressings and the sheet music songbook show only 12 of the 16 "different" snapshots
• European CDs copy the vinyl back cover, with all 16 snapshots and the track index at the top

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 as an all-female pop rock band.
• Susanna Hoffs and sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson came together in December 1980 after responding to classified ads in The Recycler.
• Annette Zilinskas joined on bass as the original fourth member.
• Began as part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, influenced by 1960s rock and psychedelic music.
• Early work blended jangly guitar melodies with power-pop sensibilities.
• Renamed themselves the Bangs shortly after forming, later becoming the Bangles.

Members

• Susanna Hoffs: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano.
• Vicki Peterson: lead guitar, backing vocals.
• Debbi Peterson: drums, acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals.
• Annette Zilinskas: original bassist (1981–1983), rejoined in 2018.
• Michael Steele: bassist and vocalist from 1983 to 1989 and 1998 to 2005, formerly of the Runaways.

Career

• Debut album All Over the Place (1984) on Columbia Records received critical acclaim.
• Prince gave them "Manic Monday," originally written for his group Apollonia 6, which reached number two in the US, UK and Germany.
• Different Light (1986) reached number two on the Billboard 200, driven by the worldwide number-one hit "Walk Like an Egyptian."
• Cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "A Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987) from the film Less than Zero reached number two in February 1988.
• Everything (1988) included the top-five hit "In Your Room" and their biggest-selling single "Eternal Flame."
• "Eternal Flame" became the biggest single by an all-female band in history.
• Disbanded in 1989 after internal friction; reunited in 1998 to record for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
• Released Doll Revolution (2003) and Sweetheart of the Sun (2011).
• Reunited with founding bassist Annette Zilinskas in 2018, the first time the original four members had played together since 1983.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard said producer Kahne gave the band's spare, 1960s-influenced pop and rock a facelift
• Billboard said old fans would be divided over whether the change was new subtlety or a softer edge
• Cashbox said the band had polished its ragged L.A. street image for what looked like a national campaign
• Cashbox said the American sound, with guitar-laden psychedelia, was right in line with current musical taste

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone critic Laura Fissinger found less hook-happy song structure and more modernized production than the 1984 debut All Over the Place
• Fissinger said the album puts then and now in significantly better balance
• Fissinger also found the band had advanced past the fan-ape-idol phase in its musicianship
• Slant Magazine's retrospective review by Sal Cinquemani said the album sounds surprisingly fresh in hindsight
• Classic Pop's Will Simpson said the grit and gloss balance nicely

Records

• Billboard 200: number two, the band's most successful album
• Five charting singles
• Slant Magazine ranked it number 78 on its 2012 list of the best albums of the 1980s
• Slant Magazine also included it on its 2003 list of 50 Essential Pop Albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Bangles rewrote the lyrics of "If She Knew What She Wants" in the third person, although the original was written in the first person
• The US version's back cover shows only the first column of four snapshots, with the track index list taking the rest of the space
• That layout was a rare deviation for Columbia's CD issues during the 1980s
• "Following" was released exclusively in the UK, where it reached number 55
• "Walk Like an Egyptian" hit number one in the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and peaked at number three in the United Kingdom

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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