I just grabbed 'Black Cherry' hot off the presses, and though it too has lived in my car player the past few days, I'm not as impressed by it. Granted, I think that it's good. However, I find the CD disjointed, and not as strong as the collection of tunes on 'Felt Mountain'. It more blustery, as I imagine Bob Fosse would have produced it, and not as enthralling. Save for the deeply infecting tracks 5 & 6 ('Deep Honey' & 'Hairy Trees'), I find the disc more non-descript than the first. That being said, I think that the CD will have more crossover appeal, because the tracks generally are more brassy and upbeat. I don't know, I think I still need another 5 rotations of this disc, but to me, I just want to loop tracks 5 & 6 over and over again.

Of course, by my review, I obviously prefer the darker more etheral end of the spectrum. For example, I think that though sporadic, parts of '100th Window' are brilliant. Ironic how Massive got darker and Goldfrapp is getting lighter. Well anyway,since I am the first to review this work, I'll be interested to read the other reader's comments


Sexy, Stylish, Superb   May 11, 2003
Pete Magritte (Santa Monica, CA USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Amazon.com's house reviewer seems to imply that Black Cherry is a weaker effort than its predecessor Felt Mountain. Not so, grasshopper! Different, well, yes, but that's the idea isn't it? Although Felt Mountain might have higher highs, it also has lower lows. You can throw Black Cherry on and listen right through without a single weak or "off" song on the entire album. ... Alison Goldfrapp vamps and vixens and uses that golden angel voice of hers to slither and sex-ate all over the place. The most powerful single song is Goldfrapp's soaring, pulse-pounding riff on Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," with Alison doing her fave Giorgio Moroder honor with the S/M anthem "Strict Machine." Following that is her best ballad to date, the ethereal "Forever." Both "Forever" and the title song "Black Cherry" give us a deeper and more direct Goldfrapp, far more affecting than anything on Felt Mountain. She's not hiding out behind lush instrumentals here. The album generally seems to revel in a kind of retro late-1970's decadence: it is straight synthesizer and drum machines from beginning to end, none of those John Barry-esque horns from the first outing. But it really doesn't matter. Black Cherry is a more mature, more stylized and, ultimately, better work than Felt Mountain. And, come on, given how good Felt Mountain was, that's really saying something. Get Black Cherry and make your ears happy!


"Tiptoe around me, tiptoe..."   May 25, 2003
Damien Bjorn Ruud (Boulder, CO United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

After 3 years, Goldfrapp is back with another album which I can honestly say is better, as a whole, than its predecessor.

It's true that the arrangements are more mechanical and the tone and vocals are more sexual and meaty but there are still many things which tie this record to its forebearer.

The orchestral arrangements are still there, they have just been toned down and mixed more within the songs. See Tiptoe, Hairy Trees, Black Cherry, Deep Honey.

There are still downtempo tracks, Hairy Trees being the best of these while there is still more variety with uptempo tracks such as Crystalline Green, Train, and Strict Machine which get the blood going.

Altogether this is an incredibly consistent follow-up to one of the best debuts in recent memory.


And Now For Something Completely Different ...   August 17, 2005
David C. Rive Jr. (New Orleans, Louisiana)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

After scaling the alpine heights of their debut disc, FELT MOUNTAIN, Goldfrapp's sophomore effort, BLACK CHERRY, is something completely different: a dizzying descent into a brash, tawdry disco underworld.

Mechanical and urban where the first disc was soft and pastoral, the throbbing electric music of BLACK CHERRY dips and climbs and spins like a noisy, neon-lit thrill ride.

If FELT MOUNTAIN evoked the quirky film scores of Ennio Morricone, BLACK CHERRY calls to mind the humping, thumping beat of Giorgio Moroder.

Goldfrapp's Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp hinted at a flirtation with 80s techno-pop on their version of the Olivia Newton-John hit "Physical," re-titled "U.K. Girls [Physical]," and contained on their EP, UTOPIA: GENETICALLY ENRICHED, but the flirtation has blossomed into a full-blown love affair-maybe an orgy-on BLACK CHERRY.

Along with the sultry, pulsating sounds, there is a marked frankness and overt sexuality to the lyrics. Goldfrapp's sensuality, so primal and pervasive on the first disc, is on full-frontal display here. When she whispers "touch my garden" on "Hairy Trees," or "put your dirty angel face between my legs and knicker lace" on "Twist," she entices the listener to engage in a little aural sex between consenting headphones.

Still, there is something a little forced and professional about the sex here-no matter how authentically "twisted" it is.

The same can be said of the music: "Train" is driven by an irresistible industrial beat, and "Hairy Trees" bubbles like a mountain stream, but the song "Black Cherry" seems undistinguished and banal both musically and lyrically. The opener, "Chrystalline Green," services as synth-propelled intro to the electric eclecticism to come, but it doesn't really stand on its own, nor do the bulk of the songs hold together like the suite of pieces on Goldfrapp's utterly cohesive debut disc.

This ain't exactly "sophomore slump," but neither is it an instant classic.

Like a good thrill ride, Goldfrapp's BLACK CHERRY provides a few chills and spills for the money (like their well-deserved hit, "Strict Machine"), but nothing here resonates as on FELT MOUNTAIN.

Next stop?



MORE VIBRANT BUT LESS SPECIAL THAN THEIR OTHER EFFORTS   June 1, 2004
Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

I am surprised with all the gloating reviews here.

Goldfrapp's by-now-characteristic electronica sound combinations are initially impressive, especially because they accompany some very dreamy vocals and crunchy rhythms unlike other "trance" music out there, but on Black Cherry they seem to offer little reward for repeat listens.

This album is definitely geared more towards a faster crowd with at least six numbers in the groove mode. I particularly liked the relentless thumps of "Train", and the trip-hippy bliss of "Hairy Trees". Overall, the album makes for an exciting, pacy compilation.

But this also means that all too often the synthetics are freeze-dried, and there're no hidden depths or secret details that one discovers over repeated listens. The songs sound blander each time round.

Overall, I'd say it's a pretty decent purchase, but don't expect to be going back to it a lot. Excellent perhaps for background music while driving if you need to keep yourself awake.