★★★★★
As in so much German disco, a nice tart detachment undercuts the lush vacuousness here. It's not just that the rhythms are candidly mechanical; even the stiffness of the string playing sounds calculated, as if produced by some fantastic cuckoo clock. Who else could put "No Woman, No Cry" and the Peggy Lee version of "Fever" belly-to-belly except some European who thinks that whatever crosses the Atlantic is similarly funky and exotic?
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
I find myself amused rather than offended by tinkly-shit renditions of such sacrosanct classics as "Heart of Gold" and "King of the Road," not to mention historically relevant lyrics like "Rah rah Rasputin/Russia's greatest love machine." In fact, these folks have now surpassed Silver connection in my Dumb (But Funny) Eurodisco competition. But the amusement palls, and it's not even all that disco.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-03-22
★★★★★
By the time Oceans of Fantasy was released in 1979, Boney M. had become a worldwide sensation thanks to Frank Farian's canny combination of bubblegum-ish pop hooks with slick disco-minded production...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
By the turn of the 1980s, German production whiz Frank Farian had transformed his pet project Boney M. into a successful worldwide phenomenon. As a result, he decided to push the group in a more ambitious direction with their next outing, the double album Boonoonoonoos. Since the disco sound that had contributed to the group's fame was quickly dying out, Farian downplayed dance rhythms on this set in favor of international-flavored pop in the vein of ABBA...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Boney M.'s follow-up to their 1976 success Take the Heat Off Me closely adheres to the formula established by that album: a combination of original songs and offbeat cover versions done in a style that marries bubblegum pop hooks to a disco beat...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
After three years of inactivity, Boney M returned to the international charts in 1984 with 10,000 Lightyears. Like Boonoonoonoos, this album was a big production: It boasted a generous array of songs in varying styles and included the Munich Symphony Orchestra thickening the sound on a number of its tracks. Sadly, 10,000 Lightyears is a mixed effort in terms of songwriting...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Boney M's attempt at a Christmas record, 20 Greatest Christmas Songs, is a shockingly agreeable album that is a wonderful guilty pleasure for the holidays. Their overblown, ABBA-style arrangements fit the music perfectly, and with keyboards straight out of the Pet Shop Boys they manage to make average Christmas songs sound like Euro-disco anthems. The album starts slowly, with the serious songs clogging up the first few tracks...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
On this album, Frank Farian abandoned the lush sounds and adventurous arrangements that had characterized past Boney M. albums to make a straightforward album of electronic dance-pop. Sadly, this decision works against the album because it robs the group's sound of much of its personality. For example, "Todos Buenos" cries out for a lush Latin arrangement but is forced to settle for a monotonous synthesizer-heavy sound that is tarted up with a few flamenco guitar flourishes...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27