The most remarkable thing about this record is that it’s a release by Toploader that isn’t another remix (and I use that term loosely, added computerised voices don’t really make a tune remixed) of _‘Dancing In The Moonlight’. Or is it?
The same Jamie Oliver-compatibility is there, the same grating vocals forcing out the same over earnest lyrics, the same hair floating like a halo of evil around the vocalist’s head (OK, so the hair can’t be heard on the record, but you can just feel it’s hideous presence in all that they do).
Of course, this could all be looked on as though the band are simply creating their own distinctive sound, and ’Time Of My Life’ is just a continuation on this. If you were feeling particularly charitable. The song is pleasing enough, it swells up into a nice chorus, and there are hours of fun to be had in imitating the peculiar pronounciation and vocal tics of Joe Washbourn. There’s also a strangely gratifying Jools Holland-esque boogie-woogie piano bit somewhere towards the end that lifts the track slightly and gives it more depth.
Expect ’Time Of My Life’ to be a nice little money earner for the band (or maybe for the writers of ’Dancing In The Moonlight’ – never has the term ‘variations on a theme’ been more appropriate), but they shouldn’t have any hope of shaking off the long drawn out ghost of their biggest hit - Toploader are, and, for the foreseeable future, always will be, defined by ‘Dancing In The Moonlight’ and it’s damn near impossible to write a review of anything they do without comparing it to that song.
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4Steph's Score