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Viscerally contemporary, Necessary Evil harnesses youthful exuberance from across the charts, and Harry and her team of producers and songwriting partners do radio-ready rock, pop, and soul-lite with à la mode savvy to spare.
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Entertainment WeeklyIt boasts a definite spirit of adventure, with vocals that effortlessly tackle pop-rock, menacing funk and new-wave disco. But there are missteps, such as the torchy 'What Is Love.' [26 Oct 2007, p.67]
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It's not until the last few tracks that Harry finds her best collaborator--naturally, it's former Blondie bandmate and paramour Chris Stein.
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Necessary Evil is bereft of surprises and is pretty much as you would expect it to be.
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MojoUnsurprisingly, Necessary Evil falls short of her prime's pop perfection, yet it provides a fair compendium of her career. [Oct 2007, p.90]
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It's not what anyone is hoping for from Harry, but the highlights are decent enough to keep hardcore Blondie fans satiated until she finds some collaborators worthy of her talent.
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You’ll notice when the guitars escalate on 'You’re Too Hot,' when Harry sotto-voces her sexpot act on 'Dirty and Deep.' But you’ll really notice when a long diminuendo fourteen tracks in proves a bridge to the last three songs.
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The pastiche of styles on Necessary Evil is quintessential Debbie Harry, but diamonds in the rough aside, it also makes for a wildly uneven, often jarring collection of songs.
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There are interesting moments here, but they're fleeting, crying out for a bit of the deliberate craft of Blondie's comeback albums, which may be predictable but at least they're focused, which makes for easier listening than this long 17-track slog of sound.
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UncutThe results are frequently souless and over-produced. [October 2007, p.93]
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Q MagazineThere's commendable variety among these 17 tracks, but little that rises above the mediocre. [Oct 2007, p.98]
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Debbie Harry's sixth solo album starts off strong, or at least nostalgic, with a pair of ebullient New Wave pop-rockers, 'Two Times Blue' and 'School for Scandal.' Then it just gets stupid.
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Harry remains a creative force, and it's clear she needs to continue making music, but her new songs lack the cohesive spark needed to make anyone but diehard fans take notice.
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It's mostly awful, with Harry sounding hopelessly out of step.
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Twenty seconds into Necessary Evil and I'm cringing, and it's only amplified by the fact that this very same voice once performed 'Heart of Glass' and 'Rapture.'
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 11
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Mixed: 1 out of 11
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Negative: 1 out of 11
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hristov.Oct 15, 2007good and updated production, perfect voice. if not her best solo, surly pretty close. grab it!
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toddw.Oct 14, 2007
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ChristianBOct 14, 2007