God Bless the Go-Go's  (Audio CD) 
by The Go-Go's

After a couple of short-lived tour reunions, the Go-Go's have made it stick. God Bless the Go-Go's is their first studio album in 17 years, carrying on as if Belinda Carlisle's sparkling solo career and Jane Wiedlin's slightly less stellar one had never happened. The tough, assured sound of 1984's Talk Show is front and center here, at once a sonic counterpoint to the lyrics' general sense of frustration ("Automatic Rainy Day," "Unforgiven") and barricade in front of their ultimate triumph in its face ("Throw Me a Curve," "Vision of Nowness"). Carlisle, for her part, rides the roar and jangle like "Head Over Heels" was just yesterday, as if the success she had on her own was just another hoop to jump through before getting back to business. Now in their 40s, these women have matured without resigning themselves to the world they once swore wouldn't stop them. God Bless isn't an unflawed gem, but after a few spins, even some of its lesser concepts begin to sound like pieces of a manifesto the Go-Go's have patched back together to shout out loud. --Rickey Wright