Rocktrospectiva: The Temper "What A Life! Turns 40

Released on 28 October 1985 "What A Life!" was the 2nd., studio album by Australian band Divinyls, the album was a mixed or rock a new wave songs written by Divinyls members Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee.The album spawned five singles "Good Die Young", "In My Life", "Pleasure And Pain", "Sleeping Beauty" & "Heart Telegraph".

After touring and promoting in the United States, Divinyls came back to Australia to begin the follow-up to Desperate, with Mark Opitz producing again. They produced three songs including "Don't You Go Walking" and "Motion" but Amphlett and McEntee were not satisfied so they returned to the road, replacing drummer Richard Harvey with J.J. Harris, and wrote more songs. A year later they again tried recording, this time with the producer Gary Langan who was the founding member of the band Art of Noise. He brought a sophisticated, high-tech edge to Divinyls' sound, but a full album failed to get done. Recording stopped once more.

Eventually, Amphlett and McEntee made a journey to Los Angeles, where they asked pop producer Mike Chapman to come back with them to Australia and finish their second album. Chapman ended up producing only two songs: "Pleasure and Pain" and "Sleeping Beauty". The album was released almost two years after recording began. It reached No.4 in Australia and No.91 in the US, while "Pleasure and Pain" hit No.11 in Australia and the lower reaches of the Top 100 in the US. Two later singles, "Sleeping Beauty" and "Heart Telegraph", charted moderately in Australia but did little in the US. Despite its Australian success, Chrysalis declared the album a failure. 

The Divinyls' best strengths were both in Christina Amphlett's unique vocal delivery, and guitarist Mark McEntee's bottom-heavy, grungy, guitar work, and not so much in their songwriting. The band always managed to come up with a few memorable songs, such as "Pleasure and Pain" a thinly-veiled ode to sadomasochism, "Casual Encounter," and the ballad "Sleeping Beauty," unfortunately many of the album tracks were hardly memorable for critics and audience as well. "In My Life" was a catchy rocker, but Amphlett's vocals sounded banal and unpolished.  The album's closer, "Dear Diary," was a pretentious stab at art that instead sounds very flat and dull. 

Critics were mixed considered the album as loud and hard-edged, as purely physical as any metal band, but tempered with ... swaggering rowdiness.

 

What A Life! Track List:  

 

1. Pleasure And Pain

2. Sleeping And Beauty

3. Good Die Young

4. Guillotine Day

5. Talk Like The Rain

6. Heart Telegraph

7. Old Radios

8. In My Life

9. Para-Dice

10. What A Life!