Album Review: Flowers, Icehouse

Album cover for Flowers. Photo / Supplied

It's 30 years since this Australian pub rock-meets-synth rock band changed their name from Flowers to Icehouse. That change happened after they made it big internationally with We Can Get Together and found another band was called Flowers.

To mark the anniversary main man Iva Davies put together this three disc reissue of the band's debut, Icehouse, made up of the original album, a live set, and a DVD. Of special nostalgic interest for Kiwis - we were big Icehouse fans up to the cheesy pop rock of 1987's Man of Colours - is live footage from the 1981 Sweetwaters Festival headlined by Split Enz and Roxy Music.

While We Can Get Together still stands up as an anthem and Walls is muscular synth rock at its best, tracks like Can't Help Myself, the uppity punk of Sister, and Lou Reed influenced Nothing To Do, sound coy and frail compared to the accomplished 1982 follow up Primtive Man with Great Southern Land, Hey Little Girl, and Glam on it.

Stars: 3/5

-TimeOut