at Area – initially entertaining, occasionally sexy, but very suddenly a bore.

Like all too many dance bands, Dead or Alive finds its musical world inside a nightclub. Songs like "D.J. Hit That Button," "Big Daddy of the Rhythm" and the tongue-tripping British smash "You Spin Me, Round (Like a Record)" allegorize life as a night of dancing. With his darkly feminine aura, lead singer Pete Burns dresses for the part. Burns would like to think his subterranean culture represents something subversive: "My daddy would go crazy if he knew what his baby/Was spending his life doing," he crows on "I Wanna Be a Toy." But with its requisite hip-hop production tricks, Youthquake is as stale as the hustle. "Cake and Eat It" shrilly recycles the rap section of Teena Marie's "Lovergirl"; the eight-minute production extravaganza "It's Been a Long Time" is a pallid Frankie imitation; and Burns' worst vocal moments are as flat as David Johansen's, without any of that singer's compensatory personality. The best moment on the album comes on "In Too Deep," a swaying Culture Club-style tune laced with female vocals. Buffered by the double-timed pace of "You Spin Me, Round" and its companion hit, "Lover Come Back to Me," Youthquake might do as a substitute for Jane Fonda's workout record. But you'll find more good songs on Saturday Night Fever or Bohannon's Greatest Disco Hits. (RS 455)

ROB TANNENBAUM