Aliens Ate My Buick

AMG Review of Aliens Ate My Buick

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Thomas Dolby didn't do his career much good by waiting four years between album releases. Pop music trends shifted away from the quirky synth-pop Dolby had pioneered in 1983-1984, and though he employed a heavy funk beat aimed at the discos and even covered a George Clinton song, Dolby seemed less a true dancefloor king than a commentator on the same, especially in such songs as the (non-charting) single "Airhead," "Pulp Culture," and "The Ability to Swing." Dolby's flirtation with film had also added an eclecticism to his style that embraced '40s jazz vocalese ("The Key to Her Ferrari") and European balladeering ("Budapest By Blimp"). As ever, Dolby was a man of many ideas, but on Aliens Ate My Buick they failed to add up to a coherent statement.