Girl For Sale

A teenage girl falls in love with a man who works in live sex shows, and who just happens to be having an affair with the girl's stepmother–with her father's knowledge. A dark drama with occasional weird show scenes.

German quintet Fool's Garden's fourth album combines a fondness for radio-friendly pop with what, on paper, would seem like a contradictory affection for AOR/prog rock atmospherics – splashy guitar solos and wailing strings. In reality, the formula works decently enough most of the time, producing a bunch of songs that are tuneful and accessible, if occasionally prone to excess. A good half of the songs on For Sale are cast in the chirpy, bouncy mold of Fool's Garden's one hit to date, 1998's "Lemon Tree." "Suzy" steals Robert Plant's vocal wail at the end of "Stairway to Heaven" and turns it into a synth riff on a song that already boasts an inescapable vocal hook and an infectious, sub-reggae rhythm.