I don’t know Eurythmics very well. Sure, I know their biggest hits, but that’s it. And I only ever recently sat down to listen to an Annie Lennox album. So I have no idea about context here. For example, I had no idea they were so damn prolific. (Seriously, what the hell? 7 albums in six years is insane.)
But reading that this is more “experimental” compared to their mid-80s work and then actually listening to the record does not start me off on the right foot. This is not what I would call “experimental” music. It’s certainly artier than most synthpop, but everything is artier than mid-80s synthpop.
I appreciate Lennox’s idiosyncrasies as a performer (though, if her solo work is a clue, they are reigned in here). And I think they write reasonably catchy songs. But like most synthpop, there is nowhere near enough here of interest to me to think about listening to this again. Their slight artiness is so slight compared to any art pop band outside of the synthpop world, and the songs themselves are not strong enough for me to care.
There is nothing wrong with this. It’s better than some synthpop I’ve heard. But I don’t know why some people view it as exceptional. Frankly, I’d much rather listen to Diva.
6/10
All tracks written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart
- “Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)” 4:48
- “I’ve Got a Lover (Back in Japan)” 4:25
- “Do You Want to Break Up?” 3:38
- “You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart” 3:50
- “Shame” 4:23
- “Savage” 4:10
- “I Need a Man” 4:21
- “Put the Blame on Me” 3:44
- “Heaven” 3:28
- “Wide Eyed Girl” 3:29
- “I Need You” 3:22
- “Brand New Day” 3:42
- Annie Lennox – vocals, keyboards and programming
- Dave Stewart – backing vocals, guitar, keyboards, production and programming
- Olle Romo – programming
- Fred DeFaye – engineers, mixing
- Manu Guiot – engineers, mixing
- Alan Moulder – engineer
- Claude Pons – mixing