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March 16, 2018 10:18 PM   Subscribe

 
Ooh, probably my favorite Eurythmics album.

I always find that the chilly songs on this far outweigh the happy ones in my memory of it: that for all that There Must Be An Angel and Sisters Are Doin' It were the big hits, it's Conditioned Soul's "never fall into some killer's arms again" and the freaky stereo panning towards the end of Ball And Chain -- in which the chanting rotates around your head -- that stick with me.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:53 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Would I Lie To You is the *definitive* four-on-the-floor rock track and that includes Rebel Rebel and Satisfaction.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:10 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


That's not the "Would I lie to you" video that I remember. The one I remember had a lot of L.A. people in it. Like Fishbone!
posted by goofyfoot at 11:19 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


And Tequila Mockingbird.
posted by goofyfoot at 11:32 PM on March 16, 2018


Did you struggle to pick which Eurythimics LP to feature? They're almost all very strong.
posted by spaceburglar at 12:34 AM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


I love you, hippybear, but one of these days you really have to get out of my attic. Take the CDs, already.
posted by rokusan at 12:38 AM on March 17, 2018 [9 favorites]


There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)

33 years and that video still gives me the heebie-jeebies. Turned me off of the whole endeavor.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:41 AM on March 17, 2018


Thanks for reminding me how much I like the Eurythmics—I don't listen to their music nearly often enough.
posted by she's not there at 3:55 AM on March 17, 2018


As much as I can appreciate what people like about Eurythmics, their music never really did much for me.

Except It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back). Which is awesome. Sinuous and slow-groovy and menacing.
posted by biscotti at 4:01 AM on March 17, 2018


Would I Lie To You is the *definitive* four-on-the-floor rock track and that includes Rebel Rebel and Satisfaction.

Rebel Rebel is a more interesting song tho
posted by thelonius at 5:43 AM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Except It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back). Which is awesome. Sinuous and slow-groovy and menacing.

I always thought that song should have done better than it did.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:55 AM on March 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


Used to love them and still do.

Went and saw them live, and they were underwhelming... the music was fine but they just had no real stage presence, the two of them were small in the huge colosseum I saw them in. I imagine they would be much better in a small venue.

Great studio band though. And this was my favourite album.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:34 AM on March 17, 2018


My little sister and I used to put this CD on and crank up the speakers loud and dance (i.e. flail) around the basement when we were around 5 to 6 years old. It was an awesome time.
posted by Mouse Army at 6:51 AM on March 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


Conditioned Soul has always been one of my favorites. Back in the day when I made mixtapes, it was a go to. One time, due to my awful handwriting, the recipient of the mixtape thought the song was called Cornfield Soul.
posted by pasici at 7:04 AM on March 17, 2018


There must be an angel is one of my favorite songs of all time, but I only knew it from the Fantastic Plastic Machine cover (that I didn't know was a cover until now.) The original is so much more...more! Seems like FPM decided to take the complex vocal of the original and simple thread of the arrangement and invert it.
posted by davejay at 8:28 AM on March 17, 2018


I sing "There Must Be an Angel" to check my vocal range every few months. The power in Annie Lennox's voice is just terrific and amazing.

When I was a teen and still in church, this was one of the songs that I and the other girls in the youth choir would use to show off during rehearsal breaks, along with some Whitney songs. Outside, of course. We weren't allowed to sing any secular music inside the church itself.

That's Stevie Wonder on the harmonica break for that song, right? He did a similar cameo for Prefab Sprout at around the same time on "I Remember That".

If they were all up for it, I'd love for Annie Lennox, Adele, and Allison Moyet to perform together.
posted by droplet at 8:31 AM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


I know it's from a later period, but No More I Love You's is my all-time favorite Annie Lennox song. The video is amazing.
posted by maggiemaggie at 10:17 AM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


That's not the "Would I lie to you" video that I remember. The one I remember yt had a lot of L.A. people in it. Like Fishbone!

And Nathan East on bass! And Benmont Tench on keyboards!

I bought my first VCR on the evening of July 12, 1985 just in time to record Live Aid the following day. When I hooked it up for test drive early on the morning of the 13th, to make sure it was set up correctly, I taped five minutes of MuchMusic and got this video. It was apropos, as the very first thing I had purchased with my first paycheque was a copy of this album.

33 years on, I still learn things about it: the asshole boyfriend in the video is played by Steven Bauer, who many of us have seen more recently as the asshole drug lord Don Eladio in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:12 AM on March 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


This album always seemed to fly under the radar amongst my friend, despite having a few of their really big hits on it. I've rarely run across people who know it well, which is surprising as it's all so good. To me the weakest songs are the ones that charted, which always made this album feel like a bit of a gem hidden in plain sight.

Better to Have Lost in Love closing out the album was always my favorite. It's so chilly! Put on headphones, close your eyes, and you can just feel how damn cold it is. They managed to capture a physical sensation in aural form. Marvelous.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 12:52 PM on March 17, 2018


And the nominee for the MeFi Musicologist of year is "hippybear".

Keep it up please!
posted by bjgeiger at 7:17 PM on March 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Great trip down memory lane... Adrian was one of my favorites; it has Elvis Costello guesting on the vocals with Annie.
posted by shw at 5:41 PM on March 18, 2018


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