Reviews (page 8 of 8)
Este álbum parece eletrónica muito antiquada e é um bocado difícil de ouvir. Tem possivelmente a pior versão que ouvi do Tainted Love. Nota: 3/10
Tainted Love is a great song; rest of the album not so much.
Helicopters on Mars vs European Super League IV: Sex Dwarf.
Wow
Very middling
acceptable
One absolutely great song, but I stopped listening after "Chips on my shoulder" because I seriously think this song is about have french fries on a body part. I should have told you I've chips on my shoulder I'm making a stand While I sit on my arse Fish and chip supper
Some great atmospheric, grimy sounds throughout but besides Tainted Love, not a lot of stand out tracks
Not great. That one song that everyone knows is the best one, and I don't really like that one either.
Yeah, I don’t really find this enjoyable at all, beyond “Tainted Love,” which I probably only enjoy for the nostalgia of that commercial when I was in high school. Most of these songs I find annoying. A couple aren’t so bad, but generally, not my thing. Just realized the ones I like are covers of older songs, so…yeah.
Didn't finish is
Fav Song: Tainted Love
Meh, too slow, nothing too good for me. I had forgot they sing tainted love, but then again, not a big fan of that song either so it makes sense.
Tainted Love. Natürlich das bekannteste hier.
Pari leiskautusta mutta levyn loputtua päälimmäinen fiilis oli helpotus
1hitwonder
Part of me feels bad for not giving this a fair shake, but I couldn't make myself listen to the whole thing so it gets a 1. No thank you.
That one song is so good. The restnof the album is so bad
Tainted Love is a good song, the rest…not so much.
Terrible
meh
Hopefully this is one of very few true DNFs on this list. I just can’t dude. I hate this sound so much. I hate the shitty synth/electric keyboard. I hate the vocals. I hate the drum track. I hate all of it. Truly, nails on a chalkboard for me. 0 stars
Tainted love does not a good album make. Songs Searching for a melody.
Tainted love. Don’t dig the rest of the album.
gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Tainted Love sandwiched between a bunch of songs I absolutely hated.
Naur I don’t wannna bf said it was booty butt
Didn’t make it through the whole thing. Not for me.
I've heard the song Tainted Love many times in my life with no idea where it came from or who it was by. Now I now that it is on the same album as a song called Sex Dwarf where there are what I presume to be alien sex sounds. I'm so sick of this album, I just want it to be over. I don't want to listen to it anymore and not even Tainted Love can save it. At least Sex Dwarf was interesting but a lot of these songs are just bad. I'm sick of the same synth sounds and I'm not convinced this guy can sing.
Yeah Tainted Love was fun, but it's still a one hit wonder, and a cover. The rest of this album sounds like a high school student from drama club that found a Casio keyboard. Just woeful.
Ritmos e sonoridades interessantes e dançantes mas totalmente e irreparavelmente arruinadas por vocais horríveis e letras péssimas. Uma pena. Algumas canções parecem paródias dos mais toscos Pops da década de 80. Disco descartável, no máximo, uma curiosidade do que já foi considerado aceitável em um tempo mais obscuro. Prefiro manter no passado mesmo. 1.5/5
i can think of at least 4 things wrong with that title. not digging this. a song called sex dwarf shouldn't be this bad. or maybe it's appropriately named idk. dnf
The one star is for Tainted Love, the rest is unbearable garbage.
Nah
Never heard the rest of this album besides Tainted Love and… well now I know why. Not even tainted love can redeem this slop.
Other than Tainted Love, this album is forgettable.
I just don’t get this at all. Not for me
Everything I hate about my generation’s music can pretty much be summed up with this album. Pop/Disco revamp, the coming out party for simplistic gay nightclub crap. The cocaine 80’s were no joke, and this type of shite could not be avoided. Not easy as a hard rock and punk fan around Denver in the 80’s. Wading thru clubs with new wave twinks high as fuck, swaying to this ear-splitting drivel, spoils my good memories of the age. Just to be clear: Fuck no, not for me.
This is truly awful. Cocaine is a helluva drug.
All synths and drum machines with no actual musical ability present. Cringe-inducing lyrics that rely on the type of rhymes you’d see in a 3rd grader’s poetry.
55
오글거리고 짜증난다
One hit wonders som kun har suksess med en cover er gjerne et eget nivå av dritmusikk.
Yeah this sucks. Couldn’t finish. RYM: N Saved a song: N
I didn’t enjoy this very much. Besides “Tainted Love” which is obviously a great song, these songs range from silly(“bedsitter”) to creepy (“sex dwarf”, “seedy films”) to annoying (“chips on my shoulder”).
Nah, never was a soft cell fan - it does absolutely nothing for me. Almost non-music to me
It's almost amazing how bad every other song is compared to Tainted Love. I don't have any creative takes, this is bad. No one needs to subject themselves to this before they die.
What in the sex dwarf is this piece of crap!!?
Nul Le côté "ahahahaa on est provocateur on parle de sex avec des nain ahahaah comment on est originaux ahaha" m'énerve Les sonorités de l'album me gonflent, j'étais pas fan de tainted love mais c'est la seul chanson qui tient la route, le reste est fade et sans intérêt avec des paroles pénibles. Il y a peut être qq chose que je n'ai pas compris dans l'album mais en tout cas à la première écoute j'ai passé un très mauvais moment Je le met honnêtement au même niveau de sonorités que les shaggs qui elles au moins on essayer de faire qq chose Un album que je ne considère pas comme un must listen dans votre vie
So difficult to listen to. I cant. One-hit wonder band, where the hit song is a cover.
I did not realize how bad this disco band who tried to sound like the cure was. Sexy Dwarf and similar songs were poorly written and offensive.
Tainted Love is the only thing saving this from being a 1.
I wanted a comedy album with some okay tunes. This wasnt that. It tried to be funny so bad but it hit me with so mutch nothing. The popular songs hit hit everything else just doesnt. I have had sutch a non reaction from any album. Wow.
Didn't like what I heard at first, or at the end
I don't know why this week I have been given so many Synthpop classics but I guess I am here for it to finally check them off the list. As much as I wish I could enjoy this project and appreciate it on the same level as many others here, I am not going to sit here and lie about how much I enjoyed this. Out of the past Synthpop classic albums I have covered, this one seems to have aged the most like milk with its' very over the top theatrics really becoming a bit of burden to myself. I appreciate the energy on display here, but if it was backed up by some actual quality then I would be much more into it, instead we have a bunch of rough trial and error styles tracks with the one titular hit most people continue to talk about for years with Tainted Love. There are some tracks here with production that feels so sloppy, like with Secret Life, that I am surprised anyone in the 80s even enjoyed the sound of it. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is an utter mess of an album and that was even before this album got aged by 45 years of time. Nuff said.
Honestly quite a bad album, and the music I'd consider competent just was not my thing, too minimalist at times, way too repetitive, pretty boring and a lot of the time irritating.
One hit wonder 1/5
I thought sex dwarf would be fun, but I don't like this album at all
Another 80s mediocre album. There's not much to say about this one except that the lyrics were extremely corny and the synths were bad. Sex Dwarf did not need to be 5 minutes long, there no standouts at all on this album except for maybe tainted love, don't waste your time on this record.
Diabolical. Genuinely hate Tainted Love now and can never see it the same after trying to get through this album. Awful beyond measure
Seedy Films is by far the stupidest song i have ever heard. I know that sounds pretty histrionic, but I really can’t think of a more cringe inducing aural experience. You’ve heard Tainted Love so many times it has lost all its charm, and everything else is soulless drivel. Except Sex Dwarf. It is everything a song with a title like SexDwarf promises to be.
Not that great. Their big hit song I believe is a cover first of all and the rest of the album is pretty mid. I didn’t mind seedy films but the rest is kinda trash nah this is a skip save your time for me!
I’ve always hated this. Still do as it turns out.
Wank music, not the sort you tug to, just wank content that's dates badly I'm afraid.
Tainted love was okay, the rest was awful.
This was electronic in a way I really didn’t enjoy. The vocals felt disconnected from the music, which was also jarring and unpleasant. Sex Dwarf was truly awful. Favorite song: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
I did not like this at all. "Tainted Love" was the only song I was familiar with, and that was okay. It's a 2.5 minute song and that was about how much time I wanted to spend here. I used to say that I hated 80's music, that was silly, but this vibe is exactly why I said it.
2 very good songs and 16 miserable ones. This was a challenge.
This is the album one buys after hearing the radio song. They take it home and excitedly drop the needle. They suffer through track one, and then track two plays. “Great! This is why I bought this!” says our dear friend the consumer. Slowly (but surely) they find themselves full of regret, buyers remorse and shame that they were once fooled again by one catchy tune….
I assessed a two-star penalty for "Sex Dwarf." Then I realized I couldn't go to -1.
Soft shit by Soft Cell Brit pop at its worst, a lot to dislike about this album. Even their “hit” cover song “Tainted Love” has not aged particularly well, Manson’s more recent version outduels it.
Where to start. Horrible out of tune vocals. Pitiful lyrics. Total lack of talent. Single hit is a cover. Unnecessary long suffering. It can only be understood as a parody, but apparently it is not. 2/10
Tainted Love ist natürlicb unbestritten, aber der Rest des Albums fühlt sich sehr anstrengend an.
Tainted Love almost brought this to a 2 but it's a cover so I am not letting the one good song on this save it from a 1. Also, Sex Dwarf, lol but what in the actual fuck
Yeah this was written by some horny dudes alright. The beats and melody generally remind me of what I think a cheap strip club would be like. On this album you’ll enjoy brilliantly written lyrics such as: “I was born, one day I’ll die” and “sex dwarf (sex dwarf), mmmmm sex dwarf.” The post-nut clarity will go crazy
For noe absolutt dritt. værste jeg har hørt
bye
I only knew Tainted Love and Where Did Our Love Go before listening to this. Wow. Sleazy in the most cringeworthy way.
This is what I mean when I say I hate 80's music.
Not my thing at all
Strooong dislike on this. I find most if not all of these songs annoying and strange,
I enjoy Tainted Love just for the nostalgia of crap teenage discos. The rest of this album is instantly forgettable 80s synth pop, except for the songs that are actively annoying, like Frustration and Entertain Me. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye would be worth a listen if David Gray's version wasn't so much better.
1 out of 5 One hit wonders of the 80s! Now I know why lmao.
Frustration - mhm okay this is … interesting; why are they speaking like they just learned english?; i kinda like the topic and message at least 1/5 Tainted love - wait, i know this omg; how is this on the same Album as "Frustration"; not a big fan of the voice but the song is alright 3,5/5 Seedy Films - was very scared of what to come in the beginning, but it wasnt as bad as expected and some passaged i even liked; but i lost interest after the first Minute, after which the song continued for 4 minutes still... 2/5 Youth - it all sounds the same to me and it all sounds a bit shit 1,5/5 Sex Dwarf - interesting title?; the music and Sound was actually fine ngl, even enjoyable; the lyrics were … inetresting, this feels ableist idk 1/5 Entertain me - wait i kind of like this; like the topic and the Sound its all alright 3/5 Chips on my shoulder - maybe i just dont get the vibe 2/5 Bedsitter - for synth Pop this is fine; gets very boring after the first 30 seconds 1,8/5 Secret life - the beginning sounds shit; after that ist okay; than it Sound shit again 2/5 Say hello, wave goodbye-7 - not super interesting but actually not bad; judging some of the lyrics 2/5 Where did our love go - was excited for the sonf, because i liked the Instrument without singing in the start; then he started singing…; still not to bad 2,3/5 Memorabilia - relatable but still sounds ass 1,5/5 Facility Girls - 1/5 Fun City - how is this almost 8 minutes?? 1,5/5 Torch - this is absolutely fine; thank god we got a break from his voice for some lines 3/5 Insecure me - 2,5/5 What? - i like this 3/5 So? - usually i prefer Songs with lyrics, but in this case thank god 2,5/5 Coherence - i liked that it followed like this story of escaping the ordinary life, so it did actually match up 4/5 overall Impression: 1/5 i guess this genre just really really isnt for me ---> 1,8
Wow I truly was born in the wrong generation If i was my parents age, my life would have been so much easier I would just have had to make one kinda good song and think too highly of myself And I would have been famous That's crazy George Stamatiadis >>>>> Jesus fucking Christ I'm only halfway through the album 💀 I can see why non-stop is in the title
another round of one hit wonder 80's bands...who could have seen this coming
One song.
I always hated tainted love which ran on every party and did not fit my music taste every so I am biased completely but I cannot listen to this longer than a few minutes...
Not my cup of tea at all lol. The mixing is all very weird or maybe bad. Tainted Love - Not a fan Now a different song “You Kill Me” from a different album is being played which reminds me of the old songs my dad used to play in his car after coming back from a road trip. The songs sounds like really bad amateur work I would do when i started working on FL Studio lol. NOT GONNA COMPLETE THIS ALBUM.
Got bored after 3 songs
There are a few OK songs here, but in general it is hopelessly dated and therefore comes off as corny.
This album is quite annoying to me. The repetitive sounds in every song are actually giving me a headache.
No no no
This album is a product of its time, the 1980s’ experimental flirtation with synths and drum machines. Despite its decadent atmosphere and club aesthetics, it lacks musical depth and variation. Only “Tainted Love” stands out and saves the record from total obscurity. The rest feels monotonous and dated, both in sound and expression. For synth-pop enthusiasts, it may hold some historical value, but for me, it’s mostly noise from a bygone era. 1/5
Not my cup of tea
Ouch, synth pop banalities I can't listen to.
Without Tainted Love this album will have nothing to offer. I did not like it.
I've always hated these guys and their awful cover of tainted love. sure, it's maybe not as bad as Marilyn manson's version, but it's still a crime that this limp, lifeless garbage is more well known than Gloria Jones's amazing original, not to mention it's always corny, cowardly and just downright lame to change the pronouns/gendered nouns in a song you're covering besides my personal axe grinding, it's just more weightless, grating, and ultimately forgettable, english synth pop new wave bullshit. yawn
The star is for Tainted Love
Another album on the wrong list. It should be on 1001 albums to avoid at all costs. Utter garbage. 1 star is generous.
1. fruztration - 1 2. love - 1.5 3. filmz - 1 4. youth - 1 5. duuarf - 1 6. me - 1 7. chipz - 0 8. bed - 1 9. life - 1 10. hello - 1.5 11. go - 1.5 12. memorabilia - 1 13. girlz - 1 14. fun - 1 15. torch - 1.5 16. inzecure - 1 17. uuhat - 1 18. zo - 2
Worse than hot garbage
I am really, really not enjoying these one hit wonder bands.
Is it a porn flick? Gross.
The album is entirely carried by the mega-hit "Tainted Love".
Not a fan
This is not for me. Watered down, weak electronic beats over shrill vocals, and unflattering repetition that fails to succeed like in other electronic/dance albums. The only song that is listenable is tainted love, and even that song is so one-note. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye has to be one of the more annoying and tedious listens on this list so far (500 albums in) AND it's the closer. Bad bad bad. 1/5
I was looking for a reason to give this a 2 but I wasn't finding it. This is a good example of why I disliked most of the music coming out in the 80's. I didn't make it completely through a single song.
Kind of a lot to put up with for an hour+
Man, this album is just everything I don't like about 80's music. With some much good music in the world, why would I ever listen to this?
The sound which makes you glad you weren’t alive in the 80’s. Nothing.
Talk about a one-hit wonder considering the variance in the amount of listens on this album. From almost 1 billion on "Tainted Love" to 300,000 on "Insecute Me" and "Fun City". Usually that's a case where the album doesn't live up to the single. Definitely the case here.
This is the 44th album I’m rating. I’ve heard of the band but I’ve never listened to a song so this’ll be a brand new experience. Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. Not Adding to my Playlist - Frustration, Tainted Love, Seedy Films, Youth, Sex Dwarf, Entertain Me, Chips on my Shoulder, Bedsitter, Secret Life, and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. All in all I liked 0/10 of the songs. Wow this shit fucking sucks. In a way I appreciate it for exposing me to a new sound but it really sucks.
Fucking beans, did people used to buy this? Woeful ain’t the word!
The only song I remotely like on this album is Tainted Love and even then I don't like this version of it.
It stinks
Tainted Love doesn't save this album from being a 1. AWFUL
Poor
High energy and annoying or low energy and boring. Always bad.
Same shaky novice vibrato in the singers voice and annoying 80s synth-pop with sax. So tired of the same pile of excrement in this list.
1/5
Didn't want to even finish this album, Tainted Love carries this band, every other song i heard was boring, confusing, or seemed to be intentionally annoying.
Not sure why a 1 hit wonder is considered to be an entire album that needs to be listened to
Trash
sleazy and 80s like the album cover. Cheesy 80s sax and synthesizers. Sexy Dwarf - “I would like you on a long black leash / Walk my doggie, walk my sexy little dwarf / They all love your miniature ways / You know what they say about small boys” then sounds of spanking and moaning like wtf 😭
One of the more annoying kinds of albums you come across on this list is “someone with an interesting voice who chooses to use it to make annoying noises instead of singing good.” This is only here for tainted love.
First track: Frustration. That kind of sums it up. Tainted Cell is a banger, apart from that I hope I never have to hear any other song from this record again.
Tainted Love is a classic. The rest is disappointingly 80’s garbage.
I was honestly so excited for this album after seeing tainted love was on it. That song rocks so hard and it’s amazing. Sadly, I was not on enough drugs or in my sex dwarf dungeon and the rest of the album just kinda…sucked. Weird lyrics, an off putting avant-garde style electrónica style of music and an album full of songs that just make you go wtf. I’ll stick with tainted love and forget the rest.
Had no clue their other songs had silly lyrics and goofy singing. Tainted Love will forever sound worse in the album’s context.
Ugh
This starts out so promising with the beginning of frustration but then the music comes in and sounds like that friend we all have that makes music but isn’t too great but people like them so it kinda gets popular. Tainted Love is the only good song and can’t even really give them credit for that.
No way - thank you
Not my taste. I've never liked Tainted Love either.
Tainted love is the only good song
No thank you. Everything about the 80s that annoys me. Tainted Love is fine. The rest is not for me.
Now I know why this band is a one hit wonder...and it was a cover.
Dated and irrelevant. No one will play this record on purpose.
Did not listen
Surprisingly awful, expected better tbh
Þetta er mjög persónuleg rating, ég bara gat ekki
I never liked them at the time. And decades later and having listened to it in full for the first time ever, I still dislike it. I never liked that early 80s synth based music and it just sounds so dated now. I was obviously on the other side of the school playground away from all the cool kids who loved it. I was in hibernation, waiting for guitar based indie pop to break through and inspire me. It was worth the long wait.
Fuck me, this was bad.
This album made me see why people hate the 80's. The tainted love cover is good.
You only need to hear their cover of Tainted Love. The rest of the album is just taking the piss. Overall: 2/10
No interest in Electro pop. I can see why others would like it, but I just don't like Soft Cell's music myself.
Really repetitive. Very disappointing. I do quite like Tainted Love, but it is a cover. Not great.
There was so much synth in this, couldn't handle it. So painfully 80s. Lots of sax too. Didn't enjoy it largely, and I couldn't tell if "sex dwarf" was satire or not.....I don't think it was. It made me laugh though. I've never really liked "tainted love" so perhaps not surprising I didn't really enjoy this. I do however think "say hello, wave goodbye" is a good track and the best thing here by far. There was a couple of songs around this point on the album where I thought maybe I could get into this, but then no back to synth and sax madness. 1.5,
Back in the early 80’s, I think I had either the 45 rpm single of Tainted Love or the 12 Inch extended mix of TL & “Where did our love go”. Either way, that was the correct purchase. The rest of the other tracks I struggled to get through. There could have been some comedic production value if the boys from Spinal Tap would have covered “Sex Dwarf”. I can see where the synth beats would have been popular in raves back in the day. The one super hit is iconic, and later done very well again by MM, but I can’t get higher than a 1 here.
After the needless woodwind solos started to pile up a few tracks in, I knew I was dealing with a 1/2 here. I check the track count….18 songs and 74 minutes?? Coffin nailed. I think it was presumptuous of them to go to the trouble of recording this and thinking anyone would enjoy it.
This combines everything I don't like about 80s music. The synthetic beats, simple melodies and sooo many played like this. Except for Tainted Love nothing special.
Nope. Not even Sex Dwarf.
As much as I expected to enjoy the song Sex Dwarf, I just couldn't with this album. Although bonus points for the lyric "I think it's time to cook a meal to fill the emptiness I feel" which speaks directly to my soul.
No
One good song.
Nothing special
Was expecting typical 80s garbage cheese, but this was truly a crime against humanity. Sometimes I think the listmaker is trolling. I mean sure, maybe the list deserves one of these albums for it to be truly diversified and interesting, but how many more of these 80s albums do we really have to sit through?
Legit pretty bad. There's the one good song, tainted Love, but it's a cover apparently and the rest of the album is a totally different vibe. A lot of quite bad melodic vocals
bruhh ugh lame shit Significant 38/123 Liked 17/123 Added 4/123 NNN
Bad vocals, droning synth, pervy lyrics...really nothing I enjoyed about this. These dudes seem like a couple of creeps.
Puffff... Ni porque está el Tainted Love....🤦🏻♂️
Frustration. This didn’t quite Entertain Me.
Really bad. Tainted Love is a classic but every other song on the album is boring or annoying. Never a good sign when I'm constantly checking how much longer the album is.
Did not like any song that much did not finish but I get what they were going for.
Why are these nerds so horny? Way too much crappy singing, moaning, synth, and horns. I don't get it.
Huh heb ik dit geluisterd?
Werd er enorm zenuwachtig van dus heb het afgezet. Kwam wel echt door de manier van zingen
I strongly dislike very 80s music
Terrible, terrible, terrible. The only decent song they have is Tainted Love.
Not interested
i don’t want to be cruel but i’m so sick of this degenerate shit
Lot less fun and exciting then what i was hoping for based of tainted love, but its still solid for what it is.
Ick
I hate it
Don't like this band.
Tainted Love is a great song. I have no clue how it came out of this group.
Worthless
muito fraco. conheço uma música, que é a única que achei se destacar no álbum, mas provavelmente devido à familiaridade que já tinha com a mesma.
You know, it can't feel so great when your one big hit wasn't actually your song. But then, I'm sure the boys of Soft Cell are crying all the way to the bank with that one because the rest of this album is utter, hot garbage so at least they're making money off of the cover of "Tainted Love". This really is a truly terrible album. Starting on track 3, ("Seedy Films") the vocals go off the rails, not even trying to be in tune. The lyrics get more and more stupid as it goes and the the actual musical production gets increasingly erratic. One good song does not an album make and I shouldn't have to listen to the rest of this trash because "Tainted Love" is someone's jam. It's just a damn mess of a record and I'm pissed off I had to listen to it.
Too 80s for me
I hated this so much even tainted love couldn’t convince me otherwise.
Wavy, dry, witty lyrics but to me rather a work around the hit single with not so much essentialiaty.
Became terrible after tainted love. Sex dwarf was especially horrendous. Had to turn it off
No wonder why tainted love is the only song I knew from them
That was so, so bad. Painful and awkward.
Todella raskasta ihan kivan alun (2 ekaa biisiä) jälkeen. Osin sietämätöntökin tahallaan shokeeraavaa kamaa. Eroottisuusteema ei toimi edes vitsinä
Sisältää yhden loistavan esimerkin sovittamisen pelottavasta voimasta. Loput sijoittuu enimmäkseen akselille tylsä - hymyilyttävä.
I can see why Tainted Love was their only big song
Not a single redeeming quality
Every time I think I might feel like I’m getting into it they do something to remind me I’m really not
This is a fun album. It is also an absolutely terrible album where I often genuinely wondered how on earth Soft Cell recorded, let alone released, these tracks. On 'Youth', Marc Almond can't hit a single note even if his life depended on it. The only bearable moments are 'Tainted Love', 'Seedy Films', and the closer 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye'. Having sung and danced countless times in my life to 'Tainted Love', I've wondered why I hadn't dived deeper into their discography. Now I know why.
I feel fru-fru-fru-fru-frustration listening to this. How is this a serious record!? The lyrics sound as if improvised a lazy afternoon. The production is equally lazy and just plain boring. Also Almond's vocals are horrendous. He almost seems to deliberately avoid hitting any tones on the entire record. This is the sound of the high school singer you all applauded out of pity and then talked about behind his back. Imagine being this bad and still have the courage to release "Sex Dwarf".
Everything was terrible except the Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? combo. If I heard Spinal Tap singing Sex Dwarf I would have liked it, but the fact that it wasn't a parody is disturbing. Considering that this was probably a pretty influential album, and there were occasional interesting non-lyrical moments, I can add half a star but that's the best I can do. 1.5 stars.
Awful.
This sounds like punk like singing with synthesizers. It has one good song "Chips on my Shoulder". I don't think synth music is my jam.
Their version of "Tainted Love" slaps and slaps hard. If we were only rating that song, this thing is a 5 with a bullet. It's such a great version that few realize that Tainted Love is actually a cover. But the rest of this is something of a snooze. There seem to be some blue prints for the Pet Shop Boys sprinkled throughout. But as the kids would say, there's no THERE there. Props, I guess, for making their take on Tainted Love the definitive version. One HIT wonders don't belong on this list. I'd rather the list made room for a One ALBUM wonder, like The Knack's "Get The Knack". Now that's an album with songs that live up to (and some would say surpass) their one hit (My Sharona).
I like the music but not the singers voice or vocal style. Tainted love is a banger. I'm not a huge fan of 80s electronic music. It sounds dated and cheesy.
nope
Definitely not for me.
I disliked this. Quite a bit. "Tainted Love" is of course fondly remembered, though I have to wonder, in the context of the rest of the album, how I would feel about "Tainted Love" if I heard it for the first time today with the rest of "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret." I can't decide if Soft Cell is authentically presenting themselves (or at least an exaggerated version of themselves), or if this is all for show. Marc Almond wrote this stuff when he was in his early 20s... so why does he present the mid-life crisis of a 40-year-old middle class worker bee, and also the late 20s crisis of a bedsitter? "I have life/ I have cage/ I'm going bald/ I want to tell the world/ I've done nothing/ I've achieved nothing/ I work for a firm/ But I want to burn it down, down" and also "I think it's time to cook a meal/ To fill the emptiness I feel/ Spend my money going out/ I've nothing in I'm left without" So much discontentedness! Give these guys something to help them feel better about their life/the world! (They apparently got heavily into ecstacy in the next few years.) And then there's the entirety of "Sex Dwarf." I just can't. It's probably not serious? I mean, if that's your fetish, more power to you, as long as everyone is consenting and there's no problematic power imbalance. But was a whole song about it really necessary? This was an apparently positive review - Melody Maker magazine said "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret... confronts clubland with its patchy past, rubs perspective in its pretty painted face and acts like it means nothing... Aggressively embarrassing, Cabaret is the brashest, most brilliant and least-caring indictment of pop music's bankruptcy I've ever heard. No compassion, no sorrow, no joy, it just faces facts and moves to the motions... Like traditional cabaret, the whole thing parodies true emotion and like the best subversive cabaret its shallowness makes those devalued emotions even more painful – the very real decadence of this album springs from its callous realisation of pop's impotency, and yet its bored resignation to the ritual." Brash and brilliant sound positive, but the rest? So it was just meant to be subversive? I guess it was, but lyrically and musically this did not do for me what other subversive music from psychedelic and punk rock have done.
One star for my daughter repeatedly asking me what a sex store is because of this album.
I couldn’t get past one song after tainted love, which my friend ryan used to call the BART song because that incessant beep sounded like the BART train horns. I like the song well enough. I remember there were two versions. The reasonably long enough version and then the long version that moved into where did our love go and sometimes the radio would play that one and it felt kind of special. But it turns out there’s a third version. And it’s about 20 minutes long, which is seventeen minutes and thirty seconds longer than most any song should be. This tells me (a) they think this is their best song and that it’s super good so they should just keep playing it forever and (b) consequently, the remainder of the album is likely G_d awful. The next song confirmed this, so I didn’t continue.
not very memorable unfortunately
Hmm, is this really a good album or does it just have "Tainted Love" on it... UPDATE: Gave up at "Sex Dwarf" wtf is this shit lol
Definitely NOT my genre of music!
FUCKING AWFUL
Is that Pedro Pascal in this band? Nah, nevermind he'd never do something so middling that your best song is a cover of a better song.
This is the most 80s album I’ve heard in a while...
No
Woof. Pass. There are so many similar bands from this time that are more interesting.
Liked a couple of songs, sounds the same throughout. 1/5