Walking Wounded

Perfect for when you want to feel what it was like to try on jeans at the Gap or Banana Republic in the late '90's.

Everything but the fucking will to live after listening to this God awful piece of shit. I don't understand how they're on this list twice...at least. I recognised track 2, so good for them. If this was a footballer, itd be Emiliano Sala.

Tracey Thorn's career is so varied and rich. I was surprised by the subtle, minimal electronica but it works really well. It's a satisfying contrast to her haunting vocals and leaves me feeling some kind of way. I'm really impressed with how such a drastic shift in instrumentation doesn't feel like a lark, but a fully realized vision that's also alive with a sense of discovery. I can hear how this record bridges singer-songwriter and British house music in a way that has influenced a lot of millenial pop music that followed. Favourite song: Before Today

Back when I was in college, there was this dude who would come into the bar I worked at on a Friday night and play fucking 10 Neil Young songs in a row. He would also hit on girls by doing magic tricks. I remember how angry I got every time he made me listen to an hour of Neil Young because I was just trying to have a good time, and he fucking made me listen to this sad, soppy fuck who writes nothing but songs that sound indistinguishable from each other and never seemed to enjoy a happy moment in his entire like. Fuck that guy, and fuck Neil Young. 2/5

How lucky am I to have the opportunity to listen to all of this great music and appreciate artists that I may or may not have gotten to know if it was not for this 1001 list. The only number I think that I have heard from this duo is Missing - The Todd Terry remix, which is a classic dance hit in my mind. I like this album and it is very relaxing and for lovers of artists such as Air, Groove Armada or Massive Attack kind of music. If I was playing at Stella Polaris I would definitely play this.

Never heard it before this but what a great glimpse into a special time in British music. Drum and bass mixed with trip hop and ethereal vocals. Immediately connects bands that I was listening to at the time such as Faithless (Dido's voice is very similar), Portishead, Tricky with this crossover album.

90s chillhouse? Fuck yeah

not a fan of 'easy listening' type music, I want my music to challenge me, hurt me, surprise me on a walk with a shank in the back etc. what's the point otherwise

This is why I love this random album generator-I had never heard this all the way through. Tracey’s voice is beautiful, and the music is perfect. Definitely now a favorite album of mine.

This opens with a stunner, and stays highly engaging. That's something of a surprise given the DnB bones. Perhaps I'm biased against looking at anything from the genre as masterful, because this comes close. I get a lot of the same feelings I got from Jessie Ware's latest (and in that case I 100% have a positive disco bias). There's a gentle ebb and flow, but Thorn's vocals carry the record. Can't say, however, that they would sound as nice over any old beat. The third-act introduction of acoustic instruments is extra poignant: It reinforces the tone of the preceding songs while demonstrating the collaborative nature of the duo's sound. Lingering on that sound instead of turning to remixes would have been it for me.

Ok, so a few pages back I said "I also rate EBTG. None of their albums are a total smash, but there's always something interesting happening that I can enjoy". I retract my statement, because upon revisiting, this one is their smash. Within a few years, they'd got from folk, to jazz-pop, to indie rock, to synthpop. Now they slide effortlessly into the downtempo/trip-hop craze. Tracey Thorn had featured on Massive Attack's second album with great results. Cynical people might say they were just changing their sound to chase whatever seemed popular. But the results don't lie, and this album has a great carefully managed electronic palette that doesn't sound cheap and dated like the work of many other "pop turned synth" artists. Thorn's vocals gel so well with that sound. "Mirrorball" is a weak link, and the two remixes included on the original album are doing nothing for me.

Amazing record. Massively influential. It’s a proper night time-driving album.

EBTG basically pioneered the English downtempo drum and bass sound and everyone but EBTG were influenced by their lounging in the coffee shop style. Although this doesn't have anything as good as their big hit Missing you, the first three songs set the mood nicely. However I found my attention lagging for the rest of the album as the drum and bass in every song started to meld together.

“Walking Wounded” by Everything But the Girl (1996) Electronic jazz/pop, chiefly interesting for its innovative and highly contrasting sound textures, but limited by the underwhelming melodies, with their restricted tonal range and and performed with an airy reverb-enhanced voice to match. Heavy emphasis on synthetic drums and bass lines, dynamically stark. Lyrics show moments of cleverness, but seem detached from the music, as if musical compositions and lyrics on each song were two separate projects This is done to an even comic extent on “Good Cop Bad Cop”—really funny, with Thorn lazily complaining about her bad feelings while Watt is making little fart sounds on his gizmo, assisted by his favorite speedy snare roll thing. I laughed my butt off. Some electronic sounds are used rather frequently, as if Watt needs a bigger bag of tricks. Not unpleasant to listen to, but nothing profound here. I bet it sold well in Japan. 2/5

Well, you've managed to surprise me once again with how terrible this band is. I had almost forgotten. I have no idea how they managed to get on this list, let alone twice. I feel like we're all being punk'd. Please, for the love of god, do not let them be on here a third time.

Surprise album that I really enjoyed

Wow, this was a really nice change of pace! Very cool ‘90s music, the vocals reminded me a bit of Natalie Merchant, the overall sound reminded me of Massive Attack. Really dug this, very chill all the way through. Favorite tracks: Before Today, Single, Walking Wounded, Flipside, Mirror Ball. Album art: The picture is pretty simple, but the text elevates it significantly, especially the Japanese characters. I was expecting some kind of vaporwave type project based on the cover, and honestly it’s not too far off. 4/5

Coffee table drum & bass with smooth female vocals over the top - what's not to like? I only really know that "Missing" song from EBTG, so this was surprisingly trip-hoppy. I really enjoyed it! Fave track - the title track I think. "Single" was also great.

29/10/2020 Listened in block room - talking to Jake Really enjoyed this album, way more than I thought I would. Early DnB influences mixed with vocals. Song repeatedly singing "are you happy being single?" attacked me personally. Almost a 5 but not quite.

A very elegant album. I had their first (US) release from ’84 and while I liked the acoustic & jazzy feel, I think they were smart to move to this down-tempo, D&B sound which as all the rage in 95. The singles are good, the lyrics are bleak and I like the cover. It fades a bit after Walking Wounded and after two listens, I would have given 3 stars, but somehow, I managed to listen to the opening 6 tracks a third time.

I think above average in general. Some of it reminded me of ape escape for some reason, which is never a bad thing.

Listenable 90s English techno with a nice vocal. Simple arrangements, lovely chord progressions, beats very much of that era. Tracey Thorn's voice here is as rich and lovely as ever. I don't think this phase of EBTG's career really touches the more jazz-pop stuff they made back in the 80s, which now seems a lot less dated than the techno. This album was pleasant enough to listen to, but overall unremarkable. Fave Songs: Wrong, Before Today, Walking Wounded

Impatiently Waiting For Your Mom To Finish Shopping At Boscov’s In 1999: The Soundtrack

This week’s main theme has been flawed records with strong female vocalists. Everything But The Girl present the beigewave entry, maybe on a par with Sade, but not as good as Chic. There’s a better fey record hiding in here, I reckon. I’ll save my lecture about the gentrification of jungle’s breakbeat innovations for an album I know is coming up, but leave here my prototype conclusion on that record: this takes one of the most energetic forms of the nineties and turns it into jogging music. Including remixes of tracks already on the album seems weak - “maybe you’ll like this version” - and at a stretch I’d say maybe Neil Young’s bookending “Tonight’s the Night” versions could count as exceptions. The different versions of “Wrong” and “Walking Wounded” on here are not.

You can date this almost to the minute by the omnipresent mild drum'n'bass backing. Very pleasant, with all the negative connotations that invokes. Tracey Thorn rarely gets the material she deserves, although she does usually write some of it so is hardly blameless..

90s UK trip hop is poor

This was fine "easy listening chill out" music, but I was just really bored. Someone else's review said that now they know what it was like to try on jeans at banana republic or gap in the 90s and that's TOTALLY the vibe. Not my cup of tea and the first song I really enjoyed was the one that autoplayed AFTER the album was over. Not a good sign.

I can't tell the first four songs apart - everything here blends into a hell march of mid-tempo sludge with random blips and bleeps supporting vocals from the over-earnest folkie girl at an open mic night. Moody is fine. Atmospheric is fine. Painfully dull and indistinguishable is not.

Sounded like very generic and bland electronica. It was fine as background but as soon as I paid attention to the music I was extrememly bored. The biggest question I'm left with is, how do these guys have two albums on the list!?

Yes! This was the first Everything But The Girl album I ever listened to and I still absolutely love it through and through. I don't even recall why I chose to play it in the back at work back in my HMV days, but on a whim I did and I've been glad ever since. Extra nice to have this one come up now as their latest single was by far my most listened-to song of January, and I still can't get enough. The opening trio of songs wins me over and draws me right in. "Wrong" and "Single" are probably my two favourite songs on the album. The only stumble for me is "The Heart Remains a Child" - I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. Makes the album more of a 4.5 for me than an outright 5.

Suena noventero y supermoderno a la vez. Avantpop y trip hop revolucionado, casi house en ocasiones. Para volver a él en cualquier momento, pega con todo y da muy buen rollo siempre.

Aw hell yeah. I love Everything But The Girl and just a few months ago they announced a new album (maybe tour??). I love trip hop and EBTG is one of the first bands that introduced me to the genre.

contains everything but what was advertised, subpar shit tbh. 10/10

I DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO BE SO GOOD???

Love it!

best make-out album in the list so far!

Great album

super chill easy listening

AWESOME!

Devastatingly smooth. Achingly longing, but oh so exquisitely beautiful. Such a pristine work of art.

This is a great, atmospheric album. The superb vocals runs smoothly and pleasantly like a river and are complemented by the minimalistic snappy electronic accompaniment. Yes it's very same-ish but in a good way - you could almost see this as one very long, great song. So it works great as a genuine "album" and I'll happily listen to this many times again. I like the smooth trip-hop sound.

It was so fucking good. I thought it would feel old and all but it felt so modern. And it was so excellent and Nice to listen to

Smoooth

I enjoy this quite a bit, I could really imagine vibing to this on a rainy drive.

I feel every second of this album. Mesmerizing!

Стильно

Need this for next break up

I think liking this album brought me closer to my dad, 5 stars

WALKING WOUNDED EVERYTHING BY THE GIRL This was the Ear Candy of the 1990s. Sounds as direct, moving and sensually erotic as it was then. Do Listen to their earlier stuff to understand how this is amped up and repackaging of the earlier ‘acoustic’ and raw recording style. Earlier EBTG remains, for me, some of the sexiest sumptuous music there was. Sunday morning music that would make you grab your lover and gently sway and dance them back to bed. Her gorgeous vulnerable, wonderfully pure, and soothing voice and their original feeling lounge-but-not-lounge bossa-nova infused vibes are the thing. And this techno version of the is just a pop-translation that got chart success. I'm not judging... I liked it too.. Back then, all up-to-date people of good taste had the (previous) “Amplified Heart” album. The cultivated chill out set. “Missing” was the name of the sexiest and most propulsive track - it was all about YEARNING. Some fortunate and hard working genius bastard hit the magic formula with a remix of MISSING and the result is massive chart success and this album.... As they confess in the final collection of remixes, it was time to “adapt or die”..maybe they were told. I don't know the story. I do see how their acoustic sound risked slipping to oblivion after having a minor moment, after working at it for decades. But I remember for a few wonderful years, this music was at all the summertime parties and we felt good, and groovy and sexy when we heard it. So happy to rediscover them here. So yeah, I'm so grateful and happy they're here to represent in this list all that was right and bright from that era - a shining musical moment in the world. It was ear candy. And great love making music. True. And the success of on acoustic pair who did beautiful art together. Go listen to their early stuff. In pairs. OMG YES. sigh.

Very beautiful. The instrument combination, production and mixing is expert and entrancing.

chill vocals over a the mid-90s precursor of break beats, liquid dnb, and house elements with glitch elements mixed in make this an easy listening album and perfect vibe for the workday.

After weeks upon weeks of banal and trite classic rock per usual, and the occasional "one-hit-wonder's arbitrarily chosen album" on this list, this album was such a breath of fresh air. Every song on here feels richly produced, wonderfully sung and performed, and feels like an early precursor of the future deeper house and darker electronic music to come since this album's release. Thoroughly enjoyed every song here and I'm glad I did. I was so tired of giving out scores of "1" and "2' on this site week after week that I was getting close to abandoning this list entirely. Glad to see there are some good, lesser-played albums hiding on here instead of the typical "Beatles / Radiohead / (Insert classic rock band here)" which have already been praised to death

Really great album - production, composition, vocals, and lyrics are all very well done. I've heard this album a bunch of times already, it seemed like everyone had this CD at one point, but I still enjoy the whole thing. 5/5

I've never heard of this band or album before, but I'm very intrigued based on the description of the album. Oh, I really like this first song, "Before Today." What a great, chill sound. I love the beats, and those vocals are fantastic. "Wrong" is really great too, for all the same reasons. That voice sounds familiar though. This reminds me of The XX, maybe that's it? No, I've heard this voice before. Oh wait, do these people sing that 'I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain' song? Oh wow, I had no idea that was them. I haven't heard that in a long time. I always thought it was kind of boring when it first came out, but I dig it now. Who did I think sang that? Some sort of Paula Cole or Sophie B. Hawkins type? I digress... I a had great time listening to this album. The overall sound is really enjoyable, and in addition to the overall sound, there are plenty of wonderful little details too take in as well. There's definitely a mood that permeates the whole album, but I never felt like things were repetitive or boring. The musical arrangements were fantastic, and I loved how EBtG put their own stamp on the trip hop sound. The vocals were great as well, and Tracey Thorn will now be on my mind when I think of vocalists that I really like. This was a great discovery, and another reminder of how much fun it is to go through all of these albums.

This is so my thing and I liked it a lot!

One of the best albums so far

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Was already somewhat familiar with this dudes from a song on Eden (I Must Confess) which appeared on my discover weekly at least 5 or 6 years ago and ended up in my Jangle playlist. Had no idea that album was all the way from 1984. Anyway, I'm glad I had that point of comparison because this album that came 10 years later demonstrates some serious range and ability to adapt - Walking Wounded sounds so so different but equally as good. This is like a full on triphop masterclass. Beautiful production, heartfelt writing. Very tidy stuff.

A fave

Beautifully put together. Maybe my nostalgia is giving this five stars rather than its actual musical merit.

High-end dance club music, very sultry.

Loving it right off the bat... great beat, her voice is butter....I'm totally in Love ❤️ and, I still am at the end, I'm so excited I found them !

9/10 I can’t decide if I like this more or less than Idlewild they’re both so great but in really different ways

4/5. Honestly a pretty solid pop electronic house album. No Portishead or daft punk, but a nice in between. Great background music but in a good way.

This is really excellent - her voice with the electronic background works so well.

This was a slapper, really enjoyed it. great beats and tone

Actually dug it a lot. Good beats and mood, nice to chill to. Give it a re-listen someday to favorite some songs.

Любопытные ребята, мб пробегусь еще по их дискографии.

Slightly generous 4 maybe, but I like how this seems to naturally fuse pop with 90s electronic music. Very of its time, but feels authentic

p787. 1996. 4 stars Classy ambient/electro pop with a great voice. 1 point deducted for some (most) of the tracks sounding the same.

I absolutely adore EBTG, but mostly for their 1988 album, Idlewild, which is one of my top 10 all-time, most-listened-to-straight-through albums. So even though I had never heard this album before I was positively predisposed to like it. I was not disappointed. I wish that I had discovered this in 1996 when it came out. I would’ve listen to it a lot over the years and I can see listening to this again and again. It’s definitely not perfect though; it’s a little too percussion-forward. On a couple of tracks they really went crazy with the drum machine. But in some ways that’s period-appropriate for the mid 90s. It sounds like music I would’ve heard at a club in New York when we lived there in the 90s. My guess is that was the effect they were going for. I still like it.

This feels like an essential UK dance record. I can hear a lot of Jamie XX in this. Even where I don’t hear influences in sound, I hear influences in spirit. Like certain elements of LCD Soundsystem, Avalanches, Justice and other indie-dance progenitors. I’m really fond of “The Heart Remains a Child.” It comes at a time in the record when the tone of the first 3 tracks, though great, is just beginning to wear a little monotonous. Track number 4 (aforementioned) introduces me to a different side of the duo and perks me right up. By “Big Deal” that feeling of monotony and sameness creeps back. But again, “Mirrorball” takes a step in a different direction. Some indie hip-hop beats. These beats make for some pretty nice beats to study/chill too. This seems to be in a conversation of sorts with that Style Council album we did recently, Café Blue. Where that album is a punk band becoming a soft jazz-y indie twee act (with a twist of hip-hip; “sophisti-hip-hop,” if you will), Walking Wounded finds a soft jazz-y indie twee act turning that café into a house party. And like that project before it, I love where new musical experimentation lands this established duo. Of course, against Café Blue, this album is significantly more coherent, tonal, and intimate. Not only do Tracey Thorns and Ben Watt introduce new musical elements into their craft, but they also achieve a profound poetry and beauty in doing so. The Toddy Terry mix is worth mentioning too. And it might reveal why the main-album cuts tend to wear thin on me over time. I think what I’m wanting from some of these house numbers is for them to be even housier. Like, if we’re gonna turn this coffee house into a club, let’s fully do it. I love that vibe. But then again, Omni Trio’s remix goes too far and I’m missing the coffee shop. It’s a delicate balance. And Everything but the Girl really walks the line quite beautifully. Of course, it’s also a line they themselves drew as they walked. A line for any and all 21st century indie dance acts to follow. In closing, the indie-r tracks are my favorite. But the production throughout is pretty spot on and pair excellently with the vocals. This is a unique group and feels to be a pretty influential album. I’ll give ‘er the old 4 stars.

Very chill and easy to listen to

Solid 90s female vocal techno/house.

Trip hop is usually not my type, but this one stand out. Glad it was part of the book.

This was good.

Admittedly, I only knew EBTG for their mega hit "Missing", which I liked but not enough to make me want to check a full lenght LP. It's done now, thanks to this book. And it's really good! For a genre that is not known for aging so well, I thought this one held the test of time admirably. A really nice and varied mix of downtempo, some drum and bass and some gold ol' late nineties trip hop. I'll have to check out their other albums.

Surprisingly great! Trip hop, drum'n'bass and downtempo shit are usually genres that I like a little, but no more. Now, this is a great treasure of this kind of music. The mood is nicely dramatic all the way and the beats are sick.

Decent - definitely very 90s

Super fresh sounding when released, little bit of drum n bass bandwagoning but still a top drawer album

A real question… why do I like this so much, and yet similar versions of this style that are only 5-10% different are almost unlistenable to me? What’s the magic that makes this work for me? The first thing that stood out to me was balance… the elements that might seem dated, that otherwise would irk me, always feel properly balanced with other ideas. Something about the breakbeats, drum machines, the lonesome and somewhat desolate vocal, and the string arrangements… it all feels balanced. It just all works really well together. Where other examples of this 90’s dance, breakbeat style don’t hold up to me, this music is well-served by its counterweights. That’s true in the mixing as well… everything sounds very natural, never too slick. Never cheesy. I had a great time listening. It’s also a clear jumping off point for artists today, some of whom are contemporaries. I think this is great, and genuinely feels like it could have been made a decade later and still be intriguing.

I expected to not recognise Everything But The Girl as I didn’t recognise the band name. However, the drum and bass/techno sound together with the soft female vocals definitely stuck a chord of recognition. I know Missing by them, but that’s from a different album. Still cool how the sound is recognisable enough to recognise them. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Before Today, Big Deal I quite enjoyed this album. It is certainly a sound of the 90’s, as we don’t tend to get much music that sounds like this any more which is a shame. As mentioned above, the vocals stand out as consistently beautiful, and the techno/electronica/drum and bass music works surprisingly well together with this. It seems like a combination which shouldn’t sound good, but it just does. It’s not an album for everybody as it might sound a little dated to some, but I found this enjoyable.

Hard to pick favs because they're all pretty similar. // Favs: Flipside / Big Deal Score: Decent 4

Very ahead of it's time

8/10

Very cool album! Bit of a poppy Portishead. Interesting listen.

The combo of the rhythm and Tracey Thorn's voice via a pop record is pretty magical. Some great songs here, I look forward digging into this more after consuming the limited Marine Girls material. Fav songs: Big Deal, Before Today and Single.

Very easy listen with atmospheric vocals and instrumentation. Great for a listen with the lights off or on a night drive. Relaxing in the best way

I really liked this. The woman is the voice on some Massive Attack tracks and I love her voice. Definitely a relisten for me!

So, so, so far beyond Idlewild that it's hard to believe it's the same artist. I loved this trip-hoppy, downtempo, drumnbass vibe.It fit perfect for this rainy, foggy day.

Great vibes and easy listening but didn’t feel moved

90's Techno vibes in this British album. Downtempo and chill pop music that feels like it should be played at the end of a long night out. Glad I discovered this album!

Swagnb

This didn’t quite click with me the first time but hearing it now the electronic makeover gels well with their signature mellow sound. Just goes to show what repeated listenings can do

Nice easy listening, good for background, lounge music. Some great lyrics

I really enjoyed this album, I should start using the notes because I can never remember what to say

Downtempo? Trip-Hop? Nah. This genre of music is called Mushroom music. Proper Fungus funk. Mycelium madness. Toad from Mario? He loves this shit. Listens to it every day. It's like Portishead but slightly less toadstoolish than that. Whereas "Dummy" sounds like being lost in an underground mushroom cavern, this sounds more like frolicking in a whimsical fungal forest.

EBTG have a simple formula and it works - blissed out beats, beautiful vocals, a smart of d&b drums. There just enough variety to keep the album interesting and I confess I kept expecting each track to break into their smash hit Missing (Not even on this album) but an enjoyable and satisfying record.

Indeed a classic.

Tremendously cool. Sort of a forgotten classic.