Idlewild

Everything But The Tunes.

Not what I was expecting at all. Boring middle of the road ballads - no thanks!

No idea why I had to listen to this album before I die. Not annoying but nothing special either.

I couldn't get through it. I have no idea why this would be included in this list. It was very boring and unsurprising to me.

I've never gone beyond Miss You (my regret) so was overjoyed to see this come up. And I loved Tracey Thorn's (unexpected) vocals & the songwriting of fellow #BarnetFC fan Ben Watt. I wish i'd listened to it 25 years ago, will revisit many times

Je vais profiter de la tribune que m'offre l'espace dédié à la critique de cet album finalement pas très intéressant pour vous partager un fait musical marquant de ma journée. Vous savez probablement que mon album préféré de ces dernières années n'est autre que Process de l'artiste Sampha. Alors que je pensais tout connaître de sa substance, la vignette d'une vidéo YouTube affichant la pochette de celui-ci interpella ma rétine. Le nom de la chanson en question m'était inconnu. Je cliquai donc sur celle-ci, puis écoutai cette douce mélopée. Quel moment exceptionnel… D'où pouvait bien provenir ce miracle ? Croyez-le ou non, ce morceau ainsi qu'un autre étaient tout simplement deux morceaux bonus de la version japonaise de l'album. La morale de cette histoire est la suivante : ne pensez jamais connaître quelque chose tant que vous ne l'avez pas vue dans sa version japonaise.

Not great. Every song is pretty much the same boring track.

I cannot put into words how much I hate this album. Muzak-like synths, awful violin parts, and lyrics dripping in cheese make this the worst examples of 80s indulgences

Beautifully melancholic album

This album was so good, I enjoyed every single song. My favourites were Goodbye Sunday and Blue Moon Rose.

EBTG is one of the most talent and moving bands of our times. Tracey Thorn's voice is unbeatable, and the lyrics and music on this album are some of the best ever done by EBTG. It works for nearly every mood: if you're up, it can generate energy, and if you're relaxed it can smooth you out. 4/5

Surprisingly enjoyable album to have in the background

Soothing sound. Gave me good vibes.

Proof that looks can be deceiving - Ben Watt (the male half of Everything But the Girl) on the cover of this record with a pompadour and clutching flowers looks like a Great Value Morrissey, so I figured these two would sound like a poor man’s version of the Smiths, but Wikipedia classified them as “Sophisti-pop”. Pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this album, Tracey Thorn has an absolutely beautiful singing voice, and the additional musicians all felt complementary to the compositions rather than getting in their way. Definitely interested to explore more of this duo and the genre.

Late 80's ballads, subtle instruments, and smooth vocals. Great easy listening.

Interesting album from a band and genre that I had never heard before. Sophisti-pop? Anyway, really smooth chord progressions and love the 80's love ballads. Singers voice really pleasant with unique jazz-pop sound. Favorite Tracks: Love is Here Where I Live, Oxford Street, Lonesome for a Place I Know

This one convinced me a lot more than the other album of theirs on here. Not sure why and not willing to investigate.

This was a weird one for sure. Not that the contents are weird, but it is definitely from a subgenre of pop that I have almost no experience with. That being said, with no frame of reference, these songs sounded really good. The arrangements were very minimal, but still sounding very full and making the album sound very complete. Quality group of songs from front to back, although not really my genre and so not something I would ever find myself returning to.

This was a poppy, chilled out refresher after two albums I didn't get on with. Not my normal cup of tea, but Tracey Thorne's voice is unique and even over the sometimes sketchy drum machines it somehow works magic. There is a wonderful sense of space in the production that lets the songs breath.

Tracey Thorns voice kills and production is nice. It's quite a pleasant listen overall but one probably needs to be in the relaxed horizontal position to maximize enjoyment of this record.

Middle of the road lounge tunes

Way too stuck in its own time.

All blurred into 1 boring song

Earnest to a fault. Like, definitely too earnest for me, urghhhhhh... also so very late 80s/early 90s sounding. Her voice is clearly the star of this show, but it's just generically good to me, not my thing at all. It's competent, but I couldn't get through it.

Some nice background music but all kind of blended into one

I had a HARD time getting through this album. I have heard at least one song from Everything But the Girl - one of their singles from the 90s. I'm feeling less generous these days. It's harder to say that something is "okay". The tracks on Idlewild were uniform, and had too much of an "easy listening" style, getting into muzak territory. I don't know why this album is on the list. The sound was very late 80s. I would be very surprised if they were not playing an electronic keyboard trying to sound like a piano. Plus there was saxophone. I was bored.

incredibly boring. would not listen again.

awful. I'd rather see dave lee travis play macbeth.

God I hate this band

I don't mean to sound cranky, but if we're concerned that this list might be a little heavy on the WASP entries, we can probably start the cutting here. Why in the world is this on the list? This sounds like something that would be playing in the candle section at a cider mill gift shop.

Oktubre

Chilling 80-S pop

Loved it very mellow

Very nice! I haven't heard a lot of these lady's 80s ballads.

Really nostalgic and wistful 80s, with a great lingering pace throughout.

tight as fuck - 9/10 loved the diversity of the instrumentals

What is this? Soul? R&B? Pop? - Whatever it is, I like it. I only knew Everything But The Girld by name before, so this album is quite a discovery for me. It's a very laid back affair, the arrangements are top notch and not too rooted in the 80s. The singer has a great voice, and the songs are very good too. What's not to like? 4.5/5

This was a find for me. Never listened to this band before, and I absolutely loved it.

meh

What a relief! After what feels like weeks of rubbish, at last a lovely noise. No-one could possibly not like this, it's just so inoffensive. Slightly jazz-tinged, no standout tracks, they are all of an equal high quality. Marvellous saturday-morning music.

Beautiful album, really relaxing and nice voice 4/5

Good, but not my kind of music

Nice

Yeah. This is far better than the last few albums on the list. I never really listened to EBTG back then, but they were pleasant enough backing music when someone else played them. This persuades me that I should listen to them more.

Lovely songs & a sweet voice. Like it a lot.

Tracy's voice always makes the day

Ranges from electronica to folk/country, quite nice all around.

I go wild

Mjög ljúf og róleg plata. Tracey Thorn er með svo fallega rödd.

Really smooth. I'd definitely listen to this one again.

first listen real nice sounds, definitely some 70s voicings, the chords kept me interested

Pretty and sleepy. Maybe worth another listen some other time. 7/10

7/10. Good album, consistently enjoyable

From before they hit the US!

This is music to get romantic with. Like Led Zepplin IV in Fast Times but better

Found myself caught up in the first track cover of 'I don't want to talk about it'. Loved the presentation throughout.

I fell in love with Tracey & Ben via their debut EBTG album, Eden. Idlewild is their 4th album and one of their best. My original vinyl has 11 tracks, all penned by the couple. My cd of the album, however, contains an extra track, which opens the record. It’s their cover of the Crazy Horse classic, I Don’t Want To Talk About It, which had charted for Rod Stewart in 1977. The EBTG version is to die for. Tracey Thorn has a voice made to sing about broken hearts. The album hangs together so well. Sophisticated, to say the least, it’s a great listen.

Melodic and listenable…akin to Indigo Gorls in the realm of pop-folk vibe.

Voice is really nice. Album bit the samey but I think 4 stars is fair

Tender and romantic

Simply put, it is elegant, it is graceful, it is enjoyable for the most part. Didn’t like The Night I Heard Caruso, but everything else was great. 4/5

I enjoyed this way more than I expected

So the band name is EXTREMELY misleading cuz there def is a girl in the band and she sings most of the songs like wtf (shes even on the cover SMH my head). Album was pretty cool, too. 7/10

Sophisti-pop from the late 80s. Sounds kinda like Sade and Spandau Ballet had some kind of musical lovechild. Decent enough I guess

Not bad, but kind of boring. Musically it's pretty good though. 3/5

More 80s brit pop. okay. Its got good technique and a well crafted sound, but damn it is so soft rock-y that i cant latch on to it. She has a great voice but the content is just so smarmy I can't deal. Apron Strings I can see being a cool wedding song.

Kiedys musial on nastapic, powrot na wyspy, w bardzo wyspiarskim stylu grany pop, zwany takze sophisti popem, bo w tworzeniu lini instrumentalnej korzysta sporo z wszelkich synthezatorow i urzadzen elektroniki, ale sa to lata 80/90, wiec wszedzie gdzie sie dalo uzywano efekciarskich efektow tuningu, ale tutaj nie jest z tym tak tragicznie, bo wiekszosc melodi oparta jest jednak na akustyku, na ktorym sobie pogrywa pan z duetu, bo wszystko tylko baba, to loverowski duet co widac, slychac i czuc, okladka wyglada jakby jedna osoba byla zdublowana, az takie bije od nich pokrewienstwo serc, slychac, bo pani Tracey zajmuje sie wylacznie wokalowaniem, natomiast pan Ben sobie gitarkuje oraz odpowiada za calosc produkcji, na plycie zostaja wykorzystane inne instrumenty, takie jak saksy czy basy, przewijajace sie synthy, pianinka, ale graja je studyjni muzykowie, no i czuc zgranie duetu po tym jak wokal plynie na melodii, co do strony lirycznej zastanawia mnie czy tak czeste nawiazania do ukochanej wyspy jest tak czestym motywem w brytyjskim popie, czy raczej lista jest troche baised na punkcie takich wlasnie albumikow, bo nie jest to poziom born in the usa, ale subtelne odniesienia do ojczyzny przewijaja sie na trakach, kawalkami ktore najbardziej ktore pewnie najdluzej zapamietam z tej plyty to goodbye sunday czyli poniedzialkowy anthem i jego sliska linia melodyczna, kolejnym jest the night when I heard carusao sing, czyli jedyny trak na ktorym main wokalem jest pan Ben, gdzie sreodkowa zwrotke pomaga pani Tracey, jeden z najlepszych fragmentow duetu na tej plycie, bo sa jeszcze miejsca w ktorym meski glos pomaga, ale jednak jest zawsze drugoplanowy, sam trak rowniez ma ciekawy mocno pacyfistyczny theme, wisienka na torcie jest pianino ktore stanowi podstawe instrumentalna, do ktorego pod koniec songa dochodzi saksa, dobre sluchowisko 45 minut ciekawego duetu

Sounds like music my parents would listen to. Not like, egregiously bad or anything just generally passable

Pas particulierement interessé par cet album malgre une belle pochette et de belles promesses sur le premier son, je reviendrai plus fort dans une prochaine review.

Only had time to listen to the first half. Pleasant vocals, pretty good songs. Not blown away by it, but decent enough.

Everything But The Girl surely has made some nice songs including a few classic ones. It was initially a bit of a mystery to me why this album is on the 1001 list. It is certainly well made, but everything sounded rather generic and boring, even for a Sunday morning. However, then it became better and better - it was one of the albums in the list that I did not know already in advance, and my score went up by each listen: 1, 2, 3, 3.3 -> 3.

Way too mellow for my tastes.

Strong 3! Dug the vibes but I prefer this bands later output

Nothing like what I expected, since by the 90s they had gone into dance music. The cover of i don't wanna talk about it surprised me, but was good, the sax turning up was less enjoyable. Decent, but not one I am likely to come back to

no my thing

6/10

The name of this group is a lie. Best track: The Night I Heard Caruso Sing

Favorites: These Early Days Pretty standard 80s pop. Not bad at all, but nothing stands out.

Didn't stick out to me a lot, but a nice, mellow, enjoyable record with a couple of tracks that were fun. The vocal style makes me wonder if they had some influence on Sara Bareilles. Fave track: Apron Strings

Not the best album from EBTG. I have fond memories of their early albums, especially Eden. Bedsit music from the time when I was living in one.

fine

That voice

Quite okay

I expected to like this a lot more, because i like the voice, and key aspects of the style, but it is too far on the boring side of mellow. I Don't Want to Talk and Apron Strings are strong, though the rest blends together.

It's a very sweet, melodic album. But nothing really stands out. Kind of like the cover album, it's easy to miss. It sounds like a love album. And a breakup album. But there's not enough emotion in it.

It's a quality blue-eyed soul album. Reminds me at times of Safe. It's very smooth and polished. It's just not a style that I really enjoy so despite the quality that the band exhibits I can't give it more than 3.5 stars

It got me right off the bat with a terrific cover of a Rod Stewart song, which is actually a cover of a Crazy Horse song. It turns out that Crazy Horse had a career outside of playing with Neil Young occasionally. But after that song (I Don't Want To Talk About It is a solid 5), most of this sounds like watered down Sade. If Sade is what you put on to get laid, then this album is what you put on to masturbate. So in that sense, this album will get you everything but the girl.

Not a bad a album. But not a brilliant album. Makes for nice background music but there is no real substance to it. It just slips away quietly

I listened to this twice and it completely washed over me both times. Absolutely nothing stuck. I'm actually kind of amazed at how completely neutral this music is. It's like reverse osmosis water.

I appreciate the earnestness and clarity of the music, but the 80's derpiness distracts me. I could see myself really liking it if I was in just the right head space when I heard it.

Ziemlich langweiliger Jazz-Pop, der jedoch zum Teil sehr entspannend wirkt. Irgendwas zwischen 2-3, eher 3.

3.25

I've always had a soft spot for 80s sophisti-pop and city pop. It often overlapped with other genres like synthpop (e.g. Pet Shop Boys) or would reappear in more recent music (e.g. future funk) that it became easy for me to favor. I really like the melancholic mood, seductive female front vocals, and very 80s production, occupied with simple yet busy jazz and synths. In fact, I enjoyed this album so much I had to check out their other top songs, and ended up adding "Missing," "Wrong," and "Night and Day," which I actually prefer to anything on this album. But this album is still a pleasurable experience, even if nothing stands out. I noticed one reviewer that he thought that would sound like Morrissey based on the cover but was disappointed it wasn't, and yet I'm here listening to songs like "Lonesome for a Place I Know" and it sounds EXACTLY like a Morrissey, from the vocals to the lyrics to the sound, except female. Favorites: These Early Days, Oxford Street, Goodbye Sunday, Blue Moon Rose, Tears All Over Town, Lonesome for a Place I Know

No conocía este disco de ellos, pero empieza bien. Antes de la electrónica era un grupo casi de jazz. Me gustan igualmente para una escucha tranquila. Recomendable pero no creo que imprescindible.

Legalzinho, mas não muito empolgante

Nice, drums sound very dated now. But not special.

doesn't offend, doesn't exite

Like.

Pop ñoño. Ni fu ni fa.

Nothing like what I expected, since by the 90s they had gone into dance music. The cover of I don't wanna talk about it surprised me, but was good, the sax turning up was less enjoyable. Decent, but not one I am likely to come back to. 3 🌟