Idlewild

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.

Everything But The Tunes.

This was, without a doubt, the worst album on here so far. I'd rather listen to the Smiths.

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

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

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.

All blurred into 1 boring song

Some nice background music but all kind of blended into one

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

incredibly boring. would not listen again.

Kinda bland and forgettable though I love their voices. Forgive me.

If you would like to receive a call back and not lose your place in the queue, press two. Otherwise, please stay on the line and an operator will be with you shortly.

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.

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

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.

The kind of music that would be perfect to play at a barely audible level in a dentist's waiting room. Innocuous, inoffensive, and completely forgettable.

Beautifully melancholic album

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

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.

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.

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.

Smooth jazzzzzzz blows and so does this album. Homegirl has a great voice, but I feel like it's 1987, I'm stuck at a yacht club dinner and the most exiting thing are the clams.

First half is OK but a bit boring and unoriginal. I don't want to talk about it is the only song I would characterise as "good". By the second half every song just seems to blend together and drag on. Don't really understand why this is a "must listen before you die".

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

God I hate this band

I'm beginning to wonder who chose these albums to listen to before you die. I didn't expect to like every album but hoped to at least get an idea of why people liked different genres or thought particular artists were the best thing in the world. There are some albums that have done this to me but then there are albums like this. I didn't listen to this back in the day and I can't imagine I would ever listen to this album by choice again. It isn't bad (unlike some albums by my favourite artists) but it is just so dull.

Honestly pretty boring lol This is what I’d expect to hear in a small clothing store targeted to women above 50

Impatiently Waiting For Your Mom to Finish Shopping at Boscov’s in 1989: The Soundtrack.

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

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

Surprisingly enjoyable album to have in the background

Soothing sound. Gave me good vibes.

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.

The “wild” is silent.

Middle of the road lounge tunes

Way too stuck in its own time.

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.

I might have to just start skipping these albums only British people have heard of. I wish I had been warned about how skewed this list would be.

Basic light pop music, I get a retro country feel on some of the tracks. Enjoyed the singing. Feels like music you would hear in a hotel lobby or department store.

Another album that baffles me as to how it got an entry on this list. It’s not a horrible singer songwriter album, but it’s just not very interesting overall. I figured it would be up my alley, but it never really got going and just kind of sounded the same for the most part. As the album went on, it slowly morphed in to background music that couldn’t hold my attention

Pretty boring and uninteresting. Not necessarily bad, but not really that good. 2/5 Won't listen again

The background music that background music puts on.

I liked their very early stuff (pared down arrangements with guitar and Tracy's voice) but then they decided to get into smooth 80s sophistipop and added jazzy instruments and arrangements they lost me. Weirdly enough they reinvented themselves again into an electro dance band. Sheesh, some people are never happy...

With the first notes of this album I thought that this was a curious opener to an album. Slow processed guitar and a typical 80's ballad with some cheesy lyrics. Then the synth like violins started swelling up in the background and it all turned to kitsch. Unfortunately the album went downhill after that. What an atrocity.

these guys again - and on top of that worse than the last time

Hey! You got Idlewild in my Muzak. No! You got Muzak in my Idlewild. Seriously this is like being 10 again standing in the JCPenny basement staring at bra tag ladies while my mom argues with the 3rd representative in a row as to why she can't have her fur out of storage unless she pays off her credit debt. RIP MA!

It's so forgettable that I keep forgetting I'm listening to it. It's like being trapped in Walgreens or some off brand department store.

Nope. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did. There were points where I thought something was going to happen, but it didn’t. I bet these two get that a lot.

I really didn’t like it At I missing something? No sense of artist voice/identity and every song sounded the same

Oktubre

Chilling 80-S pop

Loved it very mellow

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

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

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.

One of the best albums I’ve ever heard.

Amazing. Classic.

Beautiful and gorgeous and a great invitation to plough into the back catalog. Perfect.

This was wonderful. This is a band I definitely missed out on in the 80s and I am so happy to hear them now. Certainly a playlist add!

I don't wanna talk about it

Reading the band name, I imagined one of the typical edgy indie rock or post-punk bands that litter this list. That's certainly not what we got though. This is definitely a pop album, but it's a dreamy, mystical, ephemeral and enchanting sort of pop. It also has it's share of musical variation. For instance The Night I Heard Caruso Sing sounds like The Cure went chamber pop. This album definitely focuses more on a sense of poetry - both in terms of music and lyrics - than on producing the next big hit of the season. But that does also comes with a cost. None of the tracks on Idlewild have much staying power after an initial listen. This could very well change with multiple listens of tracks like Lonesome For A Place I Know. But at least on one listen, nothing stands out as being particularly catchy or memorizable. Not sure if I'll revisit this one or not. But it was interesting and beautiful and I enjoyed it a lot more than the majority of albums on this list. 4.5 rounded up.

I don't even know what this is. How many albums are on this list again?! Will I like it? Let's judge an album by its cover. We have a very aged looking photograph of a man and a woman and the man has a suit on and a boutonnier - classic prom shoot. But they look like they may be a gay couple (she has short hair - could just be the 80's; and he is maybe a bit ambiguous - I'm not judging, just guessing). The title is Everything But The Girl, which could either mean he has everything but he laments losing her or he wants everything but the girl. Let's listen and read some Wikipedia and Genius Lyrics and find out! Well I was wrong, the title isn't Everything But The Girl... That's the band name. The album name is Idlewild, which evokes images of being wild within the confines of your home. I imagined the man singing but now I think maybe the woman will sing based on some of the song titles. So, they're married and forgive me about the assumptions I made earlier. Do I know any of these songs? Well this is 80's prom music so I guess I was sort of right. Woof. I'm not sure I like this. It's like it made way for some Jewel or Pink or Natalie Imbruglia in the 90s. OK but as a guy whose wife is pregnant with twin girls, These Early Days got me. The harpsichord crap is terrible though. Oh but she ruined it by using a boy's name at the end. Damnit Jimmy. There were other songs that I kind of weirdly enjoyed. I kept saying this isn't for me. This is a lounge act. This isn't good. But then I started liking songs and I said fuck it. There's something here, but I'm not sure what it is. Fuck it. 5 stars. I was going to go with 3 stars, but no. 5 stars. Don't tell anyone.

Love this. One of my all time favorite albums, have loved it since it was released.

Cool sound. Much more mellow than I expected. Kinda shades of Suzanne Vega. Very cool and melodic with a great hi-fidelity sound. Very nice melodies and harmonies. Would listen again with zero hesitation, five stars.

I likr it for coding work

I may not always be in the mood for some saxy sweet love, but when I am, I am. This had everything but the techno from Walking Wounded, but I quite loved it. Music to sit and eat chocolates to.

Lovely stuff

i dunno, by all rights i should probably dislike this, but I've always loved tracey Thorn's voice and for some reason the whole package just really hits. good thing I'm not a real critic because 'it just hits' probably wouldn't fly!

Great. Her voice is nice and has depth; music was chill and sometimes a bit sad sounding.

I’ve always appreciated Everything But The Girl, especially their work in the ’90s electronic scene, but this is my first time hearing Idlewild. I really enjoyed it. It’s got that cozy sophisti-pop vibe with a nice jazzy edge, and the bass provides a smooth, mellow groove. The production lives up to the sophisti-pop standard, refined, clean, and polished.

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

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

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