Reviews (page 3 of 8)
FML
It appealing to my ears
#71/1001🇬🇧 I like EBTG, this record whilst being new to my ears is no real suprise stylisticly. Well crafted pop songs with great lyrics and a soulful, folky tinge. Best Tracks: Shadow on a Harvest Moon, Oxford Street, I don't want to Talk About it, Apron Strings.
5/10
I’m giving this album an extra star because of Tracey Thorn’s rich, gorgeous vocals, but it’s not a great album. It’s very slow and the instrumentals are heavy on the 80’s cheese factor (sax & synths on easy listening mode). Its a pleasant album, but lacks punch. I think Everything But the Girl found their groove once they discovered electronica.
I know I’ve heard of Everything But The Girl, I think they’re indie rock, probably. I see they’re a duo. I’m going in with an open mind, but still a bit tentative. Our good friends at Wikipedia list their genre as sophisti-pop. That’s great. Track 1 is I Don’t Want To Talk About It and it’s a cover song because I know I’ve heard it before, just not this version. I think I’ve heard the Rod Stewart version because if anyone knows anything about me, they know I love Rod. Anyway, this song is just an acoustic guitar with a bit of a country flair and some strings. It’s quite beautiful. The band is made up of Tracey Thorn, the lead vocalist, and Ben Watt, who plays the guitar, backing vocals, and occasionally lead vocals. Both are composers and songwriters. Though they didn’t write this song because Danny Whitten did. However, it’s still a very beautiful way to open this 12-track, 45-minute album. So far, I’m down. Track 2 is Love Is Here Where I Live and I now get the term sophisti-pop. This is very adult-oriented pop music. Not pornographic, but this isn’t made for teens and college-age kids, at least I wouldn’t think so. This is for a Sade crowd. The album came out in 1988, and it has a bit of that 80s sound with it. This song has some soul, and beyond the great guitar playing, the piano really holds everything together. The bass playing is also making with the sexy on this track. Thorn can sing. Wow, I really like this song. This and I Don’t Want To Talk About It were two of the four singles off this album. Though it seems none of the singles really made a dent in the U.S. charts. I Don’t Want To Talk About It was a minor hit in the United Kingdom. Track 3 is These Early Days and it was the first single off the album. It’s more up-tempo and more 80s-sounding. I’ve got to say, this and track 1 really give me a late 80s/90s country music vibe. I think it’s Thorn's voice and the duo’s harmonies. They’re kind of southern tinged. I like this song too. I’m shocked. Track 4 is I Always Was Your Girl and it’s super-80s sounding. It was also the second single off the album. We’re back to a bit of a slower tempo. The music is very subdued. It’s like it’s holding back. Reminds me of someone approaching a wild animal very slowly, not wanting to scare it. I’m weird. Here comes a sax solo? An alto sax at that! The song closes with a sax solo. The younger Lee would have hated this, at least outwardly. I wouldn’t have been confident enough to say I liked this, mostly because I was unsophisticated. Huh? See what I did there? Track 5 is Oxford Street, and it’s about the teenage years of Thorn. It’s a very melancholy song as she had good times, but realizes those times are gone, and the future is never quite what we thought it would be. Beautiful song, very keyboard-heavy, 80s sound. Track 6 is The Night I Heard Caruso Sing and it's the first song with Watt on lead vocals. He has a Morrissey-sounding voice. Just him and a piano. Another melancholy song about how much evil and wrong there is in the world, and how you need to cherish your loved ones and hold on to them. OR maybe not. These popsters are deep. Track 6 is Goodbye Sunday and it reminds me of The Girl Is Mine by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, at least the music does. I hate that song, but Goodbye Sunday is really good, very yacht rock sounding. Why wasn’t this band bigger? Was everybody embarrassed to admit they liked them? Track 8 is Shadow on a Harvest Moon and we have our first appearance of a trumpet. This song,again, is a slower tempo and reminds me of late 80s/90s country music. I wonder if Watt was a fan of country guitar picking. He’s a great player. I’m not sure if all the songs are sad, but they sound like it. I guess I’m in the mood for some melancholia in my life. Track 9 is Blue Moon Rose, and I finally figured out who Thorn sounds like, it's Crystal Gayle. Maybe that’s why I’m getting a country feel from the music. Another great song with the piano really keeping you hooked in. This one is more up-tempo. I don’t think I’ve heard a clunker on this album yet. Track 10 is Tears All Over Town, and I feel like i’ve heard this song before. Though it's not a single. Maybe this is the song that sounds the most 80s of all the songs on the album. Because it does. Good song, but this has been the first song that sounds derivative of the whole scene back then. Track 11 is Lonsome For a Place I Know and it has a nice warm organ playing throughout. It also has the stereotypical Take My Breath Away 80s bass in it. Normally, I hate that bass sound, but the rest of the song is so good, I’ll give it a pass. Damn, track 12 is called Apron Strings, and it’s a song about wanting a child, but maybe not being able to have one. Or maybe it’s about wanting a child with an ex who has moved on with someone else and now has a child. It may be the saddest song on the whole album. But it’s so good. I was blown away by this album, or maybe I’m blown away by how much I loved this album. It’s weird, though. There’s nothing especially ground-breaking or historic about this album. It’s just an 80s pop record with a ton of sad songs. Maybe it’s because it deals with more sophisticated issues. See? Sophisti-pop. Whatever the case, I love this album, and if you’re a fan of pop music or 80s music, I think you’d like it too. The big question is, is it a must-listen album? As much as I loved it, I can see people thinking I’m crazy and I’ve overhyped it. I just may be in a mood for sad, more adult-themed music. Oh no, am I maturing?!? Let’s hope not.
now this is just utterly boring
kind of just sounds like less inspired sade. i still liked it a lot tho, love me some jazz pop
I thought this was really solid, if a little repetitive. High 3
I like Tracey's voice and the 90's
I found this album surprisingly good but lacking in the variety department. It was a nice listen on a Sunday afternoon. She has a nice voice vert relaxing.
On a list where there are largely questionable choices, this is a gem
Gepflegte 80er Jahre Langeweile.
This is a really nice smooth pop LP. I like it.
It utterly blows my mind just how much Everything But The Girl continuously gets slept on while other Sophisti-Pop artists like Sade, Prefab Sprout, and even a more modern pick like Blood Orange all get their flowers. I wouldn't call Idlewild their best work by any means but it is still an extremely charming (and slightly cheesy) piece from the group. My rating of this album may be skewed due to myself accidentally really fitting the mood of this album by sipping wine and sitting in a dimly lit cafe as the sweet serenading vocals of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt sooth my eardrums. This feels like the soundtrack to a very over the top romantic montage in a Rom-Com film or even a slightly overpriced night out for an anniversary as the sounds here really scream romance but not in some typical Careless Whisper kind of way. This project doesn't do anything necessarily special or even noteworthy, but it is enjoyable at the end of the day and I can appreciate the simplicity of this project and how soft its' overall approach is for the audience. Not an album I think everyone will enjoy as much as myself, but it is yet another cool addition to EBTG's discography.
Sadly I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. It starts out really strong with “I Don’t want to talk about it”, which is arguably the strongest song on the album. It has great crystal clear production, and the guitar tone is like angelic it’s so good. Seriously that song set the bar insanely high for the rest of the album. The other problem is it’s just a little too slow for alittle too long. I could’ve used some other variety or energy on this album. It was alittle dry. The other track that stood out that I liked was “goodbye Sunday”. When this album is at its best it’s a funky little beat that’s coupled with a ton of vocal talent that has this weird complimentary relationship with each other. Which is true for the first two tracks and “goodby Sunday”. The other tracks are not bad or terrible. It’s just a lot of the same vibe and execution which sort of waters down the album as a whole. But I will say this album wasn’t a waste of time and I have respect for the artists musical talent. But the album as a whole was underwhelming.
**Idlewild** (1988) represents a pivotal moment in Everything But The Girl's evolution—a deliberate step toward what Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt described as a "folk-soul" album, though one equally informed by the sophisticated pop production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Released on February 29, 1988 (a leap year), this fourth studio album captures the duo at their most introspective, crafting songs about domesticity, memory, and the quiet turbulence of adult relationships. --- ## Musical Approach & Production *Idlewild* occupies a fascinating sonic middle ground. Unlike the jazz-orchestra opulence of 1986's *Baby, the Stars Shine Bright*, this record strips back to essentials while embracing contemporary technology. The arrangements balance crisp acoustic guitars and piano against drum machines and synthesizers—a hybrid that feels both handmade and modern . The production, handled primarily by Thorn and Watt themselves with minimal outside collaboration, achieves a curious duality. Tracks like "Love Is Here Where I Live" open with isolated mechanical drum patterns but quickly warm into organic, room-like atmospheres. "These Early Days" and "Blue Moon Rose" deploy keyboards and programmed rhythms for brightness, while soulful organ and chiming guitars maintain human connection . However, this approach occasionally falters. "Goodbye Sunday" leans too heavily into its Jam/Lewis-inspired electro-strut, sounding like a calculated grab for radio play. "Tears All Over Town" layers synthetics so thickly it resembles an exceptionally lush bedroom demo rather than a studio recording . Pitchfork's retrospective assessment notes that the album's "uniformity means EBTG never embarrass themselves, but the production gives even the most intimate songs slickness that verges on sterility" . The album's most successful moments come through starkness. "Shadow On A Harvest Moon" operates with just acoustic guitar, electric bass, drum machine, and muted trumpet—yet achieves a robust, Simon-and-Garfunkel-esque resonance. "Apron Strings" abandons percussion entirely for a duet between acoustic guitar and lone keyboard, supporting Thorn's "almost unbearably intimate vocal" . Most striking is "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing," where Watt sings over nothing but acoustic piano and possibly the least cheesy saxophone solo of the 1980s . --- ## Lyrical Themes & Content Where *Idlewild* truly distinguishes itself is in its lyrical architecture. The surface presents tranquil, almost easy-listening sophistication; beneath lies complicated, occasionally dark emotional territory . **Domesticity and Childhood** form the album's backbone. "These Early Days" initially appears as a gentle observation to a two-year-old—"the whole wide world revolves around you"—before delivering the devastating parental truth: "It doesn't stay that way / if I could, I'd make it stay that way" . "Apron Strings" and "Oxford Street" explore childhood from parental and nostalgic perspectives respectively, while "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing" presents a man in a war-torn country questioning whether to bring a child into such a world . **Relationships** appear in various states of repair. "I Always Was Your Girl" tempers potential cliché ("It will always be you and me against the world") with specific, lived detail: "You put your friends through hell and that's why we get along so well" . "Shadow On A Harvest Moon" captures the faint malaise following a honeymoon period, while "Love Is Here Where I Live" addresses the fear of hitting rough patches . **Memory and Place** permeate tracks like "Oxford Street"—which Pitchfork singled out as "a heartbreaking little private meditation on the passage of time and its effects on both the world and how one person perceives it" —and "Lonesome For A Place I Know," which evokes 1950s traditional pop in its black-and-white nostalgia . Thorn's autobiography *Bedsit Disco Queen* reveals her writing process for this period: "lyrics that are more like short stories than pop lyrics. Perhaps they ought to be short stories. They don't really have choruses" . This literary quality distinguishes *Idlewild* from contemporaneous sophisti-pop, investing mundane observations with novelistic weight. --- ## Key Tracks - **"I Don't Want to Talk About It"** (Danny Whitten cover): The glossy, starry-eyed opener reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, setting the album's tone of "poignant yet polished" emotional delivery . - **"I Always Was Your Girl"**: Widely considered the album's centerpiece—"brooding, breezy, and heartrending" with saxophone interludes and cascading nostalgic melodies . - **"Oxford Street"**: A masterclass in temporal observation, building on the cadence of "I Always Was Your Girl" with lines like "there is no real world – we live side by side, and sometimes collide" . - **"The Night I Heard Caruso Sing"**: Watt's vocal turn on this piano-and-sax meditation about art's solace amid geopolitical terror demonstrates the album's reach beyond romantic pop . - **"Blue Moon Rose"**: Notably, an ode to platonic friendship between women—"I have a friend and she taught me daring / threw back the windows and let the air in"—a subject rarely explored in 1980s pop . --- ## Critical Reception & Influence Contemporary reception proved mixed. The record company initially considered the album "lacking of hits" and doubted its commercial viability . Yet *Idlewild* has accumulated significant retrospective prestige—it was included in the 2005 book *1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die* and remains, according to multiple sources, "the most revered and critically acclaimed" of EBTG's varied catalog . The album's influence operates subtly. It represents a crucial waypoint between the duo's jazz-pop origins and their eventual electronic transformation (fully realized with 1994's *Amplified Heart* and its global hit "Missing"). The "folk-soul" hybrid pioneered here—acoustic instruments meeting R&B production sensibilities—prefigured later developments in sophisticated pop, though EBTG themselves would abandon this particular sound for the more acoustic *Amplified Heart* and subsequently the dance-oriented *Walking Wounded* (1996) . Thorn's solo career in the 2000s-2010s—particularly albums like *Out of the Woods* (2007) and *Love and Its Opposite* (2010)—directly extend the mature, reflective songwriting first fully realized on *Idlewild* . The album's domestic themes and literary approach to pop lyrics established a template for "grown-up" pop that avoids both nostalgia and mid-life crisis cliché. --- ## Pros & Cons ### **Pros** | Aspect | Details | |--------|---------| | **Lyrical Depth** | Short-story quality writing that recontextualizes seemingly tranquil music; domestic themes treated with novelistic nuance rather than sentimentality | | **Vocal Performance** | Tracey Thorn's "deep, elegant low tone" remains the album's undeniable star, capable of conveying intimacy and emotional weight simultaneously | | **Successful Hybrids** | When the folk-soul/R&B fusion works ("Love Is Here Where I Live," "These Early Days"), it achieves timeless warmth through careful balance of acoustic and electronic elements | | **Emotional Range** | From parental anxiety to wartime existentialism, the album covers substantial thematic ground without breaking its cohesive mood | | **Restraint** | Compared to the overproduction common in late-1980s pop, *Idlewild* generally exercises admirable restraint, letting songs breathe | ### **Cons** | Aspect | Details | |--------|---------| | **Production Inconsistency** | Some tracks ("Goodbye Sunday," "Tears All Over Town") suffer from dated synthetic overproduction that undermines the "folk-soul" concept | | **Uniformity** | The album's consistent mood, while cohesive, can read as monotonous—"every song just seems to blend together and drag on" according to some listeners | | **Sterility Risk** | The slick production occasionally "verges on sterility," washing away personality from intimate compositions | | **Accessibility Issues** | The lack of obvious hooks and chorus-less song structures can make the album feel like "background music" or "waiting room" listening to casual audiences | | **Period Trappings** | Despite efforts at timelessness, certain drum machine sounds and keyboard textures remain stubbornly anchored to 1988 | --- ## Conclusion *Idlewild* stands as Everything But The Girl's most fully realized statement of mature, domestic pop—an album that trusts quiet observation over grand gesture. Its greatest achievement lies in making the personal universal: songs about raising children, long-term partnership, and memory loss that avoid both the saccharine and the cynical. While production choices occasionally betray the "folk-soul" concept with period-specific gloss, the underlying compositions—particularly "Oxford Street," "I Always Was Your Girl," and "Apron Strings"—demonstrate Thorn and Watt's evolution from jazz-pop stylists to serious songwriters. The album's legacy rests not in immediate influence—EBTG themselves would pivot away from this sound—but in proving that pop music could accommodate adult concerns without surrendering to "adult contemporary" banality. For listeners willing to engage with its subtle dynamics and literary lyrics, *Idlewild* offers rewards that continue to resonate decades after its leap-year release.
Tracey has a great voice but the songs were just so-so for me. I prefer EBTG’s later album “Amplified Heart”.
Inoffesive and a pleasant listen, but is that enough to be on the 1001 list? I think not.
Thought I was going to hate this but, although it might be overly mellow, samey and bland, it's somehow strangely enjoyable also. Perhaps I am just desperate after two weeks of dodgy albums.
I don't know, I really enjoyed this. Pretty and soulful and hits the nostalgia factor. I don't know why the reviews are not great. Am I basic?
Another day, another average white band playing average white music..
Favorite Song: None
Another one I doubted I'd like, assuming it would be dated 80s electronic-ish pop, but it was ... nice. Usually didn't feel dated, (even a song like These Early Days, with electronic drums that do recall the 80s, or the synths in I Always Was Your Girl, feel more like a throwback 80s touch from 21st century music) and it has more in common with Sade than 80s brit pop. Jazz elements, nice songrwriting, I think her unadorned vocals are ... nice. Never annoying, but not really sure it was ever more than a background for me. 3.5/5
Gorgeous lyrics, but boring melodies
Really an enjoyable listen with great vocals.
Неплохой чилловый альбом
not my type of music but ok for background
Amazing voices but often a bit dreary.
If this is one of the best 1001 albums ever made then there must have only been 1001 albums ever made.
Dire songs with drab vocals leads to an excruciating listen. Oh, and with added sax!
And there was us thinking Taylor Swift was really dull the other day. This is next level. Fair play.
not my cup o tea
Her voice is fantastic, but this is just not for me. The first track was decent, at the very least.
Discussing this with a friend, a misunderstanding led me to ask if Tracey Thorn was “the Vera Lynn of COVID-19”. No, but someone might be amused. Am I missing something? The tunes seem half-baked, wine bar music with better-than-average lyrics and vocals, the latter not applying when Andy Serkis sings. The image of David Jason falling through a bar played on repeat as I listened to this.
Pleasant but the songs aren't strong enough really to deserve Tracey Thorn's lovely voice - the best one on here by far is a cover. Sounds a bit like later Aztec Camera in parts, sophisticated but inessential [EDIT - two great Danny Whitten songs in one week! "Crazy Horse" itself is pretty good]
Not even die hard EBtG fans will cite this as their best work. It’s most deff not the starting point I would even intro someone to them either. Tracy’s voice is there for sure but this is some saccharine nonsense. Their trip-hop era is their best material. Skip this and go straight to Walking Wounded.
Was only familiar with that popular remix of one of their songs before. I'm afraid this album is a bit too chill and "nothing" to me. Tracey sounds good but other than that idk 2/5
B.O.R.I.N.G.
It is boring and hookless.
Good
Wow, this was cheesy and lame! And I’m typically more forgiving of cheese. This maybe doesn’t quite deserve one star but I’ve been itching to give one for a while and I know I’ll never come back to this one. So here!
Another record by Everything But The Girl? I mean, I can hear something in here, early shades of bands that came later on, but that is true of other earlier acts also. I just don't think they're my thing. It's so...clean...lifeless; there's no edge to hang on to. Is this the singer that featured with Massive Attack on Protection? Mezzanine...now THAT'S a record.
Thought it was actually a pretty relaxing listen. It does all blend together but it works for me. Likes: These Early Days, Goodbye Sunday, Blue Moon Rose,
Thought it was going to be an album I’d enjoy after the first song but it never went anywhere exciting afterwards
Chord progressions are nice. They’re not afraid of using some nice brass melodies. Thought I would hate at first but coming around.
It's inoffensive enough, but it doesn't stir anything in me. It sounds like music that would be played in a womens' clothes store in the run up to christmas, oddly specific I know but that is the exact vibe it gives me. It's upsetting nobody, and it won't distract customers from spending money either.
3.5
really enjoyed, good mix of soul influences / new wave
I remember liking this one a little more than I did this time around. SAD. It's solid though.
6/10
Franchement très sympa y'a une vibe chill et entrainante !
Sur certaines tracks, il y a une vibe Sade mais franchement c’était chiant … tout l’album lent comme ça…
Très sympa!
A bit of a bland ‘sitting in the back of the family car as we drive into town on a Saturday to do the big ASDA shop and then quickly jump into M+S for the bits’. Inoffensive though.
I really enjoyed this album, one song in particular really struck me, great listen
Just not the vibe
Nice surprise
The bland, unseasoned, overcooked chicken breast of music
I thought the low ratings were exaggerating.
Not the kind of music I usually enjoy but it was good. Soft and melancholic. 3/5
listened to like three songs
- vocals are so beautiful - i am a big fan of the chord picking in i dont want to talk about it - i love the sax in the night i heard caruso sing
Bit boring at times and not a huge fan of the 80's sound but overall it's a beautiful album
Lush sounding pop music with engaging tales of bedsit romance.
Okay.
Enjoyable, nice calming music
Suprisingly good.
No. 365/1001 I Don't Want to Talk About It 3/5 Love Is Here Where I Live 4/5 These Early Days 4/5 I Always Was Your Girl 4/5 Oxford Street 3/5 The Night I Heard Caruso Sing 3/5 Goodbye Sunday 3/5 Shadow on a Harvest Moon 3/5 Blue Moon Rose 4/5 Tears All Over Town 3/5 Lonesome for a Place I Know 4/5 Apron Strings 3/5 Average: 3,42 She has a great voice. Pretty easy listen, that is good on the ears. But musically the songs don't have a lot of variety.
Pleasant enough. RYM: N Saved a song: N
It’s the music your friends mom likes
Good album.. some good songs. will probably add it to the list of ones to listen to further, and repeat.
Slow jazzy ballets to start. Good voice, a bit boring though. Definitely of the era
This duo eventually puts out some great music. They aren't there yet on this album
Much less bad than the other Everything But The Girl album on this list, Walking Wounded, but still a tedious slog. Two stars for not actually making my grind my teeth.
Apparently, the record company considered this album as being lacking of hits, and I tend to agree. Sophisti-Pop or Boring-Pap? I think the latter. The re-release opens with an uninspiring cover of "I Don't Want to Talk About It".
Music to fall asleep to. Not bad in any way, but not a necessary piece of music either.
Not my tempo
nothing special. strange pop
Some songs – and in this case simply some bands – take you back to a time and place. In this case, I Don’t Want to Talk About It, and by extension Everything But The Girl, take me back to the summer of 1988 and the bar at the Bay Hotel in Robin Hood’s Bay. We’d just finished the Coast to Coast Walk and were enjoying a pint or two and this is my abiding memory of the jukebox – those were the days eh? It’s odd, because we must have played something else, but all I can remember is the feeling of having walked 300km, the beer, and Tracy Thorn’s vocal. Bit beyond that one hit, I knew little of the band really. I’d certainly never listened to this album. And I really enjoyed it. There are some very pretty, well crafted songs here that were easy to listen to. And some similarities perhaps to Fairground Attraction, another band that burst on the scene at about the same time. This isn’t a perfect album at all. But it was an enjoyable listen and I’ll listen again as well. Lo fi and all the better for it. It’s probably a 4, but I’ll give it a 5 because it appears everyone else hates it, and it deserves better for sure. Also, Idlewild are a fine band well worth checking out
Pretty, dreamy vocals that are pleasant to listen to - but the music is a little too close to something you'd hear on hold. Not terrible, but no thrills to be found here.
it gives really strong 80´s
Shitty easy listening 80s pop
It's ok but not my jam.
Amplified Heart is a 5
this one came out of nowhere for me
someone go back to the 80s and introduce these two to the magic of caffeine, please, because this album is an energy sapping mood disaster so tame, so safe, so inoffensive, so blah
Rauhallista, vois sanoa vähän herkkääkin poppia. Perus kivan kuuloista, kivan tunnelmallista. Parhaat: These Early Days, The Night I Heard Caruso Sing, Lonesome for a Place I Know
This album was more boring than I expected it to be…too many slow grooves that go nowhere.
Yeah. Idk what this was. This was coming montage music at its worse?
This was kind of a slog to get through. Not horrible. Vocals were fine. Music was fine. Just boring.
2/5 Was okay
Pleasant singing, but totally uninteresting musically. Songs blended together. Nothing I would ever come back to.
Just so incredibly boring. What did really stand out on this album? I honestly don't know. This one will be forgotten very fast. 1/5
Really, really odd choice, Robert. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this one. The music, itself, is pleasant enough, though a touch boring and backgroundy. The lyrics are the main attraction here, and unfortunately, I found it kinda hard to connect with the sad nostalgia they're trying to evoke. I think maybe it's because they often feel too weirdly specific and personal? I dunno. If I'd have been given this album earlier in this challenge, I'd have probably failed it for not feeling at all important enough to be on a list of essential listening material. However, as a somewhat seasoned veteran who's sat through WAY more horrendous things throughout this experience, I now have the perspective I need to more fairly rank this amongst its peers.
Listenable but quite boring.
Very 80s-sounding adult contemporary. Not bad, but didn't totally grab me.
Mom can we stop for Sade? "We have Sade at home" *the Sade at home*:
Nope
Don't know much about the band. This album feels a bit like smooth jazz. I see connections to Sade (Smooth Operator was 4 years earlier). "I don't want to talk about it" is the top song, and it's a cover. Besides that, the only song that stood out to me is "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing", which is interesting because in general I love her voice but that particular song is led by the guy (but has fantastic harmonies).
Too competent to dislike, but too dated ro get excited about. Some nice sax in there.
I had no idea this band had such a lengthy discography prior to 'Missing' - their only big hit I'm really familiar with. Of course, given the lack of logic to this list, this isn't that album but instead a largely plinky, solidly 80s-sounding easy listening snoozefest. & it isn't at all redeemed by the singer's competent vocals.
Solid 3
Wow, this one is pretty goddamn awful. Had to grit my teeth almost the entire way through. Was familiar with the artist, couldn't remember why, suffered through this LP thinking I'd find out why I was familiar, and came up with nothing. Checked their top tracks on Spotify, and there were 4 renditions of their one hit that was the reason why I had heard of them. That explains it. Big pass on this garbage
This probably has a lot more nostalgic appeal if you are British and roughly 45-60 years old. For me, it's sort of easy listening, soothing pop music. There isn't even the barest suggestion of edge, which is actually sort of distinguishing in itself. I think fairly forgettable, but well sung and performed. It has some groovy moments but I won't be back.
Dire
Very smooth.
Definitely your typical 80's soft pop album. Pretty good overall. I don't think it's the greatest album in the world, but it's pretty solid.
I remember a time in my teenage years. It was late at night. I stayed up to watch "120 Minutes" on MTV. The show was a weekly ritual and a source of life for me and my friends. We would convene at school and talk about the videos we saw; what we liked from that week's show. I liked nearly everything I saw except for a few occasions when I heard or saw something absolutely repellent. These bitter discoveries were rarer and therefore more eventful than finding a new favorite band. Favorites changed weekly. The most hated issued listening challenges that couldn't be solved in a night, and required total exile to deal with the discomfort. Watching "120 Minutes", the first time I encountered Everything But The Girl, I jumped to declare them to be unequivocally the worst band I had ever heard: "absolute worthless garbage." I swear I'm better now. The opportunity to revisit them yesterday was so, so welcome. I had basically forgotten my hate of the band by name. There's a dogma of good music and critically acclaimed and indie darling and names that pop up over and over again in music histories. To be good, you say you like them and recognize their symbolic worth to the music websites and independent record stores that we go to to talk about music and hear others talk about it. I guess Everything But The Girl became an acceptable name to me at some point, and I forgot my visceral young hatred of music that I said was "so soft it doesn't deserve to exist." Given a handful of decades distanced from my teenage dictates, I now gladly and fully welcome Everything But the Girl as the crowned Anti-christ of all things heavy.
When I first saw the album cover I thought, cool this sounds like some alternative band I've never heard of. Boy, was I wrong My first DNF. I made it through the first 7.5 songs and felt it was safe to stop as I probably would've died of shock if any of the last 4 tracks were any different from the first 8. I really don't understand why this album is on this list. The lyrics are corny, the instrumentals are horribly overproduced pop of the 80s. I legit had to look up this group to make sure it wasn't a group that spoofed cheesy 80s romantic songs There aren't any redeemable qualities to this album. As each song went on, I longed for this album to be over. I questioned how anyone could willingly listen to this and enjoy it. I can honestly say I could've gone the rest of my life without listening to this album and nothing would've changed
The 80s called and Michael Bolton wants his saxophone back. Seriously, though... this album has not held up well over time. It's everything that you remember the 80s to be, without the charming nostalgia. - Heard before? Only "Apron Strings" - Will I listen again? Not a chance. - Does it inspire me to listen to more of this artist? I hear they turned into something very different as their career progressed, so I guess that's positive, but it's still going to take a lot to scrub this album from my memory.
I'd only heard their later electronic stuff so I was shocked this was pseudo-jazz pap. The production is very 80s adult contemporary fluff with drum machine and synths with sax and horns added sometimes. Would not recommend for anything but the elevator.
Not awful but a bit schmaltzy for me.
Never heard of this but really enjoyed
Alright
Very very uninteresting
Disappointingly forgettable. Interesting to know where the first song came from as I heard it a lot as a kid. Only needed one listen of this to know I wouldnt listen again
Not my cup of tea at all sadly, I can see why people like it, but I feel their later work is better.
sooo 80's /neg
Slightly bizaree. Not for me
No thanks. Quite surprised this is on the list, so trying to listen closely to figure out why. Half way through want to bail. Would prefer to read the lyrics than listen to the arrangements. The singers voice is nice and the musical performances are generally good - say if the band was playing in a small venue that I happened to be in I’d have a listen and watch them… for a bit… Too much reverb for me. Really really don’t like the sax on this. I think that if hell existed it would have 80’s pop sax solos playing all the time. And the synth. (Reliably informed sounds like these come out of a Yamaha DX7). Don’t like. 2 Number tracks 12 Fave track (least un favourite):5 Oxford street - but just give me the lyrics.
Pretty but shit
Llegaron medio tarde a los 80 Él canta igual a Morrissey y no es Morrissey lo cual es raro
Boring, lame, 80s production. Bleh. Definitely did not need to listen to this before I died.
Made me feel good and inspired
Not once did I think 'oh I actually like this' while listening. Mid at best
This is my rage review that isn’t really about the album. I’ve viewed this project as an exercise in both discovering great albums I’d never heard before and to delegate music selection (sometimes I spend too much time figuring out what I want to listen to). I haven’t put too much emphasis on the merits of this list - music is subjective and no two humans will curate the same list of 1001 albums, probably not even close. That said, I’ve heard that Weezer, for example, doesn’t have an album on the 1001 list. That’s bonkers to me given their first two albums are absolutely two that everyone should listen to before they die (in my subjective human opinion). I didn’t care so much for the first EBTG album I received on this list, but this one… kind of sucked? I normally have found something to like on pretty much all albums I’ve received here, and I certainly have a higher average rating (around 4) than most folks doing this project. That said, I found this one utterly listless and all I could think while listening was “HOW IS THIS HERE AND PINKERTON AND THE BLUE ALBUM AREN’T?!?” Sorry EBTG but you’re getting a rage 2 from me (which would be a 1 from most).
not really into it
thanks for nothing , just annoying i hate her vocals here, which is weird cause their cover of night and day is one of my fav songs, i'm open to listening to an album where this sort of production isn't going on.. not one song i considered hitting like on man,,
367/1089 - Mildly pleasant but only one of the songs "Goodbye Sunday" stood out to me. I wasn't convinced by the acoustic instrumentation with the drum machines, would rather have it the other way around I guess. For this type of music I'd rather listen to Sting or Sade which has a bit more groove and energy. I am looking forward to generating Massive Attack on which she sings some songs. Mezzanine should be on the list, that's their best one!
very pretty: the vocals, the melodies, the synths. my style
too much whiny keyboard
A bit boring to be honest. I liked Walking Wounded, but this wasn't worth the time I spent on it.
htela sam da pisem utiske kad zavrsim ali krenuo je saksofon u pesmi i to sam prosto morala da zabelezim. i njen glas me iz nekog razloga podseca na fionu apple. opet saksofon (palac nagore). jako lep i prijatan album, bas me je opustio. mnogo postujem umetnike koji prave skoro sami svoju muziku i to je slucaj za ovaj duo, produkcija je super, miks je super, pevanje je prelepo bukvalno, pevaju o svemu i svacemu, ljubavi, prijateljstvu, engleskoj lol, veoma raznoliko, mada sto se tice zvuka i vajba, sve vreme je nekako ista energija, nema nekih dinamickih momenata ili velike razlike medju pesmama sto bih rekla da je najveca mana albuma, ali sem toga veoma veoma fin album! zanr je neki sophisti-pop sta god to bilo, svakako veoma osamdesete.
No
3.5 What can I say? I love this band a lot! I know they’re not everyone’s taste but they hit for me. I love the singer’s voice and the imagery of their lyrics. I find it all beautiful and delicate and lovely. I might like them more when they get a bit Portisheady in later albums but these songs are lovely too.
it wasn't that bad
Samey. A bit boring for me. 2 stars
A struggling 3. The vocals here are the absolute anchor. It’s a very specific kind of mood, though. You almost need to be lying horizontal to really get it. It’s pleasant, gentle, and undemanding. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - I Don't Want to Talk About It - The Night I Heard Caruso Sing - Apron Strings
3.5 Enjoyed and maybe it is just what I needed today (01/19/26)
Milktoast 1
I was optimistic. I loved their cover of I don’t want to talk about it and the tones of her voice in the song Protection are soothing and transcendent. However, I believe they went in too quickly with I don’t want to talk about it and from there, I journeyed back to the 80s, as a child lost in Owen Owen. It became boring and the same
If Morrissey was female.... And rubbish.... And had a rubbish, hotel lobby backing band. An extra star for the opening track
Again, a fine album, but nothing I'm going to listen to again
not my cuppa but it wasn't bad, think i pref high(er) tempo music.
Nothing revolutionary. Moody nice music. Big thumbs up for me.
Boring, but I don’t hate it. This is a good example of music that didn’t age well
this after the Smiths? No wonder i left for two months and only just resumed
Everything just sounds too tender and delicate here. Almost hymnal-like, more akin to something you'd hear in church, but with the occasional drum machine thrown in. Couldn't really get into it as a result. Not enough substance for me.
194/1001 Everything But the Girl - Idlewild Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ For its 45 minute runtime, this album barely gets out of first gear. It all has the same one note, one pace nature to it, which quite frankly bored me. Tracey Thorn can sing, but nothing here engaged me.
Easy electronic listening
A drum machine. A synthesizer. A lead singer with an amazing voice. 11 songs that are pretty average.
Apart from a couple of decent songs, this is mostly pretty boring across the board. The songs aren't necessarily all that bad, but they do drag on for way too long.
1.5 - Bad
Lovely vocals. Just wish I liked the style more. Makes for a nice soundtrack to something positively reflective, but not the music I was in the mood for today.
Anne Murray-like voice, and the best songs are when she’s singing with just a guitar or piano; unfortunately, several songs add electronic percussion and ruin the music. Just pay for a few musicians!
Lovely voice. Competent, but boring music.
More sophisti-pop polite boredom. Heartfelt vocals, lavish jazzy arrangements, lyrics about raindrops falling on the mailbox across the street the very mailbox that the girl dropped her 9-page letter to the boy that takes her for granted. I would hate to be on my deathbed with this stuff playing in the background with the nurse tapping her foot to the barely there beat hoping I pass by noon so she can have her lunch before they run out of today's special. A few songs come to life or something that closely resembles life (Blue Moon Rose being one such song) but mostly sound like the kind of songs they play for patients in comas in hope they come around because if twee plastic soft jazz doesn't make you want to come back to life well, I reckon nothing will. Stay in your bloody coma - you selfish bastard- see if I care!
Kivaa, sivistynyttä pop-musiikkia.
Slow, maybe pop is the best way to describe it, but I couldn't stand it. It gave me glimpses of stuff that would come later that I actually enjoy from people who I imagine built off this sound, but I didn't need to hear this stepping stone
I tried to give this one a chance, but it was pretty bland. Not the type of music that moves me. A positive would be the sax on several songs, and some decent harmonies throughout. Still, I can't go above a 2.
good album
It’s easy to hate on easy listening, but there wasn’t anything too bad about this. 2.5/5
So lame
I really hated this. It was like if you married British folk music with 80s synthesizers. Just not for me.
Easy listening, sounds nice and smooth but not so consistent that it gets bland, pleasant listen
New Wave has to be top 5 most oversaturated genres. The Brits just COULDN'T get enough. I'd yawn, but I fear opening my mouth would be enough of a prompt to barf after this.
I was excited to see an album from the 80s on my list today, but only got through track 5 before I called it quits.
First record on this list that I truly consider bad. It’s always a matter of taste, but this one was so unabashedly boring that it’s honestly a miracle to make it through the whole thing without falling asleep.
Good album to go to sleep to.
This album absolutely lived up to its cover.
It’s ok
Perfect name. Perfect music - for The Blue Oyster Bar.
Woof. I'd been wondering what it'd take for me to give an album a "1 star". Here it is. This was physically painful to listen to. The most generic elevator kind of pop. Sounds like the drums are some cheap Casio midi percussion. Moments where a song might start come together are killed by the cheap sounding instrumentation. Maybe "Blue Moon Rose" is the least offensive track, but I've definitely found a new band I don't like.
Meh
Did not like this much at all. I don’t think I like a lot of 80s music.
This album is the musical embodiment of the color beige. I can’t imagine anyone would react to this at all one way or the other. 2.5/5
Early 80s melodic vibes for an everlasting twosome.
Very soft and whimsical. Not what I would typically listen to, but I don’t dislike it. It’s just not something I would return to with intention. Decent enough though.
4/10
Didn't get through all of it (common theme), but liked what I heard
Beautiful pure voice. Enjoyed the sop throughout this album
Rough stuff. This is cool for someone, but not me.
Idlewild is the kind of album that disappears while it is still playing. Not in a subtle or atmospheric way, but in the sense that every track melts into the next until the whole thing becomes one long, beige smear of polite, middle-of-the-road songwriting. It is not adventurous, not emotionally gripping, and not even particularly comforting. It just exists, hovering in that awkward space where nothing is offensive enough to react to and nothing is good enough to remember. The biggest problem is how utterly interchangeable the songs are. Tempos barely shift, melodies drift by without hooks, and arrangements feel stuck in a narrow band of tasteful dullness. Even when a track hints at something slightly different, it immediately retreats back into the same safe, muted groove. It is like listening to the same song repeatedly, except that song is not very good to begin with. There is no tension, no payoff, no sense that anything is at stake musically or emotionally. What makes Idlewild particularly frustrating is that it feels content with its own blandness. There is no edge, no risk, no moment where it threatens to wake itself up. It is background music that demands to be listened to but gives you nothing in return. By the time it ends, it leaves behind no mood, no image, no lingering feeling, just the vague irritation of time spent on something completely forgettable. One out of five feels generous, but at least it acknowledges that silence exists, and in comparison, silence might have been the better choice.
A little boring, but decent music overall
Well...it's nice...very nice, but the album has something of a indie bedsit lounge music demo vibe.
Why
i dont careeeeeeeee
Just din't get into and don't plan on trying.
good but boring
Didn’t expect to find two EBTG records on this list. This one is a bit too elevator music for me.
Harmless yet completely puzzled why this is on here other than the fact that the guy who made the list likes them. Nice voice but very tepid.
I liked the acoustic and piano sounds in this; another background dinner party album though
I was SO close to getting Ziggy Stardust as my 100th album, but I suppose I can settle for another Everything but the Girl LP to fill the slot – Walking Wounded was a fairly pleasant surprise and I've been curious to hear what the duo sounded like before they started incorporating electronic elements into their sound! While I wouldn't call Idlewild an unpleasant listen, I would say its sound has aged like milk compared to Walking Wounded. The lyrical storytelling is decent and Tracey Thorn remains a compelling vocalist, but those aspects aren't worth sitting through 45 minutes of music this dull and Xennial-coded. Highlights: These Early Days, The Night I Heard Caruso Sing
Tracey Thorn has such a great voice, but blimey, this is bland. Everything But the Girl were in their mid-20s when they made this album, but it all seems a bit self-consciously 'grown up'.
Why would I need to listen to this? Boring, although a few songs rose to the level of meh.
Not much to say
7.3
From what little I know about Everything But the Girl, it seems like they were one of the last Sophisti-pop holdouts. I think as they aged, they got closer to a Sade sound. As for this earlier album, it's a miss on many fronts. I don't know why it's included on this list. All of the songs feel like karaoke ballads (derogatory).
Nice background music.
All my romantic relationships have involved some form of artistic collaboration. Bands, theatre companies, shared drawings: micro-scenes built for two. These small creative circuits felt more intimate than anything else – not because the work was great, but because the act of making it briefly opened a portal. Beauty wasn’t the goal; the beauty was in the temporary suspension of subjectivity, the brief sense of being plugged into something beyond either of us. Indeed, I love all of my musical collaborators over the years, no matter what happened to them and where they are now. It is a special bond between people. Which is why I feel warm to the long collaboration between Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, even when the results leave me cold. My problems with Walking Wounded stand, but perhaps my critique was insufficiently attuned to what the music represents: a fantasy of coupledom as a stable, frictionless production unit. Not Rumours, where the relationship collapses into song, nor the Waits-Brennan folie à deux where the work becomes a private mythos. Instead, Everything But The Girl offer a model of domestic creativity fully integrated into the smooth, IKEA warehouse landscape of the 90s. Idlewild makes this clearest. What you hear is Watt’s deference: an entire aesthetic architecture built to accommodate Thorn’s voice, her melancholy poise. There’s no tension, no triangulation, no attempt to rupture the form. The result is a kind of sonic interior design – everything in its place, nothing jutting out. A musical feng shui that soothes rather than unsettles. While Mark Hawley and Danny Macintosh get out of the way of Tori Amos and Kate Bush respectively, Watt creates the pedestal on which to admire Thorn and places her there. It is certainly the pedestal on which he admires her. For some, that’s a form of beauty. For me, it suggests a retreat from the kind of intensity that once made collaboration transformative. Beauty becomes mood-regulation. Other couples in indie understood the necessary dissonance. Harriet Wheeler and David Gavurin, whose output sounds very similar, let their sophistication brush against something sharper, more uncanny. Low stretched the domestic into a kind of devotional minimalism, slow enough to expose the cracks: when Mimi died, Alan cracked entirely. Against those, Thorn and Watt sound like a couple who have made peace with the world as it is – and produce music that asks us to do the same. It is only really only possible to admire from far, when Ben has put Tracey all the way up there. 2 Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt aren’t the worst pair of songwriters that we’ve encountered on this list, not by a long way. I want to root for them. I want to want to listen to any song of theirs a second time. 2/5
Everything but the dentist's chair ....
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this much, but I wasn't expecting to dislike it quite this much. I remember their cover of I Don't Wanna Talk About It which was fine but dull I had to go and look at what the drum machine he used cost back in 1988, and it was £999. It sounds so bad and cheap now. It's all over everything and just turns boring background music into something much worse. Just use drums. It sounds like a bad double act in an old folks home that no-one is listening to. Final track, Apron Strings ditches the drum machine and it's such a relief. Doesn't get it an extra star though. I hated this.
Sort of like wham without the charm.
Not my thing.
Hmm.. nice vocals and instrumentals, but do i want to listen to this album again? I do not think so.
Voices are nice but I’m not into this easy listening style.
Her voice is really beautiful and I like the jazz undertones but these tracks got fairly repetitive.
Soft and pretty.
2.5 A bit too cheese.
Objectively it’s not terrible, but I don’t like it. It’s as if The Girl From Ipanema was transported to the 80s. Didn’t realize they wrote I Son’t Want To Talk About It, I always had associated that with Rod the Mod. Nonetheless I shall not revisit this album in the future.
A great EBTG record .Lots of amazing tunes on here.Probably a little underrated if anything .
Eighties Wine Bar music
3 songs in and I'm really not feeling this. There's a certain nostalgia in that it reminds me a lot of the pop music I heard on the radio growing up. But while it is familiar, I never really looked back with much interest on those sounds. This singer, like many others of the late-80s/early-90s has an unmistakable Kermit the Frog inflection on their voice. Unsure why that was so popular... Otherwise, the music here is pretty inoffensive, but often quite boring IMO. Not much to hate. Not much to love. I'm going with a 2 because I feel completely unmoved.
A pleasant album for sure. Nice voice from the lady. Not the greatest album of all time, but happy I got to listen to this one.
Perfectly good singing and easy listening. Was very pleasant.
Sick another sophisti-pop album... The girl from this was on a song from the Style Council album earlier this week. Weird coincidence. 99% sure I heard this waiting in JC Penny for those stupid ass pictures my mom used to make us take. 0/10 nostalgia 4/10 album
Self indulgent lyrics over Muzak-esque soft jazz instrumentation with occasional cringey sax solos.
listening to this made me feel like Gwenyth Paltrow in sliding doors and that’s something
Sure! not terrible. A bit watery
Words cannot describe how boring this is. You have to fall asleep yourself.
EBTG do every time the same song but it's not bad
Not my genre, and very calm album, the best part is the first song which I recall as a banger.
i didn’t really like it. it was alright, but far too slow, and all songs sounded very similar.
forgettable
Favorite Track: I Don’t Want to Talk About It
zzz 😖
Muy chulo. Las dreamy vibes lo convierten en una experiencia agradable.
Super easy listening
Tracey Thorn has a clear and powerful voice. Very pleasant to listen to. I'm not sure why it conjures images of quiet shopping malls, or being in the clearance section of a Macy's - maybe it played over the speakers while I was waiting for my mom to finish trying on shoes. The album sounds like one long memory. Very dreamy.
Very comfy both for background or actually paying attention.
This is a joke, right? AI concocted effemera?
Fine enough songs. Much prefer Walking Wounded
First song is great but this kind of just goes around and doesn't hit anywhere else. Not bad but easy cut from the list.
It had it's moments, but nothing that really lasted. Not something I would think of to recommend to anyone.
Not for me
Kinda boring
Not my thing
Literally so boring.
Anything but the good.
Good stuff, a bit middle of the road but easy to listen to
1.5/5
Didn’t make it thru. Too much of a mix of kenny g, índigo girls & Ben fold, none of which i like. Tried listening while starting a work day & it hot off to a goober-y start.
Great start. Its very peaceful I like the style but needs attention to be valued. The group seems crazy though with a very long career and changes in sounds definitely one to sus out more
I liked this!
Pleasant little adult contemporary (80sish) easy listening sometimes folksy album. Nothing stands out, apparently a big deal in Britain. According to Spotify their biggest hits came from other records. Very chill.
waiiiit i kind of loved it 3.5
Love Tracy’s voice.
2.5
Not my thing at all
I don’t think I can do this kind of soft rock. I tried, I really did. There’s just no punch to it. It’s the kind of thing that would be hold or elevator music. I kept wanted there to be some crazy drum fills or for that saxophone that sneaks in occasionally to have a ripping solo and then I remember what kind of music I’m listening to and am disappointed. I know I should listen to this as it is and not as I want it to be, but the dated synths and mostly uninteresting vocals fail to allow me not to consider what could be.
Meh
Overall: 7/10 Some may say this is boring, but I found it really interesting and relaxing. Not every song needs to get my blood pumping and sometimes you just want a beautiful voice singing chill tunes to you while you lay down. This was the perfect day for me to get an album like this. I don't think I'd want to listen to it all the time but I'll definitely be coming back to it occasionally. Fav Song: Goodbye Sunday
Its not on this album, but I loved their song "Missing", and it was odd coming into this knowing I recognized her voice from somewhere. Her voice is the best part of this, really. 3/5
Not bad.
I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. Did not really sound anything like the very famous remix of "Missing". Loungey soft rock - I liked it in kinda the same way I like Sade. 3.9/5
Bit too soft for me, not my thing, but did not offend.
Among the worst things I’ve heard on this list.
This album needs to crawl back into whatever 80s hole of boringness it oozed out of. Yuck
One of the most bland and boring albums I’ve heard my entire life
Meh.... It's not bad, but nothing really grabbed my attention.
Tämähän oli mukavaa, rauhallista ja laadukasta soitantaa tortaiaamupäivään. Nuoruuden soundtrackia
Ihan leppoisaa rallattelua. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Zzzzz......
Everyone else’s review for this one had me prepared for something truly awful, and this wasn’t that. I didn’t really like it and I don’t think it belongs on this list, but I was expecting worse.
Eh… it is what it is. It’s one of those generally pleasant albums your parents would play back in the day. You didn’t like it, but it was inoffensive enough to not cause upset. A bit boring. Parts of it do sound very 80’s, with those soft backing keys and drum loops. There’s some bass in there that’s threatening to make a mark but doesn’t quite do so. There’s some nice piano and strings. A bit of awkward sax. This might be the least exciting album I’ve ever heard. It has barely any edges or texture to it. 2.5 rounded down.
1.9 Terrible. How beige must life be to be captivated by this album. Every single track skippable after 1-2 minutes, which isn't common despite the amount of shite on this list.
*1988. British pop duo. *The style of the whole album was very 80s soft, slow pop with a slight jazz influence. *Some pretty stuff in here, but there are better alternatives if you're in the mood for adult contemporary. *The Night I Heard Caruso Sing was the only song I really liked. RATING - 5.5/10
Even if many sections of this album are quite nice-sounding, perhaps homely, the upshot of the ¾ of an hour you spend here is that of wanting to listen to something, anything else, that can achieve what Idlewild is trying to achieve (if it knows at all what that might be) but better. The lyrical content is best ignored. I’m sure it may hit deep if you were 14 years old when this released in 1988, but if you can get to the opening lines of Oxford Street: “When I was ten I thought my brother was God / He'd lie in bed and turn out the light with a fishing rod”, and keep a straight face... I can only congratulate you. Listening to this did remind me of Tracey Thorn’s lovely Christmas album. I suppose this is what happens to Christmas music when you take out the Christmas.
Nice easy listening with no standouts
First four singles are the first four songs on the album? Clever. There are things to like here: crispy production, nice vocalist. It’s just all so dull when assembled together.
The opening track is a classic but generally I’ve found EBTG fine background music but they aren’t really my thing. My favourite track of theirs is from a few years later from this album when Todd Terry remixed Missing. Overall fine.
Really enjoyed this and the link to Crazy Horse was a surprise
Ahhh got a bit confused there - was about to pontificate on my relationship with Idlewild - not so keen and surprised they were on the list. But now I see! Also not too familiar with EBTG, so let’s see… Ah, didn’t know ‘I don’t wanna talk about it’ was them! Good start, if a bit sickly. Pretty cheesy, not helped by the electronic drum machine. Kinda social club, Tuesday night act. Full of cheese and heart. Strained faces and hand movements. Kinda ready for it to finish after 3/4 tracks. Get the gist, not too impressed and just feels a bit overly earnest and corny. Nothing surprising or engaging. All songs sound the same and can guess the rest of a song after 5 seconds. Yawn and puke. (2.5)
Если это и попса, то за неё не стыдно. Музыка для фона.
Schrecklich belanglos!
I listened to this one. It was easy listening and reminded me of The Style Council.
Does this need to be on the list? Surely not, but I thought it was very pleasant and relaxing, if unadventurous. It strays to the edge of cheesiness but I don’t think it ever quite gets there. Best song: Tears All Over Town
Their second album on this list, though I never really needed to hear the other album. Bland sophisti-pop. I genuinely don't understand the love for this group; I must be missing something, but for the life of me I don't know what. There were so many great bands going on in the 80's this lot should never have made it yet critics seem to love them - I guess fuck the critics... It's rather telling that the track that has the most listens on Spotify for this album (over 10 million more that it's nearest rival) is a cover. And I'm always put off by the singer looking like Nicholas Lyndhurst. I know it's not her fault but it always bothered me. In fact, it looks like they've used a face swap app. That's probably the most interesting thing about this muzak. Best Tracks: I Always Was Your Girl; Shadow on a Harvest Moon; Apron Strings
Pure dentist Muzak
So there are some terrible albums on this list but they seem to hold some cultural or other value to warrant inclusion. This album wasn’t terrible but also appears to lack any historical importance. Boring and uninspired, it’s the kind of drivel you hear waiting for the dentist to call you back. When I think of all the deserving albums (not one from Tool?), listening to albums like this just leave me angry. Grr. 1/5
Right off the bat I can say that if the vocals were better, “I don’t want talk about it” could have been a hit. Maybe not a top 10 hit but a hit nonetheless. I’m guessing this album is from the late 80’s. I’m not looking it up. That’s why I’m guessing. Even for an 80’s album, a decade flush with cheese, this fails miserably. I’m not seeing anything….sorry….hearing anything good. By my standards it’s not terrible enough to not rate nor is it terrible enough for a dreaded 1 star. I’ll give them that. It’s just, I don’t know man. It’s trying to hard to be something. What that something is, I don’t know, I am not a musical genius. I don’t know why it’s on the list. But that’s not a strange thing for me. I’ve come across that more than a handful of times. Not the worst album I’ve ever heard but it’s getting shipped off to the land of the forgotten ASAP
Lighthearted!
Ga meg ingenting. Men var ikke grusomt heller
Excelente!! muy onda relax, gran versión de I Don´t Want to Talk About It
Idk what to say. Boring, annoying voice, elevator music at best. Sorry lol
Nice but bland. Why has this been included in a list of essential albums…?
Not bad, but (to me) boring 90s music that can stay there.
Why is this album on this list... every song sounds the same....
Perfectly nice to listen to without being life changing
OK. 2/5
Muzak shit
Even in the book “100001 albums you should hear before you die” this album should not have an entry. The music is fine as it is but come on…
Pretty good sound
If you liked this check out Japanese City Pop. Same vibes
Pleasant, nothing special though.
It was alright. Probably before my time.
I don't want to talk about it is an excellent song that we didn't realise was on this album. Very chill easy Sunday vibes.
Easy listening. It kinda hit the spot today, and I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Surprised me because I thought, based off the album artwork, that this was going to be some Morrissey-esque sounding music. An unexpected 4-stars.
This is so 80s. Slow-dance music. Nothing amazing, but not bad