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Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
1983
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!POV: you're at a family function and your aunt is trying to pull you onto the dance floor as Karma Chameleon starts playing. The 45-year old function DJ flicks through his CD wallet looking for George Michael. Yer da is shuffling awkwardly near the buffet. 3 stars.
How revolutionary was Boy George as the leader of the biggest group in the world? Gender non-conformity is still mocked and misunderstood today...to think this was 40 years ago. Wish I had the same appreciation for this album but it's basically 2-3 good songs and a bunch of filler.
Karma Chameleon is a certified jam. Second half is better than the first. Standout tracks: Church of the Poison Mind, Mister Man, Victims, Melting Pot.
That sure was sappy. I don't even like the big hit Karma Chameleon although I can't stop humming the chorus. They should have been in the TV commercial jingle business. One positive comment is that Boy George ventured in new territory by dressing so feminine. Doing this in 1983 was a big deal and could have had a bad ending. I know in the prior decade the New York Dolls et al were gender bending trailblazers in another way by dressing in drag but I still view Boy G as a pioneer since he was trying to get (and succeeded at getting) mainstream audiences to buy his records and go to his concerts. I'll give him +1 for pulling it off but the music really does suck.
I have listened to this album twice now and I just don't get the generally positive reviews. The album actually makes me almost angry, that's how much I disliked it. This is the epitome of what was wrong in the 80's (even though there also was a lot of great music). It sniffed New Wave but doesn't seem to get it, saw soul from a distance, uses filler sounds like a trumpet or harmonica to make the music sound smarter than it is. Ugh.
Wonderful, imaginative, catchy, sunny record which brings happiness and joy at every listen
Quite pop-ish, not my usual choice, but better now than when it first came out, improved with age.
hurch of the Poison Mind" Released: 1 April 1983 (UK) 22 October 1983 (US) "Karma Chameleon" Released: 6 September 1983 (UK), 3 December 1983 (US) "Victims" Released: November 1983 (UK) "Miss Me Blind" Released: 14 February 1984 (US) "It's a Miracle" Released: April 1984 (UK), 12 May 1984 (US)
Groaned at this, and thought it would be dated, but I admit it's a great pop album. Hasn't dated at all.
Erg leuk album. Zeker voor die tijd. Karma Chameleon doet het nog altijd goed op elk feestje. Tevens een extra ster voor Boy George. Wat een stijlicoon! Love it!
Colour by Numbers is the second album by the British new wave group Culture Club, released in October 1983. Preceded by the hit single "Karma Chameleon", which reached number one in several countries, the album reached number one in the UK and has sold 10 million copies worldwide
Classic POP. Excellent. 4/5. Standouts: Victims. That's the Way. Karma Chameleon. Church of the Poison Mind, Miss Me Blind. It's A Miracle...
This album is better than the total listens given on Spotify. "Its A Miracle" is the best song on the album, IMHO. "Miss Me Blind" is also great. 7/10.
ну местами норм попчик, и это я не про хитяру Карма хамелеон. В общем то слушатебельно и аранжировки ничо
I wasn't ready for this one. Like most people, I associated Culture Club with the iconic persona of Boy George, a couple of sweet MTV videos, and generally appreciated them for a couple of light, poppy hits. But listening to this album in full and on repeat, I'm realizing there was so much more under the surface here. The 80s sound is known for a lot of kitschy reverb snare and overly produced synth, but in the midst of that, we had bands like The Jam, Style Council and Culture Club that just took pop seriously enough to treat it right. This LP is packed with quality cuts and covers an incredible range of styles: disco, jazz, soul, reggae, bossanova...each one executed with skill and love. Very colorful and I'm happy to be surprised by this one.
Gran disco de pop. Conocía el hit del disco pero me sorprendió mucho todas las otras canciones.
When Karma Chameleon hit the eardrums, I suspected that the rest of the album will hit the same lane: poppy, accessible, carefree. And it is that, but it can also reach areas that you wouldn't expect Culture Club to talk about. Maybe I'm dumb, maybe I'm ill informed about this band, maybe I should do more research. But this album is great. Culture Club can be more than expected. Favorites: Karma Chameleon, Black Money, Changing Every Day, That's the Way - I'm Only Trying to Help You, Church of the Poison Mind, Miss Me Blind, Stormkeeper, Victims, Colour by Numbers, Romance Revisited.
Ok, I enjoyed this top to bottom. Despite the obvious flaws like thin voice, dated production and cheesyness, it makes up for a lot with lots of hooks, earnest effort, compositional creativity, and some je ne sais quoi I can only call charisma. Sam Smith is awesome, but I hope it’s safe to say it helps to have blue-eyed soul like this to stand on and move ever forward.
This album is a great mix of New Wave and pop. I was truly expecting to dislike this album but it was catchy enough to keep my attention. The music is firmly within the pop traditions and oscillates between how much new wave is thrown in. There are moments that are pure power pop and moments where the post punk/new wave influence is apparent. Some of the arrangements on this album predict the rise of boy/girl bands in the 90s and really contextualized for me where that music came from.
culture club! but hmmm i think i know why karma chameleon lang yung most famous... i generally liked the other songs tho, they're just not that remarkable
The album never really hits the highs that their most famous song, Karma Chameleon does, but it is a fun 80s album. Reminds me a lot of Wham
Cero ganas de escuchar esto. Madre mía qué portada. Pues no está mal, un disco más Soul que pop ochentero a pesar de que empieza con un hit de los 80. Más parecido a Stevie Wonder o Simple Red que a otra música de esa época.
Un mega temazo increíble, y me han gustado las voces femeninas, el acompañamiento. Bien
Hmm, quite a generic 80s music. However that doesn´t mean I did not enjoyed it, some of the songs were really catchy.
An iconic album of the era, but one that doesn't have the most lasting songs. It serve as a valuable insight into the time it was made though.
I’m embarrassed that I didn’t hate this one. And I knew more songs than I expected. My kids even liked it!
eu nunca ouvi nada deles além de karma chameleon, foi divertido, mas não é grandes coisas
It's pretty queer and gender bending. I think Boy George kinda wants to be an English version Prince but he's not quite that talented.
Pure 80's Sound. (He sounds a little bit like George Micheal, didn't he?) Karma Chameleon is a certified hit single. Second half is better than the first. (6/10) Favorite Tracks: Church of the Poison Mind, Mister Man, Melting Pot
-"Karma Chameleon" is good and catchy. I can tell why it was the hit from this album -"It's A Miracle," "Church Of The Poison Mind," "Man-Shake," "Melting Pot," -"Melting Pot" is my favorite track. It seems live, has trumpets, good guitar riffs and bass riffs.
Ik kan deze artiest niet meer luisteren zonder aan Beavis & Butthead te denken. Zij zeggen in een van hun afleveringen "Haha, he is not a man, haha" als Boy George zingt "I'm a maaaannnnn". De muziek zelf is stiekem best leuk en veel nummers ken ik ook al. Het is echte disco uit de jaren 80. Ik voel een "guilty pleasure" of "foute vrijdag" opkomen. De toppers zijn de bekende nummers "Its A Miracle" en "Church Of The Poison Mind". De ballad "Victims" heeft ook wel wat. Op den duur voelt het album wel als een eenheidsworst en beginnen alle nummers op elkaar te lijken. Muzikaal zit het wel steengoed in elkaar allemaal. Ik bombardeer het album dan ook als lekker maar niet opwindend. Geef mij maar een echte vrouw ;-).
Leuk om eens te horen, ik ken er stiekem meer nummers van als ik dacht 😊 Als 5-jarig meisje toch al veel muziek gehoord, blijkbaar 😃
Pretty cool little synth pop album. Soulful at times. Karma Chameleon is a certified banger.
Not bad, but way way way too much filler. This could have been 10/11 tracks. Towards the end the songs all blended together as one.
This is better than I remember it being in the 80s. Perhaps I'm clouded by nostalgia. There is some really good pop here, lots of variety, lots of things that at the time were quite experimental. An enjoyable listen.
I was surprised I recognized so many songs on this this album! I accused my co-judge of owning it and then she counter-accused… Anyway, BG has a lovely voice, Karma Chameleon is a great radio-pop song and there’s a handful of others I like. Helen Terry on backup vocals is a big plus and adds to the soulfulness. The schmaltzy production I don’t like.
Decent album, not only Karma Chameleon is worth the listen (which I do not like at all). Moss Me Blind is a huge tune from my toddler years, still rocks the hell
I was prepared to dump all over this album, but I like it. I'd be fine if I never heard Karma Chameleon ever again. But there's no denying there's a few very good songs including the afore mentioned mega hit. That's The Way and Church of The Pouson Mind being standouts. A real snapshot of what hit music was in the 1980s. 3.5 🌟
Good clean singalong 80s pop/soul, and if you have a few drinks and squint hard enough Boy George does a passable George Michael impersonation. But it's Helen Terry who is the albums secret weapon and her huge voice elevates every song that she appears on. Yeh, this record is a bit too earnest in parts, but mostly it's a lot of fun.
Not bad at all. Some cool beats. Found the vocals to be pretty similar in places with not a lot of variety but the instrumentation and effects made up for it. Fave tracks: Karma Chameleon, Church of the Poision Mind, Stormkeeper
Karma Chameleon -- duh Black Money -- I like the chorus Changing Every Day -- funky arrangement
A fun enough album, with a unique sound. That sound gets kinda samey during the back half though.
This album is probably the best album that Culture Club ever did. It has a few quite good pop songs, with some excellent singles. I think it could have been improved by dropping a couple of songs. This is one of those bands that had a lot of potential, but ended up falling far off the radar, both from their own personal problems and the whims of pop music. That's too bad, because Boy George in particular had so much talent. I forgot what a pretty voice he had. Fave Songs: Karma Chameleon, It's a Miracle, That's the Way, Church of the Poison Mind, Stormkeeper
Karma Chameleon and Church of the Poison Mind are two classic 5* songs - the other singles and album tracks are in the range of 2*-3*.
I am very familiar with the band CULTURE CLUB and the album COLOUR BY NUMBERS. I have CULTURE CLUB’s first three albums: 1) KISSING TO BE CLEVER (1982); 2) COLOUR BY NUMBERS (1983); 3) WAKING UP WITH THE HOUSE ON FIRE (1984). I liked COLOUR BY NUMBERS for the hit songs that it had. BOY GEORGE and CULTURE CLUB were groundbreaking for presenting androgynous dressing style, sexual ambiguity and reggae infused pop to the masses in the early/mid 80’s. After listening to COLOUR BY NUMBERS, it is not bad at all, but the big problem for me, since I’m an album-oriented person, is that the album itself is very inconsistent. It has four very great hit singles: “KARMA CHAMELEON”; “CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND” ; “MISS ME BLIND” and “IT’S A MIRACLE”. For me, CULTURE CLUB is a singles band because the rest of the songs are filler, with the possible addition of “THAT'S THE WAY (I'M ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU)”. Because of the band’s lack of strong songs that were not singles, they are the perfect band to get a compilation album of greatest hits: CULTURE CLUB – THIS TIME - TWELVE WORLDWIDE HITS - THE FIRST FOUR YEARS. In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, COLOUR BY NUMBERS is their one and only entry. Rate Artist: CULTURE CLUB (3.5) Rate Album (Year): COLOUR BY NUMBERS (1983 Original) (3.5) Rate Album (Year): COLOUR BY NUMBERS (2003 Reissue (5 Bonus Tracks)) (3)
I liked this more than I expected to. I've found that I've not really loved or hated most of the recent albums.
It was better than I expected, but expectations were low. Some good singing and there was certainly some heart put into it.
It took about half of the album for my brain to say "oh, this is campy, and that's why I want to listen to it," and from that point on I really enjoyed it.
I feel that someone put the 80s in a mixer and just put the result in my ears. The worst part is that I kinda liked this amorphous slime of nostalgia.
Heute hab ich etwas gelernt, was ich eigentlich nicht wissen wollte. Ein Lied, dessen Band ich bewusst nie nachgeschlagen habe. Musikalisch durch nichts überzeugend. Der Gesang ist kein Teil der Musik, sondern ein Sprachkanal. Der Text wirkte auf mich stellenweise dümmlich. Keine gute Mischung. Sound of the 80s? Klingt mir zu fröhlich, aber ich kann mir vorstellen zum Rhythmus mitzuwippen, wenn es im Radio liefe. Deswegen höre ich kein Radio. Moving on!
80s style music. Karma Chameleon definitely the most famous song. Boy George sure seems like a character
I was really hoping this wouldn’t be an entire album of Karma Chameleon clones..... and that’s basically what this is. So incredibly cheesy and utterly bland that it honestly was hard to get through. Glad I at least heard the orchestral piece at the end, because that made the suffering a little more worth it. Favorite Track(s): “Romance Revisited”
Why do people like this. Why do people listen to this. Why. Why. It's still incomparably better than something like Wu-Tang Clan or Bob Marley though.
A šta ja znam, moglo je definitivno bolje. Zaboravljiv album više manje. Ne želim biti pregrub, al tako je. Već sam tako nešta čuo, vrišti 80te ali ne i kvaliteta. Prva i zadnja pjesma su dobre, prva je klasika od pjesme, a zadnja je fin završetak.
A decent 80's pop album. Certainly a product of it's time and something that doesn't sound great going to listen to it now, but I can see how it was popular. Some of the songs could just get annoying and repetitive.
I can't believe I had to listen to a whole Culture Club album just to realize that "Karma Chameleon", the first song and their biggest hit, was the best.
Give Boy George credit for being a trans gender pioneer and having a sweet pop voice. But this album is just too sachrinne sweet for me and not my jam.
2 stars. A few OK tracks but nothing to write home about. Not entirely sure why it’s on this list?
80s pop that came and went for me. Not much I would go back to on here, not even the hit single. Favorites: It's a Miracle, Changing Every Day
One Banger and then a load of bang average filler. But I dare you not to wear out your carpet dancing to Karma Chameleon. I bloody Dare you! 2/5
It's tempting to make a crack about this music being by the numbers, but it's just not true. Colour By Numbers is easily identifiable as 80s pop no doubt, but Culture Club is very much its own thing. It's definitely not punk and it's not new wave. It's unabashed, pure pop. It's slick and heavily produced, but the synths are mostly in the background. It avoids instrumental textures that smack of darkness or depravity--cotton candy all the way. The vocals by Boy George are...oh, no! Is that supposed to be...soul???? Good Lord. Okay, there's a long history of non-black performers who attempt soul vocals and they sound like anything but. That doesn't mean that they're terrible, they just kind of accidentally create a new genre. And that's what's happening here. The tipoff is the background vocals by Helen Terry, who halfway kinda pulls off soul shouting. Colour By Numbers is kind of hard for me to evaluate. I wouldn't listen to this music on my own initiative in a million years--I generally don't like pure pop, and pseudo-soul-pop even less. But I'd be lying if I said that the arrangements, performances, or production were incompetent. You also can't fault the catchiness of Karma Chameleon. Do I hate it? Yes. I find Colour By Numbers tasteless and disposable. But on the level of craft, it isn't bad at all.
This is absolutely not for me. I didn't enjoy a single minute of this, apart from "Church of the Poisoned Mind", which almost came together for me before falling apart, which is even worse than just not coming together at all IMO. The only reason this is 2 stars instead of 1 is that it is definitely a competent album; well played, well written, well produced, and you can tell they are having fun. I just didn't have any fun with them lol.
Nothing extraordinary. Upbeat eighties pop including karma chameleon. Nice harmonies but basic/kitschy lyrics.
New wave albums tend to coast through my ears, but the fakeness of the instruments in Karma Chameleon balanced out my familiarity with the single. There are a few highs elsewhere, but they are packed at the end and the whole thing is just a touch too fun for its own good. Not a bad listen, but bad for the list.
Didn't need a re-listen. It annoyed me when it was released, just as annoying now. Still a very solid album, just a little to "uppy" for me.
Eehh wasn't super into this. I didn't find it to be necessarily bad, just not really my thing. The music was a bit too upbeat and twinkly-sounding for me. Reminiscent of foggy dream sequence in a movie with a lot of lens flairs or something, not sure how else to describe it. Karma Chameleon is definitely a classic tune though, and I'm glad this album is included, if only for that. Fav Tracks: Karma Chameleon
There's some solid hits on this new wave album led by Boy George, however I will be an infrequent re-visitor to this one. The vast majority of these tracks are emotional, and meant to evoke similar feelings in the listener; it feels a bit put-on and cliche. Got pretty bored while listening to be frank. There is some good incorporation of strings at times and synth-y beats, but overall I do not operate on the same wavelength as this album. Fave tracks: Karma Chameleon, Black Money
2nd May 2022 Listened in the morning on the way to work. Met Gareth and Ben to watch Liverpool Villarreal champs league semi where we won 2-3. Quite enjoyed this, but not as much as Cyndi Lauper. Had some good tracks but felt a bit lightweight for me. 2.5 if I could.
TBH it's pretty inoffensive lightweight 80s pop (though I am a miserablist) Not a big fan of the main backing singer whose tones grate on me. The lyrics are all a bit simple/banal. 4 hits though and I rather like (bit OTT, and orchestral) Victims which finishes it all off...2.5
Some good queer fun, but sounds very dated. I can't stand Karma Chameleon. Most of the other tracks are pretty forgettable.
I’ve had ample reggae influenced British pop bands from the 80/70’s to rate lately, and I can’t say I’ve found one more enjoyable than any of others. Their all kinda ho hum. I mean you’d have to been living under a rock for the last 40yrs not to have heard of Culture Club. The same could be said for the first track on this album. But I doubt many peeps would have sat and listened to a whole album of theirs. I can save those people the time to do something more enjoyable though. As predicted when I found I’d been given this album to review today...I was already looking forward to tomorrow’s. 1 Star!
Never properly listened to Culture Club. Mainly because Karma Chameleon is an utterly wank song and also Boy George is a piece of shit who handcuffed a rent boy to a radiator and beat the shit out of him. For these reasons, I didn’t go into this album with a lot of optimism but I thought maybe the rest of the album will be a bit different from Karma Chameleon. It was not and the songs that were different were worse. I’m a huge fan of flagrantly gay 80s cheese pop but this was just too much for me. Church of the Poison Mind is the only half decent tune on it but the war crime against harmonica just ruins it for me. Willing to bet a large amount of money that Boy George will end up on a washed up celebrity show like I’m A Celebrity or Big Brother at some point in the future, the absolute wetty.
This is so 80's sounding it is ridiculous. Hard to believe anyone ever took this seriously or thought this was was a critically important album. So cheesy.
No i klasyka gatunku, wyspiarski pop, colour by numbers to drugi studyjny krazek synth popowo soulowej bandy prosto z londonu, rok 83 wiec nateznie synthow przkroczylo wszelkie normy sluchalnosci, a scena byla zalewana grupami, ktore pojawialy i znikaly po wydaniu tego czegos co udalo sie sprzedac i zostac zapamietanym na jednym kawalku, w przypadku kulturalnego klubu jest to juz pierwszy utwor z tej plyty, czyli karma chameleon ktory jest stalym bywalcem w szlagierach radiowych wspominajacych lepsze czasy, no i jeszcze mozna kojarzyc z tego widelo gdzie chlop, czyli pan wokalista bandy Boy George przebral sie za babe kolorowom, no nie wyczymie, chociaz jest on glownym wokalem, to jego glos z pewnoscia nie jest czyms co zostaje w pamieci po odsluchu tej plyty, bo jest to mialkie niebieskookie zawodzenie ktorego czlowiek zawsze ma dosc po 5 minutach odsluchu, wiec wypadaloby ze po pierwszym traku bezpiecznie mozna skonczyc odsluch plyty, bo na kolejnych dziewieciu kawalkach nic ciekawszego niz na pierwszym nie sposob uraczyc, ale czlowiek sie przekonuje tylko, ze wokalnie panie bakujace zrobily o wiele lepsza robote niz pan george, pisze panie, bo glownie zenskie glosy slysze z tylu, ale w kontrybucji albumowej cala banda jest zaznaczona jako bakujacy wokal, sporo takze sesyjnych muzykow na wszelakich fletach, harmonijkach, trumpetach, bo material jest przepakowany kaczowatymi melodiami wypchanymi do granic mozliwosci sluchalnosci, ale cale szczescie krotka plyta, bo zaledwie 38 minut liczy podstawowe 10 kawalkow, z ktorych na plejke leci wspomniany na poczatku one hit wonder bandy
This is garbage. It is just musically bad. Least favorite tracks: Black Money, Mister Man, Man-Shake
First track Karma Chameleon is a classic but thinking about it, it's not actually a good track, it's just well known. Other than that there was nothing to write home about. Maybe some Arctic Monkeys Old Yellow Bricks inspiration from Miss Me Blind. Really not my bag at all though, not sure if it's a 1 or a 2.