Eurythmics - Revenge (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

The Beginning of the End

DAJ | New York, NY | 01/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Revenge" caught Dave and Annie on the road to Arena Rock Superstardom, and they created a record with a crack band that would sound good blasting out at concertgoers from enormous speakers. In doing so, they abandoned the intimacy of their early work--one of their great assets.

That's not to say that this is not a good album--it is, featuring "Missionary Man," (one of their best singles), and "Thorn in My Side." The other singles here, though, sound a little trite and insincere--"Miracle of Love" and "When Tomorrow Comes." Just a little too much commercial lip gloss on those two. But "Let's Go" and "A Little of you" are great album cuts.

The remastering is good, the bonus tracks, alas, are not. I have personal memories of dancing around arms flailing to the Missionary Man remix in my youth, but all their remixes sound a little dated, especially in comparison to the original tracks, which, miraculously for pop music, have not aged a bit.

After this, Eurythmics produced one last great album (Savage), and then occasional sparks of brilliance. But this was the beginning of the end."

SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE FROM THESE REMASTERS!!!

P. Ambrose | Brooklyn NY | 12/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't have to add much from the other superb reviews but I would like to truly reiterate how EXCELLENT the remastering is on this CD!!! This is the first remaster I have (but just ordered all the others). I can honestly say that this is the BEST REMASTERING I HAVE EVER HEARD on the many, many "remastered" CDs that artists have been reissueing over the years! BRAVO DAVE STEWART! It is so crisp and elegant! My God they made GREAT music! ADD TO CART!"

A masterpiece enhanced

Pieter | Johannesburg | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
After great synth albums like Sweet Dreams and Touch and 1985's Soul/R&B excursion Be Yourself Tonight, Eurythmics created this riveting rock album with its melodic masterpieces. I don't like the meandering Missionary Man, but besides that it's genius all the way!

Thorn In My Side is a dramatic ballad with a great sense of finality, When Tomorrow Comes is a soaring number where Annie's voice goes full throttle, The Last Time is an eerie, brooding ballad with strange voice effects, and The Miracle Of Love is another lovely tuneful pop song.

These rank amongst the best compositions of Eurythmics, on a par with classics like Love Is A Stranger, Sweet Dreams, Right By Your Side and There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart). I also love the full rock sound they use here - it makes an interesting change from the earlier synth-based sound.

Other favorites include Take Your Pain Away and the gentle, wistful I Remember You with its torch-song vocal and textured instrumentation. Perhaps some Eurythmics fans didn't like the rock textures of this album, but to me it remains one of their best.

The bonus tracks here are amongst the best of all the Eurythmics reissues. The extended versions of When Tomorrow Comes and Thorn In My Side are my favorites and substantially different from the originals. I also love the live acoustic version of Tomorrow, and My Guy concludes the album on a playful note.

"

"Let's Go!"

Neptunian Spirit | Dayton, OH USA | 11/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Eurythmics had previously shifted into a "soul/rock" sound on "Be Yourself Tonight" which was received critically & commercially well. The experiment of that record gave the Eurythmics more musical credibility, so the question was could they follow the same success?

While some may've thought "Revenge" to be a lukewarm successor to "Be Yourself Tonight", I think it more than lives up to the previous bar set by that album, almost moving it higher.

"Revenge" moves specifcally into a more rock, or 1980's bar rock with synth flourishes, soul leanings, & immaculate pop melodies. I find that the securing of a live band, the drummer of Blondie (Clem Burke), a much welcomed addition help seal the deal. Annie delivers some of her most searing vocals & Dave arrangements sparkle with creativity & sponeaity.

The album kicks off with the bluesy, ballsy "Missionary Man" which after a intro of blurred harmonica histrionics, kicks into gear with Annie's smooth voice. The track ranks as one of their finest single cuts, as well as compositions. From there you are treated to the euphoria of "When Tomorrow Comes" which celebrates the prospect of love growing with each day, this joy is conveyed in the sharp drumming & keyboard shading.

Other highlights include the slick "The Last Time", raucous "Let's Go!", the fantastic ballad "The Miracle of Love", & a personal favorite "Take Your Pain Away". I love the latter because it starts of as a band jam, much sharpened of course, but has a club leaning or beat underneath it. This "beat" at one point takes stage, switching the band sound to the back, then quickly shifting the band sound back to the front.

The record seems to balance lyrically the promise of love, yet the paranoia of the failure of love. This is seen in tracks such as the mentioned "The Last Time", more specifically the soul seether "Thorn In My Side" & bittersweet tang of "A Little of You". "Be Yourself Tonight" definitely had more of a romantic feel, which still spilled over here, but you see the side of romance gone bad here. The paranoia of love here would totally become bitter & take shape on the follow-up "Savage".

Commercially, this heralded a slump in the Eurythmics American career, but in their native U.K. the record steamed ahead as a hit. One of my favorites, I recommend if you want to see Annie & Dave at their most focused, and with their most "bite".

The remastering is absolutely superb. I owned the original CD edition & the remaster is definitely much crisper & fresh in it's sound. The extra tracks are mostly extended 12 inch cuts, but they are often re-worked so that the 12 inch mixes take on an identity from their original counterparts. Makes for great listening pleasure. "Revenge 2", the original "Revenge" being from their "In the Garden" album is unremarkable. Though Annie's take on the Motown soul staple "My Girl" (here "My Guy") is slightly silly, but cute. Filled with awesome color pictures & liner note history on the making of the record, this is something every Eurythmics fan should own.

"

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