Everything But the Girl - Walking Wounded

Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl have done their share of style-hopping, from jazz pop to Britpop to orchestral pop to contemporary R&B to jazzy R&B. Their seventh album, 1996's Walking Wounded, finds the duo landing, good as new, onto the dance floor with a batch of songs based around techno-derived beats. The shift toward electronics may seem extreme for a group that courted adult audiences, but given the huge success of their 1994 beat-driven remix single "Missing" and their fruitful collaborations on Massive Attack's breakthrough trip-hop record Protection, the rewards of embracing club sounds had already been well proven. Everything but the Girl's music has always focused on Thorn's lush, soulful voice--a tribute to its versatility, it weathered well through all the group's stylistic incarnations. Walking Wounded, however, introduces a second focal point in the insanely attractive, intricately sculpted beats of the jungle offshoot drum & bass. On cuts like "Before Today," "Single," and the title track, the interaction of a beat's minutely detailed rhythms and a voice that rides smoothly over the top makes for an elegant symbiosis. And even with the help of progressive dance specialists like Howie B. and Spring Heel Jack, Everything but the Girl retains a maturity that shouldn't alienate old fans. --Roni Sarig Amazon.com essential recording

SMOOOOOTH

When I purchased this album I was expecting your average chill out cd but it was so much more than that. By the time you get to the track 'Single' you would've already melted and absorbed your soul into the cd. Great Investment April 15, 2008

Amazon does it again!

Whenever I need an item online this is the site that I go to. No matter what the item I research it, find it and ...click it's on the way! March 11, 2008

Stands the test of time

I originally bought this CD when it first came out and instantly fell in love with it. It dissapeared from my collection about 5 years ago and I have missed it since. I recently just purchased the album again and am very happy to see that the songs are just as charming and enchanting as they were 10 years ago. While drum and bass has faded into musical obscurity, the album does not fall into the trap of sounding dated. A timeless wonderfully enjoyable album from start to finish. Mirrorball and The Heart Remains a Child are true delights on the ears.
To resort to an cliche, if I were trapped on a desert island this would, without question, be on my list of must have albums. March 9, 2007

wonderful

I am a huge everything but the girl fan...I have all of their albums and I have to say that this is one of their best...not one song on here is bad...I also have to say that you can't go wrong buying any of their albums... November 15, 2006

One of the best records of the 1990's

This is one of the best albums of the 1990's. If you thought major labels couldn't put out creditable artistry then you were wrong. After EBTG's massive reinvention as a cutting edge dance music act "walking wounded" finds the duo at the full helm of this new direction. Not since New Order had I heard electronic dance music this human and this senstitive. At the peek of the dance/electronica 90's explosion, when bold and adventurous sub-genres were mutating like viruses and the human had fully re-taken the machine along came Everything But the Girl. Here they add even more soulful, existential, thoughful lyrics about love, loss, and urban life. And underneath lies a breathtaking arrangement of truely cutting edge and even avantgarde electronic dance music. A total classic. October 9, 2006

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