Eurythmics - Revenge

This edition has been digitally re-mastered from the original master tapes by Eurythmics mastermind Dave Stewart, with input from collaborator Annie Lennox. In addition, there are six bonus tracks: a mixture of b-sides, remixes, and previously unreleased material (notably a cover of Mary Wells' classic "My Guy"). The packaging is a six-panel digipack redesign orchestrated by Laurence Stevens Design, the firm who art-directed all the original releases, while the thick booklets contain rare photos and insightful, new sleeve notes. Amazon.com

Melodic masterpiece

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 soars 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. July 30, 2007

Excellent CD!

The Eurythmics fifth album entitled "Revenge" finds the Lennox/Stewert duo completing their journey from the New Wave of their early days and the more R&B/Soul of their previous album "Be Yourself Tonight" into a near total rock/pop sound. It was unfortunately where the Eurythmics commercial run started to wind down. That's not to say that this is a decline. Not at all. Even though a good majority of the songs fall into the category of typical mid-1980s rock and pop, there are many standout songs that make this a wonderful illustrious release from this duo. The famous hit song "Missionary Man" is my favorite Eurythmics song ever. The lyrics are among my favorite that Annie has ever written. Other great songs include "The First Time" with it's excellent and bizarre guitar effects as well as the fifth track.

The bonus tracks are very good but the remix of "Missionary Man" is a bit overstretched. May 29, 2006

I want REVENGE D & A

I adore Eurythmics. Any utterance from the throat of Lennox is music to my ears. The compositions are intact with this LP. What is lacking is the production. Dave moved, I blame him most, into the Heavy Metal riffs with these instrumentations. Having said that, "Missionary Man", "The Last Time" and "Let's Go" still hold the guitar aside the synthesizer. The Light within the Dark isn't nullified by scratching guitars. You'll love the grinding and electronica still used by Dave and Annie. Overall, a good job, but it ain't giving me "Sweet Dreams". April 16, 2006

The Beginning of the End

"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. January 24, 2006

A masterpiece enhanced

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.
January 8, 2006

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