500 - Eurythmics - Touch
Feb. 7th, 2011 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
csberryThis is my first post in a series I'm starting where I listen to the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list.
Although the album starts out strong with one of my favorite Eurythmic singles, I found the rest of the album a bit of an up and down experience for me. I was pleasantly blown away by "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)." While Annie Lennox's hot, sultry, soulful vocals can be a nice counterpoint to the cold, synth samples (that frequently sound as if they were played with one finger), there are several songs such as "Right By Your Side" and "Cool Blue" where the mix seems much more awkward to me. I think I would really like "Cool Blue" if sung over different instrumentation.
While I'll accept that there are folks that think of "Right By Your Side" as groundbreaking, it seems more like a cheesy experiment. The sound of the synths just don't seem to jibe with the blend of Caribbean and African sounds also in the song. Other British New Wave bands did a better job at this mix than the Eurythmics in this song (although, admittedly, not were so gung-ho to stick to using the synth kettle drum, horns, and guitar voices rather than the real instruments).
Songs I knew I liked: "Here Comes the Rain Again" and "Who's That Girl"
Songs I didn't know but now like: "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)" and "Paint a Rumour"
Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Right By Your Side"
Although the album starts out strong with one of my favorite Eurythmic singles, I found the rest of the album a bit of an up and down experience for me. I was pleasantly blown away by "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)." While Annie Lennox's hot, sultry, soulful vocals can be a nice counterpoint to the cold, synth samples (that frequently sound as if they were played with one finger), there are several songs such as "Right By Your Side" and "Cool Blue" where the mix seems much more awkward to me. I think I would really like "Cool Blue" if sung over different instrumentation.
While I'll accept that there are folks that think of "Right By Your Side" as groundbreaking, it seems more like a cheesy experiment. The sound of the synths just don't seem to jibe with the blend of Caribbean and African sounds also in the song. Other British New Wave bands did a better job at this mix than the Eurythmics in this song (although, admittedly, not were so gung-ho to stick to using the synth kettle drum, horns, and guitar voices rather than the real instruments).
Songs I knew I liked: "Here Comes the Rain Again" and "Who's That Girl"
Songs I didn't know but now like: "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)" and "Paint a Rumour"
Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Right By Your Side"
