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Track Listings
| 1. That Was Then But This Is Now - ABC, Gary Langan, Martin Fry, Mark White |
| 2. Love's A Dangerous Language - ABC, Gary Langan, Martin Fry, Mark White |
| 3. If I Ever Thought You'd Be Lonely - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 4. The Power Of Persuasion - ABC, Gary Langan, Martin Fry, Mark White |
| 5. Beauty Stab - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 6. By Default By Design - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 7. Hey Citizen! - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 8. King Money - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 9. Bite The Hand - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 10. Unzip - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
| 11. S.O.S. - ABC, Gary Langan, Martin Fry, Mark White |
| 12. United Kingdom - ABC, Gary Langan, Martin Fry, Mark White |
| 13. Vertigo - ABC, Gary Langan, Mark White, Martin Fry |
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Customer Reviews
Which is a dis-service for the three albums that immediatly followed it - 'Beauty Stab' (1983), 'How to Be a Zillionaire' (1984) & 'Alphabet City' (1987) - which all have great moments worthy of 'Lexicon' (only final LP 'Up' seemed a bit lightweight). 'Beauty Stab' found ABC rocking out (...to a degree) and like Depeche Mode circa 'Construction Time Again' (also 1983) writing work with a political theme ('King Money', 'Hey Citizen!', 'United Kingdom'). Truth be told, this LP is better than the last two Gang of Four albums - where they failed to fuse politics and pop (though I always have time for 'I Love a Man in Uniform'). A listen to the "ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh" vocal refrain at the end of single 'That Was Then But This is Now' demonstrates where Damon Albarn got the "ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh" vocal refrain for 'Girls & Boys' (though Albarn's Gorillaz owe even more to the next LP 'Zillionaire'). Not an album that gets feted much, though the lead singer of Dandy Warhols Courtney Courtney Taylor (or whatever) once big upped it as a prime Brit influence (alongside Slowdive & Ride!!!).
This definitive reissue comes with a few bonus tracks which at this budget price warrants investigation - though 'Lexicon' & 'How to Be...' come above this in the scheme of things ABC. The notion that this album has no decent pop songs is a shower of...when you note 'That Was Then...' or fellow single 'S.O.S.' An under-valued album for sure, though many have found it slightly over-estimated by the knowing few. Which side aren't you on?
At the time, every reviewer hated this album - only because it was such a radical departure from "Lexicon of Love" - but it's ABC's finest work. A SERIOUSLY tight rhythm section (incl. Andy Newmark from Roxy Music on drums) and chunky guitars underpin superb songs (the title track is relatively well-known as the theme music from the "Montreux Rock Festival" programmes back in the '80's) and the (near) medley of Hey Citizen! & King Money followed by Bite the Hand and Unzip is just perfection.
If you like great songs that stand up to repeated listening, along with a touch of uniqueness - you could do a lot worse than have this CD in your collection.
ABC went on regaining commercial success with sounds in the vein of The Lexicon of Love with an added soul and campy disco flavour. It is, however, interesting that Beauty Stab is now being re-mastered for a second time, showing that some demand seems still to exist for the album (the range in the reviews indicates that it is still being debated how good Beauty Stab really is).
Instead of writing about the music in details, I concentrate on the quality of this newest Neutron Re-release. The previous re-release dates from 1997. The re-mastering of that album was decent and included an extra track, the instrumental Vertigo. The sleeve had a few short essays about the album, period. This Neutron release has improved the sound from the initial re-mastering somewhat. The high tones are clearer. The difference is definitely audible but not dramatic, hence those who own the original re-release in most cases should not upgrade to this version on a sound basis alone. The packaging has been improved, with lyrics added this time around, some of which are timeless - She's vegetarian except when it comes to sex. There are also an additional two tracks from the initial re-release. One is an unedited version of That Was Then but This Is Now, which includes a minute or two of wailing guitars during the end of the song. The other song is a somewhat lame but funny ABC on 45 version of songs from the album called Selections from Beauty Stab, basically sections of songs taped together. I believe this was included on a plastic free single for NME readers.
The music is from my standpoint for the most parts fantastic, although a few songs being below par. The instrumental title track became known as the theme song for the Montreaux music festival which was popular during the mid 80s (few actually knew it was ABC performing that rocking theme song). Unzip and If I Ever Thought You'd Be Lonely are other examples of songs that have aged very well.
For those interested in Beauty Stab, I recommend this version. I also believe time has proved it also being a very good album in its own rights.
This missed all my and my friends (Abc fans) expectations.
Don' t buy it!!!
This has twelve songs. Read more
This has twelve songs. Read more
This has twelve songs. Read more
This has twelve songs. Read more
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