- Audio Cassette (17 Oct 1990)
- Format: Import
- Label: Polygram Records
- ASIN: B000001FD6
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Fear of the World |
| 2. Be Near Me |
| 3. Vanity Kills |
| 4. Ocean Blue |
| 5. 15 Storey Halo |
| 6. A to Z |
| 7. How to Be a Millionaire |
| 8. Tower of London |
| 9. So Hip It Hurts |
| 10. Between You & Me |
| 11. Fear of the World [In Cinemascope][Mix] |
| 12. Be Near Me [Munich Disco Mix] |
| 13. How to Be a Millionaire [Bond St. Mix] |
| 14. Vanity Kills [The Abigails Party Mix] |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There is little doubt that ABC's Trevor Horn-assisted debut 'The Lexicon of Love' was a masterpiece - following that came the rockier 'Beautystab' (1983) which was both a commercial and critical flop. Personally I think 'Beautystab' belongs to one of those underrated albums of the early to mid 80s ('North of a Miracle', 'Perhaps', 'Our Favourite Shop', 'Land', 'A Secret Wish') and it has more going for it than the last two Gang of Four albums. But look beyond 'Lexicon...' and to ABC's third LP 'How to Be a Zillionaire'and you'll find another classic pop album that has dated surprisingly well.
This is the definitive reissue, coming with the best sound thus far and a host of additional tracks/remixes - all screaming good value at this budget price. The Fry/White nucleas developed a post-modern notion of a cartoon band, pre-empting Dee-Lite and Gorillaz and in this form created a great pop collection. The original nine-track album is great stuff, the three singles released are all pop chestnuts of the shiniest order: 'Be Near Me' gorgeous pop as lush as anything on 'Lexicon', 'Ocean Blue' another classic which seems odd not to have been a hit, and 'How to Be a Millionaire'- which uses the kind of sampling common to Eno/Byrne over an electro-pop song which declares "I've seen the future - I can't afford it!" - so 'How to Be...' could be seen as a succesor to Heaven 17's 'Penthouse & Pavement' - tapping into the free market zeitgeist amid the reign of Thatcher and her yuppie drones...
The bonus tracks extend this collection and it's clear that a lot of dance music owes a debt to this set - I detect pangs of The Avalanches, Milo, Daft Punk, Electroclash, Groovejet, The Go Team, Richard X, late Mantronix ('Got to Have Your Love'), S'Express, Zoot Woman/Les Rhythmes Digitales and Madonna (...then again I might just be saying that to get you to buy it?). 'How to Be...' was the actual peak of ABC's career, 'Alphabet City' was a smooth Chic-inflected pop collection that was hit and miss, while 'Up' sounded irrelevant. One to rediscover I feel!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Don't be fooled by it's cartoony look, this is ABC at their most grown-up. A dazzling dance album from the decade of decadence; from a time when vanity was a virtue and greed a way of life. The singles How To Be A Millionaire and Vanity Kills provide witty warnings of the selfishness that prevailed at the time. Romance is supplied in the form of Ocean Blue and the hit single Be Near Me (The Munich Disco Mix of which topped the US Billboard dance chart and is included on this album). 15 Storey Halo should have been released as a single - it's a monster made of thumping drums and brass that slowly dissolve into beautifully orchestrated synth strings. The only thing that mars this masterpiece is the fact it's got the wrong 12" version of Millionaire on it; it should've been the original 12" which is a brain-burstingly brilliant slice of throbbing electro (and my favourite record of all time) - a very minor flaw in a work of genius.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
zilloionaire comes between the stark social realism of "beauty stab" and the safe commerce of "alphabet city". it has imagination and ambition in spades and works as a cassandran prophecy and as pure entertainment. for example "be near me" is achingly truthful and "...millionaire" just zings. sure, it doesn't always work, but then again, it is because and not in spite of this that ..."zillionaire" is an essential abc record.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ABC'S 'OTHER' MASTERPIECE
I have been listening to this album for 26 years and still love it. Don't expect the swooping, silky strings of Lexicon of Love, but you can expect a highly polished album that was... Read more
Published 14 months ago by J. McCarraher
ABC'S 'OTHER' MASTERPIECE
I have been listening to this album for 26 years and still love it. Don't expect the swooping, silky strings of Lexicon of Love, but you can expect a highly polished album that was... Read more
Published 14 months ago by J. McCarraher
Irresistible crackle & pop...
Fractionally behind shifting tastes when released in '85, this album positively fizzes with ABC's clever pop dance energy & is my favourite by the band. The Lexicon Of Love
Published on 17 Sep 2009 by Tyrone
Yes, really quite good
I remember back in 1985 being apprehensive towards buying this album, my opinion of abc was faltered somewhat with the guitar-based Beauty Stab album. Read more
Published on 16 July 2009 by Mr. W. C. Balloch
ABC's finest.
I just want to agree with the other reviewers (though I must disagree with Jason Parkes' opinion of Up, which I think is probably ABC's second best album). Read more
Published on 24 April 2008 by RK
I've seen the future, and I CAN afford it
...especially at such a great price!
Although 'Lexicon of Love' is the ABC album most people remember, I actually prefer the two follow-ups, 'Beauty Stab' and How To Be... Read more
Although 'Lexicon of Love' is the ABC album most people remember, I actually prefer the two follow-ups, 'Beauty Stab' and How To Be... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2008 by Peter Parker-Penn
EXCELLENT CD!
ABC...What a band...talent, great songs, funny image...This album produced by MARTIN FRY and MARK WHITE shows us that music can be fun and also serious:fun in all the art put in... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2003 by ultrasonikk
Cracker!!
ABC re-invent themselves as cartoon characters on this album. Not quite sure if this was a good move. Read more
Published on 29 July 2003 by "bigdava"
Patchy
Hard to know what ABC where trying to do on this Record,there are some cracking songs,the title track as well as Be Near Me and Fear Of the World are great,where as tracks like A-Z... Read more
Published on 24 Dec 1999 by S. Williamson
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