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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Everything but the Girl have always taken a languid approach to their music, but they were at their most sublime on Idlewild. Produced by the duo's own Ben Watt, the music is stripped down to the bare minimum--a rhythm, a melody and Tracy Thorn's divine voice--yet somehow they make it feel lush. Some of EBTG's most affecting songs are on Idlewild: Thorn's adolescent reminiscence in "Oxford Street"; "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing", Watt's ode to father and (someday) son in which he explains that the great tenor is "almost as good as Presley"; the tale of friendship in "Blue Moon Rose" and "Apron Strings", a song of love and loss. EBTG are just as touching on Amplified Heart and the US-only Acoustic but Idlewild is a classic in its own right. -- Randy Silver
CD Description
Continuing Edsel s reissue programme of Everything But The Girl s first four albums. Idlewild was followed by the more introspective machine-pop-soul of gold selling 'Idlewild' (1988), which was given a quick re-release after the band's Top 3 UK Top 40 success with a cover of Danny Whitten's 'I Don't Want To Talk About It' in the summer of 1988, now included on CD 2.
In a beautifully presented 2 CD casebound book, put together with the full involvement of Ben and Tracey, and featuring a newly-written note by the couple, along with all the lyrics, Idlewild features eighteen bonus tracks: 10 non-album single A- and B-sides, and 7 previously unreleased home demos, and a previously unreleased version of Apron Strings , recorded for, but not used in the John Hughes film She s Having A Baby .
In a beautifully presented 2 CD casebound book, put together with the full involvement of Ben and Tracey, and featuring a newly-written note by the couple, along with all the lyrics, Idlewild features eighteen bonus tracks: 10 non-album single A- and B-sides, and 7 previously unreleased home demos, and a previously unreleased version of Apron Strings , recorded for, but not used in the John Hughes film She s Having A Baby .
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this about 18 months after it came out but my copy does not have the Rod Stewart song. Actually it's a Danny Whitten song (of Crazy Horse and Neil Young fame) and I Love it.
Idlewild has a sense of maturity, which is stunning when you consider that EBTG were still spring chickens when they produced it. It has fine production values and really shows that they had been on a fast learning curve re sparse v full arrangements.
The songs touch you and are like small vignettes into possible lives. They have such conviction that they could be factual or just beautifully crafted short stories. For many years it was the only EBTG album I owned. I just could not imagine anything else they did could be this good. I was wrong, they have produced many fine albums and now I would be hard pressed to name a favourite. Over the years they have changed but managed to preserve that essential quality that makes them who they are.
A very special album by a very special group. Highly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Classy pop? No, something far more. Pop, no matter how classy, doesn't weather 20 years like this and still have the power to move. This album is one that I have listened to repeatedly over that whole time. At times, it has real touches of sublimity. There is real pain here, a longing for a better world that is always somewhere just beyond reach, a world from which we are barred by our neuroses and emotional attachments. And there are moments of redemption too, when it seems we can almost escape, listening to Caruso or hearing shouts from the playground.
Far from an Ikea exercise in pop style, this is a work of extraordinary beauty and maturity.
Far from an Ikea exercise in pop style, this is a work of extraordinary beauty and maturity.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I'm no fan of their later dance-style, but this early work hits the spot for me. Tracey's voice is a treat to listen to, and the arrangements complement the songs perfectly. Goodbye Sunday and I Always Was Your Girl are favourites, as well as the Danny Whitten classic I Don't Want To Talk About It, but there are no weak songs. The only thing I would change is Ben singing on The Night I Heard Caruso Sing - he's not a bad singer but I'd rather hear Tracey any day.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Perfect, Classy, Intelligent, Timeless, Pop
Probably my favourite EBTG album. Tracey's voice is sublime and the mix of subject matter from 'Apron Strings' to 'The NIght I Heard Caruso Sing' stirs the emotions. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Infiniteloop
Along with Eden, ebtg's best 1980s LP
Idlewild marked a significant return to form when it was released in 1988. Reminiscent of the classic EDEN in its use of horns, guitars and percussion, IDLEWILD is nevertheless a... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2001
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