- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Homegrown soul produced by Trevor Horn and including the pop hit "Look of Love", The Lexicon of Love is bursting with hooks, clever lyrics and synthetic funk-inspired grooves that hold up better than most others from the early 1980s. ABC leader Martin Frey sings with a histrionic despair, at once naive and cynical, and all dressed up by horn and string sections that feel positively overwhelming. Such larger-than-life arrangements may seem over-the-top to some listeners, but as the soundtrack to a lexicon of love--how else would you expect it to sound? --David Cantwell
Review
ABC appeared at a turning point in pop, as the rough and tumble of post-punk gave way to a more sophisticated, lithesome Brit-funk, expounded by bands like Pigbag and Funkapolitan. Decked out in tailored suits and gold lame, the Sheffield quartet - fronted by the elegant Martin Fry - pounced onto dance floors in October 1981 with the splendid "Tears are Not Enough". "Poison Arrow" kept the blood circulating during the bitter winter of early 1982, before third single "The Look of Love" became their biggest hit. Then came the much-anticipated album, The Lexicon of Love. Now, over two decades later, their definitive statement gets the deluxe reissue treatment.
What a joy to hear this album again. It underpins just what a sharp band ABC were: witty, lyrical and very, very funky. Only Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom rivals this album for the smartest lyrics of 1982. And you can't dance to Elvis. Each track is a love affair in miniature: some are touching ("All of My Heart", "Show Me"), others a bitter invective at misplaced passion ("Many Happy Returns"). There is more going on in "2 Gether 4 Ever" than many bands squeeze into an entire album.
Band and producer Trevor Horn gelled immediately when they met to record : Horn described Fry's songs as "like disco, but in a Bob Dylan way". Dance music had rarely been as literate.
The extra tracks on disc 1 don't add a lot to the 1996 reissue, which expanded the original album with various jazz remixes and B-sides: notably their calling card, the James Brown-inspired "Alphabet Soup", and "Theme from Mantrap", their lounge version of "Poison Arrow". Disc 2 features some early demos and a previously unreleased live run-through of virtually the entire album, recorded during the band's heyday in 1982.
The Lexicon of Love stands as a landmark album in British pop. The synthetic Eighties' drum-thwaks and Chic-esque bass lines sound better now than ever. It gave disco a whole new vocabulary and helped pave the way for the dance movements of the late Eighties and Nineties. "I hold in my hand three letters," announces Fry on "Alphabet Soup". "Vitamin A, vitamin B and vitamin C". No prescription needed; no supplements required. This album replenishes mind, body and soul. --Rob Webb
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forget Thriller, this is the best 'pop' album ever,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lexicon Of Love (Audio CD)
Having ditched my old turntable for a new CD-only player I went through all my old vinyl and picked out the essentials that needed to replaced by CD. While 90% of the synth/pop stuff from the 80's now sounds dated, 'Lexicon' stood out as one of the few that still sounds as good in 2002 as it did around 20 years ago. To those too young to remember or weren't around 'Lexicon' shows how 'pop' is done properly. Big on glam, big on glitz, big on sound. Not for ABC black pullovers, Gap khakis and rehashed Beegees/Cat Stevens numbers.Every track is a winner, although I'd say the 'singles' are not as good as 'Valentine's Day', '4 ever 2 gether' and 'Many happy returns'.Its got the lot, lush string arrangements, big drums and some cracking bass lines. 'Thriller's often talked of as being the best 'pop' album made. Nah! This blows that away every time.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of THOSE albums,
By
This review is from: The Lexicon Of Love (Audio CD)
You know. The one that you like a song or two off of it, so you say, 'hey, give it a whirl', and you buy it and give it a listen. You stick to the excellent singles for a while, and then start to play the others. You enjoy them. You then play the whole damn thing through in one go, and then do it again. And again. Because it has grabbed you and is never, ever letting you go. And you want to shout it's praises in public, in the most superlative, terrible detail, to the bemusement of everyone else. Which is what I'm about to do here. You were warned.
'Lexicon...' is about love. Heartbreak, longing, bitterness, break-up, happiness- but instead of a string of cliched routine pop songs, ABC made what is essentially a kind of pop concept album. It even sort of features a persona, as Martin Fry's voice showcases the innocence of hopeful love and bitterness of a man scorned who feels frustration and sadness but is unable to really vent his anger (like most people, really). Each track is individual(there is no 'fade out' on any of the tracks) but also part of a whole, in terms of theme and execution. 'Show Me' opens the album, but by the end has become frantic in it's speed, and abruptly finishes, to then immediately launch into the splendid 'Poison Arrow', a perfectly produced bit of pop, complete with bitter, and possibly slightly ironic, lyrics, and a classic chorus ('Who broke my heart. YOU did, YOU did'). On 'Tears Are Not Enough', as Fry opens with a near falsetto, but proceeds to sound almost vicious ('yes you're shown you're tough...tears are not enough'). 'Valentine's Day' is notable for the wonderful ending lyrics, and the single 'Look of Love' also is a great showcase for Martin's great pop range, beginning on a high note and finishes with a vocal flourish that indicates his joy in the performance itself. 'All of My Heart' manages to be a pop ballad that fits this mostly up-tempo album, and despites first appearances, is not sappy. And 'Together 4 Ever' finishes the main part of the album in a desperate, dark finale that is both like and unlike the rest of it. 'Look of Love Part 4' is a pleasant, soaring instrumental, and I've always had a soft spot for the bonus track, the Mantrap theme, which is a reworking of 'Poison Arrow' which wouldn't sound amiss playing in the bar in 'Casablanca'- simple and melancholy. 'Lexicon' is great. Well-produced, well-written, well-performed, smart, fun and inventive, and one of the few pop albums that can be played now and still sound fresh. Worth trying, for there is a good chance that you'll like it, and the possibility that you might think it's just a bit more special.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect concept album.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lexicon Of Love (Audio CD)
When I was forced to listen to this album, back in 1982, by a brother with a curious Martin Fry haircut, I tried with all my might not to like it.I was won over in seconds by the lush orchestral opening with seemed so out of kilter with the single-note synthesiser music typical of the time.Each track built on the one before in such an uncontrived and seamless manner that, without trying, it built into the best concept album ever, and one of the best of all time. Times have flowed ever onwards and fashions have changed, yet this album sounds as fresh and contemporary today as it did all those years' ago.What a shame that the group chose to dramatically change tack after this, their seminal work; but there again, it was a hard act to follow. Do yourself a favour, buy the album and relive those days where everything seemed possible and adult responsibilities were something that your dad worried about.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
