Love: And A Million Other Things [CD]

Those who had been in thrall to Propaganda's "Secret Wish" album were eager to see what Claudia Brucken did following the brief flourish of Act in 1988. The answer was this classy album that married Claudia's clear, classy and unique voice to some dark, danceable pop, courtesy of producers Pascal Gabriel and Steve Nye.

The music is pitched somewhere between the brooding electronics of Electribe 101, the teutonic detachment of Propaganda and the tight dance-pop of Vogue-era Madonna (not likely to be a popular comparison, I know, but I'm thinking more of the arrangements and production than Claudia's vocals). Where other artists have mined the tension between a highly emotional soul/blues-influenced female vocal and cold electronica (e.g. Yazoo, Eurythmics, the aforementioned Electribe 101), this album subverts the genre by marrying Claudia Brucken's almost icy vocal style with slick, programmed backings but emotional and confessional lyrics.

The project was a commercial flop on its release in 1991, possibly due to the choice of lead-off single, "Absolut(e)". Far from the strongest song here, I can only think that someone pictured a club full of frugging young persons, who would subsequently rush out and buy the song the next day; it's certainly not a fair representation of the rest of the album. Follow-up single "Kiss Like Ether" was massively better, but by that stage Island Records seem to have gone off the boil and, anyway, there was probably a new U2 album to level the balance sheet.

Overall it's a strong album and has dated well (at the time I recall it sounded overly 'bassy' and a bit muffled compared to the production sparkle of "A Secret Wish", but it sounds fresh 19 years on). The songs are wistful and yearning, but with a constant undercurrent of danceability. The closing "Surprise" even ropes in the avant-garde Bow Gamelan Orchestra, which producer Gabriel tamed using rudimentary sampling and tape-splicing, to construct a rather sinister, ever-growing rhythmic contraption around Claudia's siren voice. I've eased away from 5 stars only because of Absolut(e) and the nagging suspicion that Claudia's songwriting was at its best when she had Michael Mertens as a foil in Propaganda.

Having said that, the bonus mixes and B-sides are, in fact, exceptionally good, and the Electrical Embrace mix of Kiss Like Ether is outstanding, mixing shifting, scurrying eddies of synth under Claudia's slower-moving vocal as the song builds. I always loved 'Whisper' (which was the B-side of 'Absolut(e)' and the most Propaganda-like song here), and it could easily have been included on the main album.

The re-issue project was overseen by Ian Peel, who also 'curated' (his term) the recent 25th anniversary edition of "A Secret Wish". He gives a full account of how the CDs were mastered, all from digital master tapes apart from two obscure 12-inch mixes on Disc 2 (the Bastille Mix of Absolut(e) and the Earth Mood Magic in a Present Tense mix of Kiss like Ether) which were mastered from vinyl, since the original tapes had gone missing. Peel even reports rummaging through Pascal Gabriel's DAT locker and Claudia's personal collection in his attempts to find the master tapes - some dedication to duty! The CDs were mastered by Ken Peel and he seems to have done a very good job of keeping faithful to the original mix and opening up the sound nicely. No in-yer-face maxxed-out compression job here.

A fitting treatment for this long-awaited re-issue, and the 2nd instalment in a very good year for Claudia fans. We just need someone to re-issue "When Your Heart Runs Out of Time" (perhaps as a download), and I'll be back in Brucken heaven!

Claudia Brucken, lead singer of Propaganda and subsequently Act, had an impossible task making an album that would live up to the massive success of her former ZTT debut with Propaganda's 'A Secret Wish'. I remember being a bit underwhelmed when I first heard the lead single, Absolut(e), but I was not a big fan of the early '90s dance music, 2D when the mid-80s stuff had been so 3D. When she was recording the album, I read a brief interview, perhaps in Melody Maker (?) in which she stated her intention to name all the tracks with one word titles, but somewhere during the process she must have changed her mind, I thought, on the release of the second single, Kiss Like Ether; much better than Absolut(e), reminiscent of Duel, and just as good a pop song. The album was a bit disappointing at the time, just not as dramatic as I was expecting, and reviews were not enthusiastic either, causing this record to sink without trace. But as the years passed, I found myself listening to this album a lot, and I now appreciate the wonderfully spacious and smooth production, the surreal influence on the songwriting, and the very catchy pop hooks. Love: and a Million Other Things has definitely improved with age (as has Act's Laughter, Tears and Rage). I love that the reissue Cherry Red looks like it has put together includes a few mixes from the vaults that weren't available on the CD singles at the time, and I am about as excited about this release as I was when I saw Cherry Red were reissuing Helen Terry's Blue Notes album. I suspect nostalgia has something to do with my joy at these releases, but I would warmly recommend this album to anyone - it is unique and full of excellent songs - it just needed that one killer classic to elevate it to the iconic status of A Secret Wish.

I had never heard anything from this singer (or so I thought) when I bought a used copy of the original release of this album last summer. I bought it on a hunch, and boy was I not sorry! Even though it is 20 years old, this album has stood the test of time - an amazing feat for a dance based record from the early 90s. The album still manages to sound fresh and different. Every track is fantastic, although for me the standouts are the single "Kiss Like Eather", "Moments Of Joy" and the stunning "Surprise". You can literally hear the influences this album has had on a lot of albums that were to follow from other female artists.

After buying this album, I found out that I had heard her in Propaganda (I vagely remembered "Duel") and on the first solo album from Andy Bell. I have since bought the fantastic re-release of the Propaganda album, the original singles of "Absolut(E)" and "Kiss Like Ether" - and of course the re-release of this album! It is a most welcomed release - the sound it better, the bonus CD is a great thing to have and the booklet has some additional pictures and new liner notes (which include fascinating insights into the recording of "Surprise"). The back cover is different to the original release - my only complaint is the front cover, which looks like a bad (way too dark) copy of the original cover.

Next month will see the release of the first ever compilation from Claudia. The first single from it, "Thank You" is a fabulous proof that Ms Brucken has not forgotten anything. A great song, fantastic vocals - one can only hope that this compilation will be the start of more to come. Until then, "Love: And A Million Other Things" remains her only solo album to date. I urge everyone to check it out - because it truly might be the best album you never heard. Thank you Claudia!