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Another classic Jul 29, 2008
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1NAT23ZEFER16 My name is Jeremy Gloff. I am a musician (check me out on Amazon!) and retro music enthusiast. If you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my Amazon user profile to check out my other reviews. I am always up for making new friends and discussing the music I love!!!
Bleak & beautiful Jul 30, 2007
The 1987 album Savage saw Eurythmics return to their electronic/experimental roots after the soul/R&B excursion Be Yourself Tonight (1985) and the full-bodied pop-rock of Revenge (1986). It has been substantially enhanced with the addition of 5 bonus tracks and deluxe packaging that includes a booklet with historical notes.
Whilst Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) is experimental yet catchy and I've Got A Lover (Back In Japan) tuneful and pleasant enough, it's with the buoyant Do You Want To Break Up? that the album really gathers momentum. The next 3 songs are true classics, each reflecting a different side of Eurythmics at their most creative. The deceptively breezy You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart is a strange mix of cynicism and hope, despair and elation.
Shame is perfect 60s nostalgia at its most evocative and hypnotically tuneful, while the eerie title track creates a beautifully bleak landscape of alienation and despair, like Love Is A Stranger stripped of romanticism. Atypical of the album, I Need You has prominent acoustic guitars and a live feel. Brand New Day starts out as a moving morning-after ballad and develops into an atmospheric uptempo number.
Amongst the bonus tracks, my favourites are the extended philharmonic version of Beethoven and the dance mix of Shame. There is also a powerful live version of I Need You, and the album concludes with the Lennon/McCartney song Come Together. The bonus tracks and the de luxe packaging has improved an already classic album by these masters of innovative synth-pop. Savage is a must-have for Eurythmics fans and all those who love timeless pop music.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The best of Eurythmics Jun 30, 2007
Some might like best the "Sweet Dreams" Eurythmics, featuring the frigidly-cool, androgymous detachment of a carrot-topped Annie Lennox. Some may prefer the hard rock of "Be Yourself Tonight," with its funky riffs and a more human Annie Lennox holding her own vocally against Aretha Franklin. But whichever Eurythmics CD you prefer the most, all suffer from the same problems. The hits are consistently awesome -- well-crafted songs filled to capacity with pop hooks, professional musicianship, and sung by one of the great voices of the last few decades. BUT ... the filler is wretched. Flat, lifeless (but well-played and well-sung) boring no-idea songs that go nowhere.
"Savage" is where all of the best features of the Eurythmics come together. It's basic electronic disco, but the songwriting and arrangements have never been more consistent. In other words, there is so much less filler. "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart" may feature Annie Lennox's best vocal performance, striking the appropriate balance of the emotions of resignation, understated anger, and want. "Beethoven (I Love to Listen to)" and "Heaven" are pure fun electro-disco. The amusing "I Need a Man" adds some "rawwwwwwwk" to the disco sound. (Yes, rock and disco are not incompatible. Just listen to KiSS do their classic disco burner "I Was Made for Loving You.")
The bonus tracks are notquite as essential as they are on many of the others Eurythmics' "Remastered" releases. The one bonus track of note is a surprisingly good reading of the Beatles' over-played "Come Together." Annie's vocals turn this into a demand, rather than John Lennon's simple request.
CLASSIC EURYTHMICS CD WITH A VARIETY OF TREATS! May 15, 2007
Remastered and sounding sensational- Eurythmics' "Savage" is one of their best accomplishments! The original songs from the 1987 lp are given a nice remastering and the bonus songs are a great treat! Best of the bunch is the remix "I Need A Man" (Macho Mix) which is a total blast in it's re-mixing arrangement! The great rendition of the Beatle's "Come Together" is completely awesome! Annie's vocals with Dave's back-up on this is great! These two songs alone make the purchase of the "Savage" (Remastered) cd worth every penny!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Premonition & Prophecy & Prescience Jan 19, 2007
I found myself with the melody of "Beethoven (I Love to Listen to)" going thru my head today and so I thought I'd write about this album. I love this album. In this world of "Desperate Housewives", this album is even MORE relevant today then when it was released. At the time of its release, I think many thought the themes were harsh, dark and edgy...and they are. But I also think this album was a bit ahead of its time. We were in the feel-good-80's, musically. George Michael had "Faith", Whitney Houston was dancing with somebody who loved her (or was looking for that somebody at least), Robbie Nevil's mantra was "C'est la Vie", Belinda Carlisle was telling us "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" and we were all dancing to "La Bamba". Plus, Enya was coming up just around the corner in 1988. So I think the mood this album conveyed was not received well in 1987.
Today, in a world grown just a bit more weary (or "desperate", if you will), the themes of this album hold up and resonate even more so. A bit of prescience on Annie & Dave's part. This album expresses quite eloquently all the darker forces, feelings & emotions we all grapple with...frustration, anger, shame, alienation...all within ambitious musical surroundings both aggresively up-tempo ("I Need A Man" & Beethoven [I Love to Listen to])and brutally downtempo ("Savage"). My favorite cut is "Shame"...never has a song been better constructed....mid-tempo with a built-in component of poignancy you'd never think could be captured so well (just listen to the sample). Another great moment on this album is the break/bridge in "I Need A Man"...a symphony of lashing words just roll from Annie Lennox at a remarkable pace of what she's NOT looking for in a man. Just try to sing along at home! It's one of the best cathartic moments on any album.
This really is a centerpiece in the Eurthymic's catalog of work. It is one I believe has been highly underrated. Progressive in only the way a Eurthymics album uniquely could be. If you can, also try to find the accompanying video album!
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