Released in 1982, The Lexicon of Love by ABC is one of the few real classic albums to emerge from the 80s pop scene. Many others, that sold in their millions at the time, now sound dated, but The Lexicon of Love sounds as fresh and exciting now as it ever did and has not been damaged by the passing of time.
If you had to pigeonhole ABC, they would probably fall most comfortably into the New Romantic category, although they were less about frilly shirts and make-up and more about glamour, glitz and gold lame suits! Although they released other albums, none quite reached the classic status afforded by this one (their 1987 single “When Smokey Sings” was the only one to ever really recapture the feel of “The Lexicon of Love”. Produced by Trevor Horn, who definitely has the midas touch when it comes to production, the album has a larger than life sound, and although synthesisers are used, most of the songs have fantastic arrangements featuring string, horn and brass sections. The orchestration is flawless, and I am sure it is this, and a minimal reliance upon electronic music that makes the album stand up to well, even some 20 years after its release. There are no tinny synths or drum machines to be heard.
Lead singer Martin Fry’s voice is also one of the best things about the album. Soulful, strong (but not strident like so many singers of the time) and versatile, he delivers a great performance every time, which balances out perfectly with the sumptuous (often almost over the top) orchestral feel, and is never overshadowed. His delivery is so effortless that it is often easy to take it for granted and forget what a good voice he has. He is rarely cited amongst the best vocalists of the decade, but, for me, he would feature in such a list.
The album contains four singles, quite an impressive number in those days when it was albums that drove the music sales industry, but it is one of those albums where there are no real sub-standard tracks and each of them would have stood up equally well as a single. That said, this is definitely more than just a collection of singles, and
the album holds together flawlessly. Normally, I am impatient with music, and rarely listen to an album as a whole, preferring to listen just to my favourite tracks, skipping past the weaker ones. This is one of literally a handful of CDs where my finger stays well away from the skip button, as the whole is definitely more than just the sum of its parts. It is the sort of album that you put on as background music, but then find yourself totally absorbed by.
In the Virgin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music, a weighty tome detailing just about ever band or performer you could think of and rating all their albums out of five stars, this is one of only a handful to receive a 5 star accolade – which in my mind is wholly justified.
The album opens with “Show Me”. Its opening bars are dramatic and orchestral, and it feels like something from a film musical or stage show. Then, it enters into a funky tune with catchy lyrics and you are straight into the album. This is a fantastic opening song, as, in its style, it is a good indication of things to come, but equally does not steal the thunder of the tracks that follow.
Then we have “Poison Arrow”, one of the band’s best known singles, once again funky, with catchy grooves. The lyrics of the bridge (rhyming Cupid with stupid with you did) may seem slightly silly, but lyrically, on the whole, the band are strong enough and clever enough that you can forgive them this, based on the fact that the irony would almost certainly not have escaped them.
“Many Happy Returns” is probably one of the lesser tracks on the album, but still not one that I would skip over. It is soulful and more serious than some of the other tracks and features Martin Fry almost slipping into a falsetto at times. It is also the first track where a female backing vocal starts to play a bigger part.
“Tears are not Enough” was also a single, and is another one that is not a favourite of mine as I find the chorus a little bit repetitive. That said, I will risk sounding repetitive myself in order to say that it is all relative, and a track that is not a favourite from this album is probably still ten times stronger than a lot of other songs by other artists.
”Valentine’s Day” is one of the album’s more serious songs and doesn’t have a catchy chorus like most of the others. It has some clever lyrics and is a perfectly understated link from the upbeat “Tears are not Enough” into the next track.
Next is “The Look of Love (Part 1)”. There will be few people who have not heard this song, as it is the band’s most successful and most played single – which still receives a lot of airplay now – and rightly so. From the plaintive trumpet in the introduction to the harp interlude half way through the song, everything about it is perfect. It is here that Trevor Horn’s slick production and the wonderful orchestration on the album are really displayed to maximum effect and it is a song that I will never tire of hearing. It features the well known spoken section where Martin laments his fruitless search for lost love (“And all my friends they might ask me. They say Martin maybe one day you’ll find true love…”) This could sound cheesy or contrived in songs, but when it features in a song that has everything you could wish for, it is just another great part of it all. At first play it is a perfect, catchy pop song, but every time you listen to it you will hear more, as it is a multi-layered masterpiece.
“The Look of Love” is a hard act to follow, but “Date Stamp” is definitely up to the job. The silky smooth female backing vocals are back again, perfectly complimenting Martin Fry’s voice in the track’s engaging, catchy chorus.
“All of My Heart” is up next, another single, with a dramatic orchestral introduction. It is a charming ballad of lost love with touching, meaningful lyrics, which builds up to a crescendo in the chorus before ending on a quiet note.
“4 Ever 2 Gether” (borrowing from Prince in its title!) probably holds the title for the strangest song on the album! In the most part it is another catchy tune, and a fairly dramatic song – one of those that you feel as if you’ve heard before, even when you haven’t! Towards the end, there is a very odd section where a disembodied voice picks up the song’s “speak no evil” lyric in quite a spooky repetition of “Speak!” “No!” which almost makes you feel as if the song is from a film or something, which I don’t think it is.
Next is “The Look of Love (Part 4)” (I don’t know what happened to parts 2 and 3!) If anyone was in any doubt of the brilliance of the orchestration of The Look of Love, then this will confirm it as it is a short, completely instrumental (save for a tiny bit of choral backing) version of the song, played mainly on trumpet, strings and harp.
The version of the album that I own closes with “Theme from Mantrap”, but I am not sure if this was on the original version, although it would be a shame if you got a version that didn’t include it because it’s just as strong as the other tracks on the album, and not the usual standard of “bonus tracks” that sometimes turn up on new versions of albums. Mantrap was a feature length film about ABC on tour, and this was its theme. It is, in fact, a different version of “Poison Arrow”, but it is not a remix, it is a complete re-recording. This time the song is in a minor key, with predominantly a piano backing, and is very bluesy and melancholic in style. As with the instrumental version of The Look of Love, this demonstrates the quality of the songs and the fact that the same song can be recorded in two completely different styles and still sound great.
This album really should be part of any connoisseur’s record collection. The 1980s pop scene is often looked down upon by “serious” musos, being accused of producing cheesy pop and dated electronica, but this album has managed to capture the spirit of the time and wrap it up into something very, very enduring. If you have heard ABC’s singles and enjoyed them, then this album will not disappoint, but please don’t just buy it for the singles – if that is what you want you may as well buy one of several Greatest Hits packages that were released in the late 80s and early 90s, but if you do you will be missing out. The whole album is a masterpiece, and you will find yourself forgetting that the songs were singles and will instead start to see them as part of the jigsaw. The lavish orchestral arrangements give the album the feel of a soundtrack (this is further brought about by the album’s cover that is reminiscent of a poster from a 1940/50s musical stage show) and when I play this in the car I am always disappointed if my car journey ends before I’ve managed to listen to the whole album!
I would recommend this album to absolutely anybody. If you are an 80s music fan then you will love it, but even if you are not then it will appeal simply because of its musical brilliance. I love 80s music anyway, particularly the New Romantic era, but my other half does not count it amongst his favourite musical styles, yet he still owns – and enjoys - this album. It’s currently a steal at £7.99 on Amazon, so why not add one more classic album to your collection?
PS Just a tiny, mini claim to fame: a friend of my Dad’s was a session musician who played trumpet on this album! He’s still playing and recently toured with The Blues Brothers stage show. Don’t all rush to ask me for autographs, will you?!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Yep. Your review brought back great memories of this album which a flatmate inflicted on me in Paris during the 80's. I hated it for about a week and then it just got under my skin. It's a classic... of some kind! Thanks for reminding me.
KRISPY13 17.04.2004 10:22
Dint think I knew the band, but recognised some of the tracks.....Kris
theediscerning 10.04.2004 11:55
Sure I've still got this on those old-fashioned cassette thingies. Well done on the diamond.
exceptional by (5%):
very helpful by (95%):
![101 [SACD] - Depeche Mode](http://imagesa.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/598/prod_small-43598.jpg)
![River Is Wide, The [Remastered] - Forum (The)](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/251/prod_small-6006251.jpg)
![Appetite For Destruction [PA] - Guns N' Roses](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/237/prod_small-44237.jpg)
![Back In Black [DualDisc] - AC/DC](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/505/prod_small-6303505.jpg)
![Songs To Remember [Remastered] - Scritti Politti - review by terriano](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/stars/2003/stars40.gif)
