ABC's Beauty Stab: C/D?

beauty stab :
'can't complain, mustn't grumble, help yourself to another slice of apple (pause) crumble'

if we must have a lost ABC record then yeah let it be 'how to be a zillionaire'. if only for the cover!

beauty stab is ACE,
maybe not as good as lex,
brave and crazy = GOOD

Geir OTM! (Did you see what I just said!)

Beauty Stab sounds damned good this am.

Classic!

you know, there has always been all this press re this being their guitar album.
yet, in 2015, this does not sound that far removed from 'lexicon ..'.
the production is still massive and fantastic.
yes, there are glam guitars from time to time,
but these are balanced out with the sheer orchestral perfection excess e.g.by default by design
I actually think this album may be better than lexicon ...

I am ashamed that when this came out, I read all the reviews that said "this is a huge misstep after that amazing first album" -- and, not having enough money to check for myself, just took their word for it and still haven't heard it

she's vegetarian except when it comes to sex
he's strictly ad-lib except when he consults the text

I actually listen to this far more than Lexicon, to be quite honest. Lexicon is, of course, more intricately produced, but Beauty Stab has a punch to it that I really like.

I listen to this way more than Lexicon too, though that's probably a bit to do with having Lexicon memorized backwards and forwards. At this point, Lexicon is essentially uploaded in 24-carat surround sound in my brain. Actually lisssstening to it really doesn't need to happen very often.

Beauty Stab was actually my first ABC album... er, cassette. Christmas 83, along with More Fun in the New World and Whammy. Being 12 and not particularly exposed to the press (that would wait until Star Hits launched in America soon after), I loved it from the get-go.

Enough to be totally delirious about ABC by the time Zillionaire was released in 85. Clearly, Zillionaire isn't the best album ever released or anything, but, for a couple years in the mid-80s, it had a more profound impact on me than anything before or since. To the point where (I've probably mentioned this in some ABC thread) me and my best friend raided all the tacky 70s clothes in the attic and dressed up as Zillionaire-era Martin and Mark for Halloween (I was Mark) AND I chose Martin as my middle name when they made me pick one for confirmation (lapsed Catholic here).

The zig zags of those first three albums were hugely exciting to little me and still effect what I desire from artists to this day ("yay Lulu! yay Neither Fish nor Flesh! Do something unexpected! Come on! Fail hard!"). Which makes their descent into end of the pier entertainment all the more sad. Though I'd certainly never begrudge Fry needing to make a living/put the kids through school/etc.

Right. That's enough of my blabbing!

Zillionaire isn't the best album ever released or anything, but, for a couple years in the mid-80s, it had a more profound impact on me than anything before or since.

I wouldn't go quite this far but i'd come close. it changed my life.

best post ever mr. raffles.

ta.

In addition to the music on the album, there was a whole package going on there... the remixes, the bizarre lineup, the cartoons, their newfound (relative) outside/underdog status, tales of Eden performing on UK TV wearing a vibrator belt, Martin and Mark's constant big-upping of modern/current hip-hop/rnb/dance music, the clothes, the artwork (oh the artwork!), the liner notes, the videos ('Be Near Me' is still my fave video)... clearly, I could go on.

Hugely exciting to an impressionable 14 yr old.

Someone much more eloquent than I could/should 33 1/3 the shit out of this album/era.

thanks for that, mark e.

Opportunities to blab about them don't come up (as) much (as I'd like).

Yeah, great post, mr raffles!

Like many, I'd heard so much negative talk of Beauty Stab that it put me off actually checking it out for quite some time. Of course, curiosity ended up getting the better of me and I decided to check it out one day and was preparing myself for the worst but when I actually heard it, my immediate thought was "huh, this isn't actually awful at all, and it's certainly better than a lot of albums that are seen as less great follow-ups to classic albums by quite some way" ... suddenly all the statements I'd read about the album being a "huge misstep" seemed incredibly over the top.

What are the remixes from this period? I just know the longer version of That Was Then, and the megamix thing. Are there any more?

Nah. That's all there was.

I was being wildly off topic, bangin on about the Zillionaire era!

this album is a trip, i dig it

unzip
unzip!

Martin Fry just let it rip
a total trip
unzip!
unzip!

Still classic!

I've got this cranked up again and yeah, still my favourite ABC album.

yeah yeah yeah

HEY CITIZEN!

I sort of love this album.

It's a solid album, still listenable. It's no Lexicon, though. That album is an unquestionable classic.

I love that it is produced by Gary Langan and 100% has the Art of Noise drum sound.

I sort of love this album too. I play it more than Lexicon even if I love it less.

I picked this medley up in a charity shop recently. The colour scheme makes me want some cream soda.
https://www.discogs.com/release/1710821-ABC-Selections-From-The-Magnificent-New-ABC-Long-Player-Beauty-Stab