ABC post "Lexicon of Love"

My take on their albums (save for "Traffic" which I actually haven't heard):

Beauty Stab:
I know it does have its supporters, but I believe I belong to the majority in absolutely hating it. A completely ill-advised "rock" sound that doesn't fit them at all. It does feature the brilliant pop single "S.O.S" though so it isn't all bad.

How To Be a.... Zillionaire!:
Considerably better again. Again an attempt at updating their sound, but keeping some of the characteristics of the early ABC sound as well. Never liked the "title track", which just sounded too modern for its own good, but this album has several strong songs with "Vanity Kills" and "Be Near Me" being classic ABC in particular.

Alphabet City:
This is probably their one album that sounds the most like "Lexicon Of Love" and it's a plesant listen. Surely Julian Mendelsohn is not Trevor Horn and the magic of the production on the original is not repeated. The amount of FM pianos and FM basses may sometimes be a bit too frequent here. But the songs are often very good, and in this case it also include the non-singles. "The Night You Murdered Love" and "King Without a Crown" are obvious highlights, but "Think Again" and some others are also very nice.

Up:
Another failed attempt at sounding "modern", although there are tracks trying to retain some kind of ABC sound, and the album is definitely less hopeless than "Beauty Stab", yet another disappointment after a couple steps in the right direction.

Abracadabra:
Maybe their best combination of a modern sound and the traditional ABC style, and a hidden gem that many are not aware of. Their best post-1990 album.

Skyscraper:
Again suffering from not sounding like ABC at all. A whole lot of acoustic guitars and a sound that... well... it sounds like a pretty tired band actually.

My vote for "Alphabet City" then.

A couple of exceptions aside, every note recorded after LOL is depressingly fourth-rate -- I mean, like Cyndi Lauper-type bullshit. Zillionaire is the best (and boasts "Tower of London" and "Be Near Me"), and sounds like Baltimora imitating ABC and failing miserably.

Beauty Stab gets my vote, I listened to it recently and enjoyed it a lot more than I remembered. I don't think it's as rock as it's made out to be, it sounds like they were aiming for the same sound Roxy Music went for on Avalon.

It's closer to Flesh + Blood; they even share studio musicians.

Beauty Stab does some interesting things with dynamics: the strings cutting through the guitar solo in "Bite The Hand"; the entirety of "If I Ever Thought You'd Be Lonely" and "Unzip." But, man, those solos are clumsy -- it's like someone handed me a tuba and said, "Here, play something."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Zillionaire for me -- tho I'll rep for Beauty Stab as well, which I once saw described as Art of Noise with guitars. But Zillionaire has great tunes and is one of the great Fairlight and LinnDrum records.

Zillionaire changed my life - I haven't listened to it in years but as a personal touchstone, as the first record whose depth and power I truly came to understand on the floor of a dance club, it holds a special place in my heart. The club at which this happened is its own whole long halcyon-days story (what my-clubbing-days story isn't?) but yeah. The mention of ABC for me immediately triggers dear, sweet memories of some of the most fabulous people I ever knew, and me too neurotic and sick to get to know any of them as well as I ought have outside the club, but all of us one in spirit for "Be Near Me" or "Millionaire" in their long mixes.

zillionaire undersigned.
some great tunes, some fun production, and those cartoons.
i love it.

Beauty Stab. I preferred Zillionaire at the time but then I also wore pegged, stone washed denim jeans.

Anyone else familiar with "Abracadabra"? I feel that is one of few examples of an 80s band updating to a more "modern" sound, but at the same time retaining all the stylistic elements of their heyday, sounding unmistakenly like themselves. While my favoourite late period ABC album remains "Alphabet City", that one comes close.

Didn't Marcello rate 'Abracadabra' as a good'un ? Sure he mentioned it on a thread somewhere.
I never picked it up, as I listened to some clips online and decided to stear clear.

aero, that's a great story, and I wouldn't have expected it!

i keep meaning to get zillionaire .. on cd just for the extra tracks/remixes, and i have to say that post made me regret not acting sooner (i've never heard any of the extended versions .. )

This compilation has the famous Munich disco remix of "Be Near Me."

umm forgove the question, but why is it famous ?

forgive of course.

It's the one that was a massive club hit in '85.

I always found it curious that Zillionaire and Alphabet City were bigger hits in America.

TS: Pet Shop Boys' "Opportunties (Let's Make Lots of Money)" vs ABC's "How To Be A Millionnaire"

I really really really did like Beauty Stab for about two months a few years ago. It's still my favourite post-Lexicon, followed by Alphabet City.

"Be Near Me" is obviously the best post-Lexicon single, through.

Beauty Stab for me too - while I found Zillionaire interesting when it came out, and I still look back on it fondly, it just doesn't continue to connect with me as well as its predecessor does. And for all the talk about Beauty Stab being some huge departure, "That Was Then But This is Now" was still a killer track when it came out, despite it not being buffed to a high-gloss sheen by Mr. Horn.

Trevor Horn didn't produce "That Was Then" -- they coproduced the album with their engineer, and the rest of their output was self-produced.

Caveat: Bernard Edwards produced a few tracks on Alphabet City.

that's what he said. (xpost)

oh yeah, woops. My bad.

btw Christgau loves Beauty Stab as much LOL:

Beauty Stab [Mercury, 1983]

I don't get these complaints that Martin Fry has abandoned his shallow but ingratiating popcraft for a brave/pretentious but/and ill-advised stab at social significance. Except for "The Look of Love," a super-catchy fluke that apparently confused people, instant hooks weren't how the first album worked either, and his shallowness was always more apparent than real. As with the debut, give this one five spins and you'll remember every track, with "She's vegetarian except when it comes to sex" your first but not last aha. Whether you'll enjoy it all as much is another matter--there's a slight loss of verve. But that was then and this is now. A-

He's wrong about remembering every track.

Can't complain, mustn't grumble, help yourself to another piece of apple crumble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPm_v4vTPgw

I love "How to be a Zillionaire." Great album w/so many wonderful personal memories + I dig the artwork

http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/PHhOUYdg2S8/0.jpgp

lol – I was trying to post a pic of the cartoon band drawings

http://www.currybet.net/images/blog2009/03/20090324_zillionaire.jpg

The club in question, which unfortunately now always makes me sing a Magnetic Fields lyric in my mind: "I know all the nicest people/most of them are dead now"

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I have/had every single one of their 12"s from the "Zillionaire" album. Brilliant, especially the extended/alt version of "Towers Of London".

Never tolerated "That Was Then But This Is Now" in the slightest.

This, however, is an absolutely classic pop single, up there with the best moments on "Lexicon Of Love":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-DJOF8W8ZA

This thread has taught me that I enjoy ABC's music more if I just listen and don't try to watch the videos.

Those videos are great, not least this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIOKOADDnY8

Oh, man, that video is as unwatchable as that song is unlistenable.

Ha, I love the song/video — it's very cheeky

I absolutely love the song. Maybe my favourite on "How To Be a Zillionaire", at least besides "Be Near Me".

Great thread... and lots of great music post-LoL.

I'd run 'em like this:
Zillionaire (the artwork! the videos! the remixes! the interviews reppin for hip-hop and hanna-barbera!)
Beauty Stab (bound to disappoint after Lol, but a fine record. for all its rock-ness, it's a very VERY ABC record)
Up (not bursting with tunes... though old fans might like "Paper Thin"... but nice to see them embrace the modernity of their remixes on an actual album)
Skyscraping (flashes of serious goodness, but some weird lapses in taste... and too many honking-Glenn Gregory bvs)
Alphabet City (AWESOME remixes for Smokey, Murdered and King, but the record is a bit of a damp squib. Don't look back!)
Abracadabra (pleasant, but way too tasteful. more personality pls)
Traffic (boy, this wasn't good)

Love that Martin is stomping on a Sun Records logo, while the band "plays" fake instruments behind him in this tv performance:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Klxs8G9WGSc

Okay so how about ABC *pre* Lexicon of Love. And pre-ABC period?

http://nedraggett.tumblr.com/post/55143467769/most-interesting-i-quote-my-friend-mackro-here

tune!

didn't Trevor Horn do a remix of Be Near Me, or did i dream that? Discogs seems to say otherwise.

end of may : version 2
should i be worried.
people connected to the ILM crew are saying its good, but ...
i so so so want this to be brilliant.
however, no trevor horn involvement worries me.

http://blastecho.com/abc-returns-with-the-lexicon-of-love-2/

Huh. Well, I adore Anne Dudley (her classical music album from the late 90's is one of my favorites) and I'm definitely curious to check it out

I would be more excited if Trevor Horn was involved. I haven't listened to any of their albums since Alphabet City but I'm going to have to give this one a go.

I'd listen if it was a collaboration with Jamie Fry/The Pre-New.

Oh fucking hell, just no!

What's the point? We all know this is going to be crap!

end of may : version 2

I bought it on a whim and it's really, really good! like, shockingly good! Is is as good as the first one? Don't be silly! But is it pretty fuckin good, a fair stab at trying to do that miraculous thing one more time? yes it is!

seriously people this is a very very good record, I listened again today. Like, Trevor Horn's not here so it's not up to the gigantism of the debut...but the songwriting, the singing, the vibe...this is a very, very good album

^^^was very curious about this, would def pick it up if I ran across it...a lot of these low-key 80's-era comebacks turn out to be pretty good (Scritti, Dexys, etc.)

Disappointed this isn't on Spotify ... was excited to hear it.

lexicon of love 2 rules

Yeah, this was a lot better than I expected. Lyrically it could have been stronger, but it sounded really good overall. I should go back to it.

yeah lyrically is where it's a little deficient. and yeah -- to hear it you gotta actually find a copy. but man. have had it on repeat in the car, it's a true pleasure