Read Review of Idlewild by Everything But The Girl
Review Summary
About the Author
EBTG: Everything But The Goods
Oct 28 '03 (Updated Oct 28 '03)
Pros A few decent songs...
Cons Mostly horrible, hollow, weak offerings...
The Bottom Line Not for new or old fans of Everything But The Girl, Idlewild borders on the category of total failure.
Full Review
With a long history and a prolific career to their name, I find it more than a little disturbing that the quality of Everything But The Girl’s albums is at best scattershot and at worst truly despicable. I’ve sampled their newer and their older albums and even a single or two here and there. But still I remain completely and totally unimpressed.
After reading about the apparent genius of the duo’s 1988 album Idlewild I decided to once again delve into their back catalogue. And once again, I find myself wholly and utterly disappointed. It is true that the album is more organic than EBTG’s work in the 1990’s, but it is a falsehood that the disc is anything but crap. The disc painfully dated and sounds too much like adult contemporary for my own tastes—and probably the taste of many other listeners like myself.
Since the start (1982 Hull, England), EBTG has been the work of two individuals. Ben Watt (also known for his programming skills) plays guitar and piano while also acting often in the role of producer and occasional vocalist. Tracey Thorn is the face and voice of the outfit. And together, over the course of two decades, EBTG has released eleven albums and a load of singles and EPs. Their catalogue is intimidating however as much as I really want to love them the music doesn’t do anything for me. It is on the whole too cold and detached not to mention melodramatic and painfully unoriginal. These words, remember, come from out the mouth of a girl particularly fond of electronica and trip-hop alike—to genres to which EBTG’s more recent works are part of.
It took until Idlewild for me to completely give up on EBTG. Their music is just not for me. I want richness, emotion, and realness but in the end all they hand me is a stale melody on a cold steel platter. The most palatable of the bunch is smartly placed at the forefront of the album. Funny that—especially considering it’s not even an original composition. Instead, EBTG reinterprets I Don't Want to Talk About It from Danny Whitten which has been previously recorded by the likes of Rod Stewart, Neil Young and Rita Coolidge. In any case, it is the best kind of dentist office music. Light, melodic, and pseudo-emotional it requires little attention. But darn it all the combination of Thorn’s throaty voice and Watt’s guitar not to mention the strings sound nice and I can’t fault anybody for that…
But from there, Idlewild goes nowhere but down. Way down in fact. The smarmy, lounge-lizard feel of most of the eleven remaining songs is nauseating. The hell kicks off with Love Is Here Where I Live and doesn’t relent until Apron Strings fades into memory. I understand that the duo was attempting something of a cool jazz piece, but it comes off as badly dated elevator music. I don’t think this was at all what Thorn and Watt intended but it is definitely the direction of the album.
The overall feel and tenor of Idlewild is much too even. Thorn always sounds the same, the tempo is always pretty much the same, and the instruments change very little. So not only is the disc dated, it is also incredibly “samey.” A tiny bit of variety would have been much appreciated. This isn’t to say that I don’t occasionally like something here and there. It’s just that overall EBTG’s fifth album is an uninspired hunk of sludge.
I don’t want to come off as biased (I’m not…I really did give this album a try) so it is important I make a few notes. First, I’m a bit interested in the sparkling, light These Early Days. It is by far one of the most appealing pieces here. Unfortunately it is followed up by something much too reminiscent of Madonna circa 1986. Sprinkled here and there are hints of talent and drive and worthiness: The Night I Heard Caruso Sing is a rare turn for Watt at the front and is unquestionably one of the best songs while Lonesome for a Place I Know is a genuinely lovely track.
But for every decent song, there are two horrid ones. Therefore, this album on the whole cannot be anything but bad. Time and time again I try to give EBTG the benefit of the doubt and time and time again I get burned. I think Idlewild should be the official last straw. Definitely not recommended—not even for fans of the band during the 1990’s.
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. I Don't Want to Talk About It
02. Love Is Here Where I Live
03. These Early Days
04. I Always Was Your Girl
05. Oxford Street
06. The Night I Heard Caruso Sing
07. Goodbye Sunday
08. Shadow on a Harvest Moon
09. Blue Moon Rose
10. Tears All over Town
11. Lonesome for a Place I Know
12. Apron Strings
Muze: Copyright 1995 - 2008 Muze Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.