plorentz's Full Review: Revenge (Deluxe Edition) [Digipak] [Remaster] by E...
Some of the most pleasurable things in life are the product of decay. Where, for instance, would we be without the natural fermentation process, by which millions of tiny bacteria munch away voraciously on big, delicious fructose, and sucrose, and glucose molecules and convert them into things like alcohol and carbon dioxide, thereby transforming something as harmless and plain as grape juice into a deep, indulgent Burgundy - something dark and rich in both flavor and color, something as sleek and silky as blood, something as intoxicating as an evening of illicit heavy petting.
As far as natural chemical processes go, fermentation rawks! But still, there's a thin line between "fermentation" and "putrefaction". Or to put it a little more concretely: one man's sauerkraut is another's rotten cabbage; and even the proudest of Wisconsin cheese connoisseurs would have to admit that the most delectable brick of limburger still smells like a big, nasty fart.
Which brings me, somewhat improbably, to the Eurythmics, and their fifth studio album, Revenge.
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By 1986, and in approximately the same amount of time it will have taken Maroon 5 to release their second studio record, the Eurythmics had released five albums (including the 1984 soundtrack), had mounted several concert tours, and, against prevailing trends, had become one of the most phenomenally successful acts in... Da World.
Their previous album Be Yourself Tonight had yielded no fewer than five hit singles, and credibly introduced a group theretofore known to most as a twinkly synth pop two-hit wonder with a gimmicky look to classic rock and R&B audiences via songs like "Would I Lie To You?" (which hit #2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart) and their collaboration with Aretha Franklin (and subsequent staple of chick-flick soundtracks and Chicken Soup for the Soul comps) "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves".
However - and this at the risk of crafting a bulging, overly florid, overly ripe metaphor (Oh my gawd, he's describing his own metaphor metaphorically! Someone stop him before he hurts someone!) - the fruits of the Eurythmics' labor were starting to bulge and darken and, yes, ferment on their vines. Exhaustion was setting in, and ghosts of legal and personal battles past (something to do with the Tourists?) were haunting the two anew.
Revenge, then, released in 1986, is a direct chemical byproduct of all that - not only their hardest rocking record to date, but also their harshest, most blatantly mean as well. And though it produced four of the group's strongest singles, it also turned off many who had tuned in for the more joyous, empowering Be Yourself Tonight, and, at least in the U.S., it landed the duo in a commercial doldrums from which they would never recover. Of those singles, only one of them - "Missionary Man" - made Billboard's Top 40. But then, whoah.
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Rising out of a bog of southern gothic harmonica, all dripping with weeds and other bits of primordial muck like a b-movie swamp monster, "Missionary Man" (also a #1 Mainstream Rock hit) - with its hard, commanding vocal by Lennox (augmented by the fiery gospel wails of Joniece Jamison), Dave Stewart's roaring, sell-those-t-shirts riffage, the lyrics' religious overtones and fiercely sexual power dynamics, not to mention the song's video which featured Annie's face in the grips of an elaborate torture device - is the kind of song that can make even the most righteous among us simultaneously recoil in horror and squirm in indecent pleasure.
It certainly inspired a lot of bitter argument about the objectification of women between me and my then junior high girlfriend Tanny. But I think Tanny had it wrong. Annie, placed in a position of power by her celebrity (and sex symbol) status, was acting the part of the powerful, revered clergyman, and taking gross advantage of her station, committing against the listener the closest approximation of rape that a vocal performance can be:
Stop what you're doing!
Get down upon your knees!
I've a message for you that you better believe!
Personally, the song terrified me when I first heard it, but that's what I loved about it then. And its power has only grown more potent and relevant in recent years, in light of the many public disgraces of the Catholic church.
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To reiterate:Revenge is not a bad record. But, it is a butt nasty, bad ass one, where a song like "Missionary Man" co-exists uncomfortably with the gorgeous, contemplative "The Miracle of Love"; where a dismissive kiss-off in the form of a jangly, leather-boot-stomping, British Invasion-inspired anthem ("Thorn In My Side") breathes the same smoggy air as the optimistic, humble, blue denim rock of "When Tomorrow Comes"; where the reassuring melody of "Take Your Pain Away" is nearly drowned by the song's thunderous bass rumble and Lennox's observations about the cyclical nature of romantic hurt in "A Little of You" is set to a perky Lite FM jingle of a chorus.
From a production standpoint, Revenge represents the point where Dave Stewart's Inner Rawk Gawd gets the better of him, where he seems willing to smother the slightest hint of delicacy or nuance or good taste with a steaming, fragrant slab of bombast. Sonically, this is a record about studded leather, sweaty chests and swift kicks in the butt. And to a certain extent, the arena-ready muscularity of it all works. But it's also wearying after awhile, and by the end of the disc, when Stewart is ready to drag out his overstuffed duffle bag of found sounds for "In This Town" and "I Remember You", it's really hard to give a shit. You just want to go to sleep or something.
Like maybe you had too much of that Burgundy. And you've got some really nasty gas from all that sauerkraut. And nobody really wants to be around you after that limburger and onion sandwich.
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But, chin up, sauerkraut fans! Like all the other CDs in Legacy's long-awaited Eurythmics reissue campaign, Revenge comes in a shiny new tri-fold digi-pak package (designed by Laurence Stevens) loaded with period photos, historical liner notes, and a half dozen bonus tracks, the best of which are also the most redundant: three supercool 12" remixes including an icily percussive mix of "Thorn in My Side" that totally reinvents the song's vibe without sacrificing it's catchiness or listenability. There's also a neat live acoustic version of "When Tomorrow Comes", along with a rare (but inessential) soundtrack cut "Revenge 2" and a really, really ugly, really, really cheap sounding (the synths on it remind me of Doug and Bob MacKenzie's "12 Days of Christmas") cover of The Temptations' "My Girl" [Guy].
Like all of these reissues, Revenge is a worthy purchase, but of the band's classic run of albums, it's one of the least essential.
"Revenge" [deluxe edition] by The Eurythmics
RCA / Legacy Records
Originally released 1986
Reissue released 11/15/2005
Produced by Dave Stewart
Remastered by Ian Cooper
76 min.
SONGS: Missionary Man - Thorn in my Side - When Tomorrow Comes - The Last Time - The Miracle of Love - Let Go! - Take Your Pain Away - A Little of You - In This Town - I Remember You /BONUS: When Tomorrow Comes (extended) - Thorn In My Side (extended) - Missionary Man (extended) - When Tomorrow Comes (live acoustic) - Revenge 2 - My Guy
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