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Initially the album was a touch off-putting, since it's more a Marc A. dance-pop album with music by Dave Ball than anything else -- not bad, but not 'Soft Cell' as such. But it's got some winners that stick with replaying, and some of the lyrics are Marc's sharpest in a while. "Monoculture" is a low-key single, to be sure -- and Joan's talk about the live show scares me a touch. They're playing Orange County next month.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 October 2002 12:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
Ned, you need to get the Soft Cell Live in Milan DVD to renew your faith as to why you should go and so them next month (lucky man!) The versions of 'Tainted Love' and 'Say Hello Wave Goodbye' are both excellent, particularly 'Tainted Love'. I've seen a few clips of Marc Almond performing 'Tainted Love' over the last few years and I've never thought that his heart was in it. The performance on the DVD, however, is just excellent as the crowd are buzzing with excitment. The best part is when 'Tainted Love' bleeds into 'Where Did Are Love Go?' and the audience start singing it long before Marc Almond does and then when he feeds them the words. I also thought that tracks like 'The Art of Falling Apart' and 'Martin' were much better than their recorded versions.
Jay Vee, if you love Soft Cell, you should definitely investigate 'Cruelty Without Beauty'. It's certainly not a dud. You can get some sample tracks but I should warn you that it's one of those albums where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Individual tracks make most sense when heard in the context of the whole album. The album stretches between two statements; the first of pessimism (Darker Times) and the final one of qualified optimism (On An Up). In between Marc Almond takes on a variety of roles such as a lonely middle aged loser in 'Last Chance', a media hungry celeb in 'Desperate', a world weary cynic in 'All Out Of Love' and a power mad autocrat in 'Caligula Syndrome'.
It's got a cleaner sound than I associate with the old Soft Cell albums. It reminded me in some ways of tracks like Heaven 17's 'Fascist Groove Thang'. It's the dance music with a message aspect, I suppose, although not all the tracks are dance tracks. There's an interesting using of brass instrumentation in with the synthesiser sounds in some of the tracks.
― Amarga, Saturday, 19 October 2002 10:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
Ned, you need to get the Soft Cell Live in Milan DVD to renew your faith as to why you should go and so them next month (lucky man!)Oddly enough, I just got it in the mail. ;-) Now, to see if it's compatible with my player (if not, I'll wait until I upgrade anyway and the show will still be a surprise). Picked up my tickets went they went on sale yesterday, rah!
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 October 2002 11:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
I think they've cancelled their UK tour as Marc Almond has a hernia.
Dontcha just love nostalgia.
― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Saturday, 19 October 2002 12:59 (twenty-one years ago) link