Idlewild

Sounds like a boring, white Sade. I felt nothing.

More on the "idle" than the "wild" side. I don't think I could answer a single question about this album if you quizzed me about it.

I'm confident that there are 1001 albums worth listening to, but I'm not confident that it's a universal 1001 for everyone. Maybe there's a sweet spot in the 500-750 range, but I know that doesn't make for a catchy book title. This album feels like it's comfortably in the "supplementary listen" appendix, outside of that core collection of 500-750.

It sounds like Sade and Kenny Loggins got together to make a record of synth-pop and jazz in the late 80s. The whole thing might just be a "we have Sade at home" record, except that we also get "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing", the one inexplicable male vocal piano ballad, in the middle of the record and the duet, "Tears All Over Town".

Not really sure why this is here … doesn’t even have their best song on it.

Didnt need two Everything But The Girl albums. The best song is a cover. It's elevator/on-hold music. 2/5.

This album’s tracks all the same energy level. Very laid back. It risks becoming boring but the quality of the lead female vocal is so very soothing, and blends in with the saxophone so smoothly. I can imagine a warm tropical day lounging on a patio with this on and just feeling like I would be floating. It is very much a background album. When I paid attention too closely it didn’t hold up as well.

The author definitely loves EBTG, and I have absolutely no problem with that. If I'd written a book of 1001 albums there would be 8 Genesis albums and at least 6 Rush albums on it, so they can put on it whatever they like.

As for EBTG, she has a lovely voice but this is really is background music for a sleasy cocktail bar. And I'd much prefer to be listening to it in a cocktail bar, especially if the cocktails were free and I can get slaughtered.

It's not awful, but they wrote and recorded better stuff than this collection.

2½

I don't mind it at all. It's very soft, bland even but there's a place for soft, bland music.

1/5. “Gimme an album with no soul, and make sure it sounds like it’s made of plastic too.” 80’s pop saxophone I despise you and will never forgive your crimes against music. Luckily it only appears on a spare few tracks here, but even without it this album is just nothing. The type of stuff that plays in the background of a terrible hallmark romcom.

Big yawn. See review #839.

Another snoozefest. Did not like this one at all.

Interesting! My first impression was that it was New Wave pop, but even more boring. In fact, though, the arrangements aren't nearly as trivial as they seem at first glance, and Tracey Thorn's voice is truly special. So Everything But The Girl probably could have made really good music if... well, if they'd had compelling song material to work with. But they didn't.

Favorite track(s): Goodbye Sunday

The musical equivalent of skim milk.

Fine enough, kind of what you'd expect from an earlier Everything But The Girl album. They have their own sound, this sort of adult contemporary sound that doesn't suck like a Michael Bolton or Kenny G does. It's quite boring of a listen though, kind of comes with the territory. Made for someone but not me.

Interesting, but not remarkable in any way.

surprisingly nice

Worse than Coldplay

Sinceramente esperaba una muy mala experiencia, despues de haber leído unas cuantas reseñas pensaba que sería un album muy malo, principalmente vi comentarios muy malos hacia los instrumentos que aunque no son excelentes tantopo lo vi para tanto, las letras no son tampoco las mejores pero pues al menos a mi me gustó el album, bonitas notas y algo tranquilo

Pretty but boring

No. Sorry. The 80s is sometimes much maligned, but this bland twee synth nonsense is fully deserving of the hate. 100% the soundtrack to lots of posh Chelsea Girls with big hair and excessive makeup swaying whilst drinnking their cocktails and arsehole traders in suits talking about how much money they earned that day.