Eurythmics
Revenge

THE REVIEW

It was 1985 when the duo Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart agreed to change a few items on the Eurythmics menu, which was rich, spicy, and enticing enough as it was. Until then, the all-pervasive synth had pretty much forged their trademark sound, and the very first trio of studio albums—In The Garden, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Touch—was the complete attainment of a refined avant-garde pop that even looked towards underground-alternative scenes; if the "sweet dreams" were pounding on the glittering speakers around the globe (and still remain rather resistant to leaving their evergreen stronghold today), Who's That Girl? and Here Comes The Rain Again sought to temper the early inflation of the band's brand with artistically dreamy sounds and well-constructed, absolutely non-redundant ballad hints.

Having reached the creative peak of Touch, Lennox and her partner decided to take a nice vacation from the styles of their debut and post-debut, opting to embrace the mainstream rock cyclone at the height of its invasion of pop territory. It was the era of Springsteen-style wardrobes, and the cover of Be Yourself Tonight could only consecrate one of the quintessential trends of the mid-late '80s: Annie, fresh from the suited-androgyny of Sweet Dreams and the S&M look of Touch (which, in my opinion, was the only discordant note in a record knocking on the doors of perfection), was portrayed as rocking, catchy, and gritty in the classic leather jacket. That album, moreover, features one of the cult collaborations of the period, Sister Are Doin' It For Themselves, with the soul legend Aretha Franklin.

Revenge, released in 1986, could only dignifiedly continue the journey of its predecessor, the master of great duets, and so it did. Perfectly adapting to the radio-friendly pop-rock of international charts and blending it with the remnants of the initial synth-new wave trio, the Eurythmics offered a simple and catchy, poppish, and listenable work, probably less daring than much more "reactionary" pieces like the aforementioned Touch and the successor Savage (the only concept album—almost—of the Lennox-Stewart partnership, centered around the frustration of the comedic diva-housewife of Beethoven), but nevertheless perfect for representing the sounds and moods of a decade with long and wide facets.

This album has everything and more of the best '80s radio rock and, at first listen, it almost seems like the small ensemble is having fun (and joking) as they delve into a musical genre already tried in all its sauces (and the grunge myth was yet to explode...): from the country of Let's Go! to the (pseudo) r'n'r of Missionary Man, In This Town and When Tomorrow Comes, along with the dance hints of Take Your Pain Away, the soft-instrumental melancholy in I Remember You and the electronic-new wave reminiscences for The Last Time. An honorable mention, finally, for the classic tear-jerker ballad The Miracle Of Love and for the very simple folk-pop of Thorn In My Side.

Bridging the gap between experimentation and mainstream, avant-garde and trend, the Eurythmics remained faithful to the pop character of their proposals and did not seek to make pretentious anti-commercial and radical-chic claims. Even though it may be inferior to the electronic production of their glory days, the first pop-rock phase (the second and last of We Too Are One and Peace will definitively conclude the band's activity) of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart can only receive wide praise, if only for contributing to illustrating the "good" component of the Eighties, the one of light-heartedness still far from the ultra-profit claims of our days and the continuous reshuffling (and nullification) of achievements obtained without too many upheavals and exaggerations.

Eurythmics, Revenge

Missionary Man - Thorn In My Side - When Tomorrow Comes - The Last Time - The Miracle Of Love - Let's Go! - Take Your Pain Away - A Little Of You - In This Town - I Remember You