Soft Cell
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

THE REVIEW

Raise your hand if you recognize yourself, at least partially, in the lyrics of "Frustration": the boredom of a life that's too ordinary (I am so ordinary), the love/hate relationship (more hate than love...) with the company you work for, us guys' tendency to secretly peek at young girls, the self-destructive feelings (I wanna die, shouted at the end)...

This opening track alone, supported by a syncopated and pounding rhythm, is enough to make Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret one of the milestones of electronic/dance music of the '80s, an album that practically has no weak points, meaning filler tracks included just to reach the required runtime.

Marc Almond's unmistakable voice and David Ball's electronics form an explosive mix, for a debut that will remain one of the most dazzling in the brit-pop scene.

Apart from the musical aspect, the album is, in my opinion, very interesting in terms of lyrics, which are never trivial, rather they wisely analyze people's feelings, as in "Youth," a meditation on time that inexorably passes for everyone, or in the poignant "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," which melancholically closes the album.

Actually, the album is perhaps more famous for the decidedly ambiguous and sexually deviant atmospheres of "Sex Dwarf" or for the cover of "Tainted Love," a hit by the black singer Gloria Gaynor, but, personally, I prefer the aforementioned introspections, to which I add those of "Bedsitter," which ultimately describes the emptiness of seeking fun at all costs: the morning after, upon waking, what's left?

In short, for me it's a small masterpiece, which I recommend everyone to listen to (or re-listen to) and whose relevance, both from a strictly sound perspective and lyrically, seems to me to be beyond dispute, 33 years after its first release.