Customer Reviews

Anthem

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Toyah's music sways between being great pop songs with rich melodies and art experiments tinged with adolescent fantasies of rebellion. You get it all here and Anthem is mostly a delight. There's hot and cold running pop songs (the dynamic "Demolition Men" and "We Are"), atmospheric, mellow numbers ("Jungles of Jupiter" and "I Am"), the big chart hits ("I Want To Be Free" and "It's A Mystery" - a song Toyah hated apparently) and the annoyingly bizarre ("Elocution Lesson").

Toyah sings of aliens, the supernatural, androids, Orwellian societies, suburban boredom and everything in between all resolutely encased in her rich, esoteric imagery. I loved it as a rebellious 15 year old and now as a more settled 34 year old I'm loving it only slightly less. Toyah held the spirit of post-punk 1980's in her florid word play, fantastic universes, sometimes nihilistic prophecies and daring individualism.

On this CD you get some great extra tracks including For You (previously only available on a flexi-disc with Flexipop magazine) and Alien which she originally recorded as 9 To 5 and credited to The Maneaters in Derek Jarman's film 'Jubilee'. As it is the new millenium you also get a video of the Godley & Crème clip to I Want To Be Free to play on your computer. Anthem represents a time and mood, and as such, succeeds completely.

This album is absolutely one of toyahs best!!! whoever buys this album will not be disapointed and the cover art is a feast for the eyes. its so hard to find the older toyah stuff in america and for those who are looking for something different to listen to you will not be disapointed with this selection. go on give a try you know you want to.....

Parts of this 1981 release are dated but it's still a striking example of early 80's new wave/post punk. Alot of the songs have sci fi themes which give it an almost prog rock feel at times. Sadly, Toyah never made a name for herself in the States (our loss) but she's been successful for many years in her native UK.

Toyah was the flavor of the year in 1981. She worked hard to achieve the success she obtained during this year, but it was with some of her far less enduring music. Toyah hit the charts with the remarkably painful and forgettable 'It's A Mystery', then followed the success with the weak teenage rebellion anthem, 'I Want To Be Free'. While this did bring her a new legion of young fans, it may have alienated those who had been following Toyah up to this point, or even warded off others who would have appreciated this album for the excellent music surrounding those forgettable singles.

While the singles released from Anthem appear to be crass chart geared blandness, much of the album is a winner. 'Obsolete' is a great, powerful song that would fit nicely on any early Siouxsie and the Banshees album. 'Jungles Of Jupiter' and 'I Am' show more mid-tempo successes, while 'Masai Boy' and 'Pop Star' display a more experimental side.

Anthem is presented on this CD version with a number of essential bonus tracks, including the tribal thrill of 'War Boys' and the catchy quirkiness of 'Alien'. In a bit of dated technology, the decision was made by the record company to opt for including a music video on the CD at the sacrifice of providing a detailed booklet, so save your lyric insert from the vinyl issue.

Anthem was remastered entirely from original studio master tapes in the HDCD format. And while the sound is very good, it is a bit loud and compressed, but not near as bad as what's becoming the norm.

Why am I not giving this album five stars? The song quality on Anthem ranges from the brilliant "Jungles of Jupiter" to the power pop hits "I Want to be Free" and "It's a Mystery" to the uneven/bizarre "Pop Star" and "Elocution Lesson". The album extras have some interest, particularly "Angels and Demons" and perhaps "Alien". Overall, the songs on Anthem don't match those on The Changeling and don't have the power of The Blue Meaning.

Of course, if you like Toyah, you must own this album, too. Anthem just sounds like Toyah had run out of her best ideas; so I'd purchase The Changeling and The Blue Meaning (if you can find a copy) first, then Anthem. Toyah's Love Is The Law is also worth seeking out.