Book of Love

Book Of Love | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B000002L8P
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,438 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Under-Your-Radar Femme Synth Pop, March 27, 2004

By 

SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Love (Audio CD)

Funny that with the explosion of female-driven electroclash that more people aren't singing the praises of the 80's femme synth pioneers Book of Love. This eponymously titled album was likely their best and while it may have sounded like sugar-coated pop the content often pushed the envelope with its innuendo. "Boy" is an 'alternative lifestyles' anthem with its deviant insinuations. "I Touch Roses" was also a club hit as was "Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)", a tribute to the Renaissance Italian painter. Several remixes of these hits appear at the end of the disc - remember this was the new age of CDs when everyone felt obligated to fill all 70+ minutes of available capacity.

So much for the singles, there were other great songs here. "Still Angry" showcased bitter and jagged little females decades before Alanis Morissette ever did. "You Make Me Feel So Good" is another innuendo wonder. "Yellow Sky" is a mid-tempo masterpiece - truly excellent. "Die Matrosen" (German for "The Saliors") is a bubbly, sing-song affair that reminds me of a cool Nena song (no, not that one). And "Book of Love" got some club play too.

All in all, a very strong synthpop album that has influenced many more acts than you probably would imagine. I'm certain that Ladytron, Chicks on Speed and Peaches were all spinning this 15 years ago.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right up there in the late-80s/early-90s synthpop pantheon, October 10, 2005

By 

Ethan Straffin (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Book of Love (Audio CD)

...along with Erasure, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Alphaville, and (if you insist) New Order. It was mostly downhill for Book of Love after this debut -- and its solid followup _Lullaby_ -- but for a moment there, these four were doing light synthpop, tinged with just enough darkness to keep things from becoming too cheesy, as well as anyone else on the planet. The lightweights of the era tended to peter out after a couple great singles and maybe a couple decent album tracks, but Book of Love's debut keeps it going throughout: "Boy," "Happy Day" and "Die Matrosen" still sound better to me, at positions 9-11, than anything that Ladytron, Freezepop, et al. have managed at positions 1-3.

(That being said, if you enjoy this one, I highly recommend "We Are Pilots" by Shiny Toy Guns, a new band from LA. The BoL influence is unmistakable, and the songwriting and production are top-notch.)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their first and Best!, February 13, 2000

By 

Taylor (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Love (Audio CD)

If you like 80s dance music, buy this album! More than 10 years ago, my best friend and I treked to San Francisco to see them live at the Filmore. It was one of the greatest concerts I've ever been to (ranks up there with seeing Midge Ure at the Filmore and Icehouse at the original Warfield). At that time it was clear people really didn't really know the group that well. In fact, as we were waiting to get into the Filmore, we didn't realize we were leaning on the group's van. When they came out of the building after their sound check, they walked up to us and my friends and I stood awe struck! What was more amazing was that nobody else in the crowd even moved! They had no idea who the people in front of them were! I was sickend at the fact that such a great band was not even recognized! Enough about the fact that people really didn't appreciate them...this was a great album...one of my DIDs (along with anything Ultravox, Icehouse and Killing Joke!).