Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

Everything But the Girl | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Musicrama/Koch
• ASIN: B0000DESSG
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,302 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains

2. Rollercoaster

3. Corcovado

4. Each and Everyone

5. Before Today [Chicane Remix]

6. Mine

7. Protection

8. Single [Photek Remix]

9. Tracey in My Room [Lazy Dog Bootleg Vocal Mix]

10. Missing [Todd Terry Remix]

11. Almost Blue

12. No Difference

13. Cross My Heart

14. Mirrorball

15. A Piece of My Mind

16. Walking Wounded

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than a "Greatest Hits", March 12, 2003

By 

"toucano" (Cambridge, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Like the Deserts Miss the Rain (Audio CD)

I have always been puzzled by the record industry's approach to compilations. They study their ledger sheets, choose the biggest sellers of the last five or ten years, throw in an odd new track here and there and call it somebody's "Greatest Hits". Aren't those the songs everyone already bought? Isn't that why they are the biggest sellers? Why not give us a chance to listen to the works that were overlooked instead?

With "Like the Deserts Miss the Rain" Everything But the Girl has done just that. Sure, "Missing" their biggest selling single is here, but more because of its significance in their musical development than because of its sales history. It happened that way because all the tracks on this album were hand picked by the artists themselves with the criteria being a sense of achievement each track represents to them.

Few artists have explored the range of musical styles as this band. From the early jazz-flavored folksy songs to the robust tempos of the recent electronic club music, it is the things the have remained constant that make this album stand out; brilliantly composed melodies, sincere lyrics, and fantastic vocals.

Tracey Thorn's voice can evoke more emotion and meaning in 8 notes than many manage to put forth in an entire song! She also manages to pen a lyric with a wit worthy of Dorothy Parker, and that combination makes for very enjoyable and stimulating listening. She found her perfect compliment in Ben Watt just as Lennon found in McCartney, or Richard Rogers found in Lorenz Hart. The products of their collaboration are in keeping with their time, yet have a timeless quality.

Stand out tracks include "My Head is My Only House Unless It Rains", a rarely heard and magnificent cover of the Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band song, the independent anthem "Mine", and "Protection", a collaboration with Massive Attack which marked a shift in musical direction for the pair. This US release includes four bonus tracks on a second disc so don't cheat yourself by getting the import. This is an album you'll come back to again and again and it will always sound fresh.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything PLUS the girl!, May 2, 2003

By 

Russell Evansen "revansen" (Waunakee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Like the Deserts Miss the Rain (Audio CD)

Fans of EBTG are no doubt anxiously awaiting the follow-up to "Temperamental" (I know I am) but in the meantime this is a splendid dose of the duo's folk-influenced techno pop. There is something here for every fan - and enough great stuff to launch a generation of new fans - from earlier acoustic tunes that feature a somewhat rougher-sounding Tracey to recent club hits like the Todd Terry "Missing" remix and the sensual samba beats of "Corcovado." In my view, no one on the electronica scene comes close to matching the beauty and emotion of Tracey's voice. I could quite simply listen to her for hours. The bonus CD contains some tracks I'd never heard before, so even if you own every disc EBTG has put out, this is still a must-have collection. Now if we could only convince Ben to get back in the studio!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-chosen Hits & Rarities collection, November 24, 2002

By 

Dane R. D'alessandro (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Like the Deserts Miss the Rain (Collection) (Audio CD)

This collection compellingly illustrates two truths about Ben Watt & Tracey Thorn. First, they are among the most successful genre-hoppers in modern music - moving from jazz (1984) to big band (1986) to pop/jazz (1988-1991) to folk-rock (1992 - 1994), to techno/house (1996-2002). Second, they are incredibly good songwriters (and interpreters) - producing sturdy, heartfelt songs that (even 10-20 years on) never seem "dated" and hold up well with all the genre-mixing.

Unless you're an EBTG completist (and have all these songs already), "Like the Deserts Miss the Rain" will introduce you to some rare gems that often showed up as B-sides, yielding a good balance of acoustic numbers and their techno dance tunes. Since Ben and Tracey are such consistent songwriters, you'll likely find (as I did) that many of these songs could have been hits of their own.

On the acoustic front, the most valuable tracks here are the playful "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains"(a cover of the 1972 Captain Beefheart song) and the poignant, Thorn-penned "A Piece Of My Mind". Both are B-sides from the wonderful 1993 EP "I Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love", a song recorded for 1993's "Home Movies" compilation. Both the "I Didn't Know...." and "The Only Living Boy In New York" EP each featured 3 stellar bonus tracks, mostly in the acoustic vein of their 1992 "Acoustic" album. In fact, these songs remind me that EBTG are at their best when Tracey's voice is allowed to soar with minimal distractions. Other acoustic highlights here are ETBG's late night jazz cover of Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue", 1986's "Cross My Heart" (a highlight of the "Baby the Stars Shine Bright" disc), and "Rollercoaster", the lead single from their "Amplified Heart" masterpiece CD.

The techno tunes included here prove that dance music can feature great songwriting. 1996's "Mirrorball" is a perfect marriage of evocative lyrics and electronic melody. "Corvacado" (a B-side to Walking Wounded) is an inventive, techno-laced cover of the old bassa-nova chestnut, while "Tracey In My Room" remixes their 1996 single "Wrong", adding a hard-driving bass that essentially reinvents the whole song.

"Like the Deserts Miss the Rain" serves equally well as an introduction to EBTG for the uninitiated and a deeper dive for long-time fans. Given the quality (and rarity) of the songs offered up here, this is a "rarities" collection that's well worth the money.