Customer Reviews

Revenge (Reis) (Dlx) (Dig)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't have to add much from the other superb reviews but I would like to truly reiterate how EXCELLENT the remastering is on this CD!!! This is the first remaster I have (but just ordered all the others). I can honestly say that this is the BEST REMASTERING I HAVE EVER HEARD on the many, many "remastered" CDs that artists have been reissueing over the years! BRAVO DAVE STEWART! It is so crisp and elegant! My God they made GREAT music! ADD TO CART!

"Revenge" caught Dave and Annie on the road to Arena Rock Superstardom, and they created a record with a crack band that would sound good blasting out at concertgoers from enormous speakers. In doing so, they abandoned the intimacy of their early work--one of their great assets.

That's not to say that this is not a good album--it is, featuring "Missionary Man," (one of their best singles), and "Thorn in My Side." The other singles here, though, sound a little trite and insincere--"Miracle of Love" and "When Tomorrow Comes." Just a little too much commercial lip gloss on those two. But "Let's Go" and "A Little of you" are great album cuts.

The remastering is good, the bonus tracks, alas, are not. I have personal memories of dancing around arms flailing to the Missionary Man remix in my youth, but all their remixes sound a little dated, especially in comparison to the original tracks, which, miraculously for pop music, have not aged a bit.

After this, Eurythmics produced one last great album (Savage), and then occasional sparks of brilliance. But this was the beginning of the end.

According to the liner notes, "Revenge" released in July 1986, is apparently the duo's best selling album. In my memory, they were at the zenith of their popularity. Yet, I found the second half of the album always lacking for some reason. I went to see them on this tour in August 1986 at Red Rocks in Denver, Colorado, just as I had seen them there in 1984 for the "Touch" tour with Howard Jones opening for them. "Revenge" is certainly the closest they came to stadium rock, and it worked very well in concert. They had more hits of course with "Missionary Man", "Thorn In My Side", "When Tomorrow Comes" and "The Miracle Of Love" (which they ended their concert with). However, only "Missionary Man" charted in the top 40 in America.

Yes, the Eurythmics were experiencing a decline in popularity in the States. This album starts off strong with the first five tracks being incredibly solid followed by the next five tracks hobbling to keep things steady. I don't know if Dave and Annie had temporarily run out of creative energy or what happend, but this is their most produced, pop/rock sounding album as a result.

The remastering job by Dave is pristine. The b-sides finally excel in terms of the remixes as well. The remixes for "When Tomorrow Comes", "Thorn In My Side" and "Missionary Man" all re-think the originals in a workable fashion. I enjoyed them all. The live version of "When Tomorrow Comes" is great, and it showcases Annie's vocals perfectly when you strip away all the instruments down to piano and acoustic guitar. "Revenge 2" is a reimagined version of "Revenge" from their 1981 album "In The Garden". This version is much better than the original. Oddly, "My Guy" closes the disc with an amusing take on The Temptations' "My Girl". It had to be heard to be believed. I liked it, and I think it was far ahead of its time.

Once again, no lyrics to the songs. Dave added extra photos taken around the time of the album which was nice. The liner notes cover the making of the album. Overall, "Revenge" faltered a tad compared to their previous three albums, "Be Yourself Tonight", "Touch" and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)". This was to be corrected upon their next release "Savage".

The Eurythmics had previously shifted into a "soul/rock" sound on "Be Yourself Tonight" which was received critically & commercially well. The experiment of that record gave the Eurythmics more musical credibility, so the question was could they follow the same success?

While some may've thought "Revenge" to be a lukewarm successor to "Be Yourself Tonight", I think it more than lives up to the previous bar set by that album, almost moving it higher.

"Revenge" moves specifcally into a more rock, or 1980's bar rock with synth flourishes, soul leanings, & immaculate pop melodies. I find that the securing of a live band, the drummer of Blondie (Clem Burke), a much welcomed addition help seal the deal. Annie delivers some of her most searing vocals & Dave arrangements sparkle with creativity & sponeaity.

The album kicks off with the bluesy, ballsy "Missionary Man" which after a intro of blurred harmonica histrionics, kicks into gear with Annie's smooth voice. The track ranks as one of their finest single cuts, as well as compositions. From there you are treated to the euphoria of "When Tomorrow Comes" which celebrates the prospect of love growing with each day, this joy is conveyed in the sharp drumming & keyboard shading.

Other highlights include the slick "The Last Time", raucous "Let's Go!", the fantastic ballad "The Miracle of Love", & a personal favorite "Take Your Pain Away". I love the latter because it starts of as a band jam, much sharpened of course, but has a club leaning or beat underneath it. This "beat" at one point takes stage, switching the band sound to the back, then quickly shifting the band sound back to the front.

The record seems to balance lyrically the promise of love, yet the paranoia of the failure of love. This is seen in tracks such as the mentioned "The Last Time", more specifically the soul seether "Thorn In My Side" & bittersweet tang of "A Little of You". "Be Yourself Tonight" definitely had more of a romantic feel, which still spilled over here, but you see the side of romance gone bad here. The paranoia of love here would totally become bitter & take shape on the follow-up "Savage".

Commercially, this heralded a slump in the Eurythmics American career, but in their native U.K. the record steamed ahead as a hit. One of my favorites, I recommend if you want to see Annie & Dave at their most focused, and with their most "bite".

The remastering is absolutely superb. I owned the original CD edition & the remaster is definitely much crisper & fresh in it's sound. The extra tracks are mostly extended 12 inch cuts, but they are often re-worked so that the 12 inch mixes take on an identity from their original counterparts. Makes for great listening pleasure. "Revenge 2", the original "Revenge" being from their "In the Garden" album is unremarkable. Though Annie's take on the Motown soul staple "My Girl" (here "My Guy") is slightly silly, but cute. Filled with awesome color pictures & liner note history on the making of the record, this is something every Eurythmics fan should own.

After great synth albums like Sweet Dreams and Touch and 1985's Soul/R&B excursion Be Yourself Tonight, Eurythmics created this riveting rock album with its melodic masterpieces. I don't like the meandering Missionary Man, but besides that it's genius all the way!

Thorn In My Side is a dramatic ballad with a great sense of finality, When Tomorrow Comes is a soaring number where Annie's voice goes full throttle, The Last Time is an eerie, brooding ballad with strange voice effects, and The Miracle Of Love is another lovely tuneful pop song.

These rank amongst the best compositions of Eurythmics, on a par with classics like Love Is A Stranger, Sweet Dreams, Right By Your Side and There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart). I also love the full rock sound they use here - it makes an interesting change from the earlier synth-based sound.

Other favorites include Take Your Pain Away and the gentle, wistful I Remember You with its torch-song vocal and textured instrumentation. Perhaps some Eurythmics fans didn't like the rock textures of this album, but to me it remains one of their best.

The bonus tracks here are amongst the best of all the Eurythmics reissues. The extended versions of When Tomorrow Comes and Thorn In My Side are my favorites and substantially different from the originals. I also love the live acoustic version of Tomorrow, and My Guy concludes the album on a playful note.

The Eurythmics fifth album entitled "Revenge" finds the Lennox/Stewert duo completing their journey from the New Wave of their early days and the more R&B/Soul of their previous album "Be Yourself Tonight" into a near total rock/pop sound. It was unfortunately where the Eurythmics commercial run started to wind down. That's not to say that this is a decline. Not at all. Even though a good majority of the songs fall into the category of typical mid-1980s rock and pop, there are many standout songs that make this a wonderful illustrious release from this duo. The famous hit song "Missionary Man" is my favorite Eurythmics song ever. The lyrics are among my favorite that Annie has ever written. Other great songs include "The First Time" with it's excellent and bizarre guitar effects as well as the fifth track.

The bonus tracks are very good but the remix of "Missionary Man" is a bit overstretched.

This Is A Great Album By The Eurythmics, Often Overlooked But Is A Rocking Album, 'Missionary Man' Alone Makes It Worth It, But When You Add The Glorious 'The Miracle Of Love, And You Can Not Be Without It. This Was A More Straight Forward Rock And Pop, But Still Contains That Eurythmics Flare. The Bonus Tracks Are Among The Better Of The Bonus Tracks For The Re-Issues, Containing Most Of The Extended / Dance Re-Mixes. Hopefully They Will Issue A Rarities Collection With All The Missing B-Side's And Extended / Dance / Alternate Versions.

P.S. What About The 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother) Album, Will We Get A Remastered Version Of That Awesome Album Complete With Bonus Tracks.

After great synth albums like Sweet Dreams and Touch and 1985's Soul/R&B excursion Be Yourself Tonight, Eurythmics created this riveting rock album with its melodic masterpieces. I don't like the meandering Missionary Man, but besides that it's genius all the way!

Thorn In My Side is a dramatic ballad with a great sense of finality, When Tomorrow Comes is a soaring number where Annie's voice soars full throttle, The Last Time is an eerie, brooding ballad with strange voice effects, and The Miracle Of Love is another lovely tuneful pop song.

These rank amongst the best compositions of Eurythmics, on a par with classics like Love Is A Stranger, Sweet Dreams, Right By Your Side and There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart). I also love the full rock sound they use here - it makes an interesting change from the earlier synth-based sound.

Other favorites include Take Your Pain Away and the gentle, wistful I Remember You with its torch-song vocal and textured instrumentation. Perhaps some Eurythmics fans didn't like the rock textures of this album, but to me it remains one of their best.

The bonus tracks here are amongst the best of all the Eurythmics reissues. The extended versions of When Tomorrow Comes and Thorn In My Side are my favorites and substantially different from the originals. I also love the live acoustic version of Tomorrow, and My Guy concludes the album on a playful note.

I adore Eurythmics. Any utterance from the throat of Lennox is music to my ears. The compositions are intact with this LP. What is lacking is the production. Dave moved, I blame him most, into the Heavy Metal riffs with these instrumentations. Having said that, "Missionary Man", "The Last Time" and "Let's Go" still hold the guitar aside the synthesizer. The Light within the Dark isn't nullified by scratching guitars. You'll love the grinding and electronica still used by Dave and Annie. Overall, a good job, but it ain't giving me "Sweet Dreams".

This Album came out when the Eurythmics were HOT, HOT, HOT!!! I remember going to the "Revenge" concert in Seattle and it was SO AWESOME, I'll never forget it till the day I die!!! I totally and completely fell in Love with Annie Lennox when I saw the video for "Missionary Man". My God she looked hot in that leather outfit. Every "gay" mans dream come true! :) Even though I don't consider this their best album and don't love "every" song which is not the norm. for me and an Eurythmics album, its still well worth the purchase.