Comments for Eurythmics, Savage

This song worked well to our video shoot for comm242 We did the video alot better though even thought the original video was done very well

"Savage" is an intense, vivid return to some of Eurythmics' finest experimental strengths within new contexts. On it they have stripped back to the original formula: just the two of them (Lennox & Stewart) covering all instrumentation except drum programming (by Olle Romo). It ventures into the bizarre, the surreal, and the sarcastic with equal alacrity. Stewart's production work is crystal- clear and on-target. The accompanying video album is a startling showcase of Annie Lennox's acting abilities and the fine filmmaking of Sophie Muller. "BEETHOVEN!" =mw=

The Eurythmics most conceptually brilliant work. Notice how Annie uses a different vocal range (or trick) on every single song (it's sometimes subtle but definitely there). Annie's "I Need A Man" goes back to her roots of androgyny as she plays a man playing a woman (notice the askew wig-line in the video). Like other albums, this one is great from first song to last note. Creatively, they've never been better.

This is THE definitive Eurythmics album. Coming off the duo's rock-and-soul digressions of Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge, Savage is a powerful homage to their electronic-musical roots. The music is intense and powerful synth, sometimes complex and multi-layered (Shame), sometimes sparse (Savage), but always beautifully crafted. The lyrics reflect the darker side of love in hues so finely shaded that you hardly suspect where the line is between sadness and anger (You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart), or bitterness and balefulness (Savage, a glowering song that all but self-implodes). Savage finds the Eurythmics in their element and is arguably the finest album of their career.

This album is absolute magic. Everything that sets Eurythmics apart in contemporary music--the ultra-cool synth rifts, razor sharp lyrics, and Annie Lennox's flawless alto and captivating presence, are all here in their magnified glory, thanks to Dave Stewart's virtuoso production holding the potent mix together. Above all, Savage bears Annie Lennox's signature imprint of irony and sexual androygyny--note the counter-chauvanistic lyrics in I Need A Man coupled with Lennox's blatant sexual posturing in the video, or the anguished condemnation of 80's greed and materialism in Shame, evoking John Lennon (note the thrice repeated line "all we need is love") even as Lennox demolishes any lingering pretensions of grown-up flower children (herself and Stewart included) by alluding to what they stand for today. No song fails to deliver on this album; if anything, it is the sparser tracks, like Heaven and I Need You, that have the most potent effect. If you ever listen to one Eurythmics album in your entire lifetime, this HAS to be it.

I praised SAVAGE while praising 1984, but I don't mind saying it again: it just may be their best album, and it's certainly the best since they accepted other musicians' input on Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge. Dave & Annie are perfect together with no one else, and when they made Savage after 3 years of experimenting with "big bands", they returned to form and flourished. It is the consummate Eurythmics album, and the "video album" by Sophie Muller adds wonderful new dimensions to songs that are already strong. Why on earth did "Shame" never take off as a hit single? It's one high point among many on this album.

AN ABSOLUTTE WORK OF ART, "SAVAGE" OPENS WITH THE DANCE/RAP HIT "BEETHOVEN ( I LOVE TO LISTEN TO), WHICH IS ABOUT A WOMAN''S PSYCHOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN BECAUSE OF HER REPRESSED EMOTIONAL AND SEXUAL FEELINGS. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY THE TONGUE IN CHEEK"I''VE GOT A LOVER (BACK IN JAPAN)", WHICH USES ALOT OF GREAT CHORDS AND REPITITIVE BEATS.NOT TO MENTION FABULOUS ANALYZING LYRICS- "I WAS BITTER WHEN I MET YOU. I WAS ELOQUENT WITH RAGE. LIKE HONEY FROM A POSIONED CUP, I FLOWED FROM STAGE TO STAGE."