Book Of Love have re-released their four albums in new expanded form on Noble Rot Records. The quartet have collected an interesting selection of bonus materials, as well as liner notes, for each release, and they are now housed in slim cardboard booklets.
The audio is labeled as "remastered", although that seems more to indicate that they were normalized to match the existing album audio with the new bonus material, as the audio appears to be basically the same as the original releases. However, the audio sounds great, and the inclusion of the bonus tracks and historical notes and reflections from the band make these the new default versions to get for fans of both the group and the genre at large.
Started in the mid-'80s, Book Of Love brought a deceptively innocent pop edge to the pervading new wave/synth pop scene. Buoyed by solid programming and the sultry, deadpan vocals of Susan Ottaviano, the group blended a brighter, happier and immediate simplicity of radio pop with echoes of club culture. The tour following their debut release found them immediately opening up for Depeche Mode and finding a fast audience with college radio. While their base style stayed more or less intact, the pop culture around them soon began to wander off in wildly different directions. By the time grunge and alternative rock had taken over in the early '90s, the group's sound became more isolated from the mainstream and began to fade underground. But with the continual interest in electro-pop and its influence on the current musical landscape, bands like Book Of Love feel surprisingly relevant again.
Book Of Love
The group's self-titled debut remains their strongest, and the one that has best withstood the changing seasons of music. There's no mistaking those '80s drum machines, but as pop culture continues the "retro is chic" trend, they sound more classic than aged. This was a very well programmed album, and mixed with catchy, upbeat pop tracks, it remains as solid now as ever. Singles and fan favorites such as "You Make Me Feel So Good", "I Touch Roses" and the club hit "Boy" are simply synth-pop gems. Deeper album tracks are all solid as well, from the dreamy "Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)" to the darker "Lost Souls" and moody "Yellow Sky". But overall these are cheery highlights from the synth-heavy 80s that flow admirably from track to track. This is the album to start with.
.jpg?t=20120209092158)
Article comments