Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Reviews, sound clips etc.



			Released: 4. Jan 1983
		SWEET DREAMS (Are Made of This)	Released: 4. Jan 1983



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01. Love Is a Stranger - 3:43
02. I've Got an Angel - 2:45
03. Wrap It Up - 3:33
04. I Could Give You (A Mirror) - 3:51
05. The Walk - 4:40
06. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - 3:36
07. Jennifer - 5:06
08. This Is the House - 4:56
09. Somebody Told Me - 3:29
10. This City Never Sleeps - 6:20

Total time: 41:59
All songs by Lennox/Stewart except 3: Hayes/Porter

Dave and Annie's hallmark record is the stunning album that launched their careers as musicians into critical and commercial orbit. The album was a hit with critics and instantly garnered an international fan base for the duo. The group with the dodgy, rock past had confidently leaped into a new age of electronics and synthesizers, spearheading a 1980s revolution with a ground-breaking record that would change the face of music.

Sweet Dreams was made with the barest of equipment at the duo's new studio (The Church), yet every sound recorded on the diminutive eight-track is effectively clear. The album is powered by deep, rich synth and Annie's threatening vocals that glide sharply over wide harmony and danceable electro beats. Combining lean jazz with dark funk, the album attains an incisive pop quality that is vastly more sophisticated than anything The Tourists had come up with, yet it still remains accessible.

The record is a catalogue of deceit, disappointment and obsession and illustrates the hard-edged cynicism wrought by urban angst; Annie's word pictures create a bleak landscape of isolation and loneliness that is brought to life by Dave's sinister musical backings.

The bitter-sweet sounds of Love Is A Stranger, I've Got An Angel and I Could Give You A Mirror lead stridently into the edgy jazz of Wrap It Up and The Walk. The record climaxes with the classic title track (Sweet Dreams), which reached the No. 1 spot in the North American pop charts. The album's themes then descend in to the
haunted darkness of songs like Jennifer and This Is The House. Somebody Told Me and This City Never Sleeps round out the album's understated ferocity, leaving the listener stilled.

Stark, sleek and glamourous, the album remains a definitive 80s classic, and an essential for any record collector.

Notable Songs: Love Is A Stranger, I Could Give You A Mirror, The Walk, Sweet Dreams, Jennifer, This Is The House

Review by Andrew Ritchie and dedicated to Norm Authier. Sources: "Annie Lennox: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" by Lucy O'Brien; "Annie Lennox" by Lucien Randall.