To most fans in the U.S., they thought this was the first album by Eurythmics. With the brilliant 'In The Garden' album not released here until the early 90's, what else were they to think? 'Sweet Dreams', the song, became a massive hit due to endless rotation on the young MTV way back when. The song is a combination of the soulful wailings, which would eventually make Eurythmics bland and forgettable, and electronic New Wave, which was so prevalent at the time. While on their way to commercial stardom, Eurythmics still looked very much the art school oddballs, which makes this very much a transitional album. Because of that the album is a very spotty affair.
The album opens with the timeless "Love is a stranger". In the U.S. this was the follow up single to "Sweet Dreams", though did not make as much impact on the buying public, regardless of the fact that it was a far superior song. The dark, obsessive lyrics and heavy electronic beat gave the song a slightly Gothic feel. It's definitely the best song on the album, and with a mesmerizing video to boot!
"I've got an angel" is almost as high on my list as "Love is a stranger". Some crazy flute playing adding to Annie's haunting singing makes this another timeless classic.
"Wrap it up" is a real low point, not just for the album but for their career. Perhaps it was a carry over from their days as The Tourists, but it's only worsened by the addition of guest vocalist Green for the irritating Scritti Politti.
"I could give you a mirror" and "Somebody told me" are more high quality, slightly dark synthpop pieces that have been favorites since I first purchased the album back in 1983.
"The Walk" and "This city never sleeps" are both light and airy, pleasant enough background songs.
Another real low point is the tedious "This is the house". This was actually released as a single in the UK before stardom hit, and I can see why it went virtually unnoticed. I do not like it at all.
This new CD remaster comes with a very incomplete selection of bonus material, most from the time. "Home is where the heart is" was the B side of the 7" single "This is the house", and is a goofy little doodle that isn't bad, and even a bit fun. "Monkey monkey" is one of their forgettable, experimental instrumentals. "Baby's gone blue" was the B side of the "Sweet Dreams" 12" single, and sounds very much like an outtake from In The Garden. It's an odd little song about a dead girl, and the highlight of the bonus material.
An unfortunate absence from this reissue is the B side "Let's just close our eyes". It's an early version of "The Walk", though radically different and zombie-like.
Like the reissue of 'In The Garden', 'Sweet Dreams' comes with an excellent deluxe booklet with nice liner notes and many great period photos, though also lacks the lyrics that were printed with previous releases.
The remastering of the CD is pretty good. Like with 'In The Garden' there are occasional, minor stereo fluctuations possibly due to the age of the tapes. Though I had read that all of the original master tapes had been located at various BMG locations around the world, the song "Monkey monkey" is clearly taken from a dirty record. There was not even an attempt to mask the fact, but since I don't care for the song I'll just skip it anyway.
'Sweet Dreams' is a very spotty album after the masterpiece of In The Garden. The transition that started on this album would continue on the next album, 'Touch'.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Eurythmics followed up the fragile and ethereal but somewhat inaccessible In The Garden with this album of pure pop genius. The early 1980s saw an explosion of synthesizer-driven sounds and there were other duos too, like OMD and Yazoo, but Eurythmics outlasted them all. This enhanced album contains 6 additional tracks and a booklet in a fold-out sleeve with historical notes and beautiful full colour pics.Sweet Dreams provided Eurythmics with the commercial breakthrough in its shimmering masterpieces such as Love Is A Stranger and the dreamy title track. The videos of these two are superb too. Not all of these are flowing pop songs though; there's also the ethereal I've Got An Angel and the enervated experimental Wrap It Up, plus the more soulful outings I Could Give You A Mirror and The Walk with its great trumpet solo. Besides the aforementioned hits, my favourites also include the atmospheric Jennifer and the elegant This Is The House with its Spanish spoken intro, its instrumental flourishes and its mood of sadness. It's true that not every single track on the original remains as memorable as the ones mentioned, but the album certainly deserves five stars for its melodic and lyrical beauty, especially with the added songs.Of the bonus tracks, my favourites are the lilting Home Is Where The Heart Is, the Hot Remix of Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), the Coldcut Remix of Love Is A Stranger and this awesome rendition of Lou Reed's Satellite Of Love that in its vocal style reminds one somewhat of great atmospheric tracks like Belinda from the debut album In The Garden. The classic Sweet Dreams album is now even better, revealing more of the greatness of this pioneering synth-pop band
Rating: 5 out of 5
Eurythmics' breakthrough second album, following their interesting but unfocussed debut In The Garden, still stands the test of time as one of their finest, despite the fact that more than most of their releases, this one runs the risk of being tied to its time of release due to its heavily (though innovative) electronic sound. As a piece, Sweet Dreams holds together very well and contains few weak links: the iconic title track has become a modern-day standard and still retains its careful mix of passion and menace to this day, as does the perhaps even more sinister Love Is A Stranger, but there is much to enjoy besides these monolothic hits. The forgotten early single The Walk vies with Sweet Dreams as the standout track, a moody and disturbing vocal and lyric offset by a stunning brass arrangement, Jennifer's wistful description of a drowning once again treads the fine line of being heartfelt yet unsettling, and This City Never Sleeps, with its understated tale of urban alienation is a subdued yet powerful closer which still resonates today. The key to the brilliance of this album is its ability to combine both warmth and cold, which prevents the electronic feel from seeming dated, and in that sense is perhaps Dave and Annie's crowning achievement (all the more incredible given the limited materials and budget with which the album was made - milkbottles for instance were used as percussion on Sweet Dreams). The reissue sleeve contains a number of new photos and an essay which gives some interesting details on the album's making but omits some key detail (it implies that Love Is A Stranger was the first single, whereas in fact both This Is The House and The Walk has been released prior to this). The extra tracks are among the best haul of all the Eurythmics reissues, helped partly the embarrassment of riches of B-sides featured on the album's various singles (a number of B-sides have been omitted, including all of the bonus tracks from The Walk single, some of which are definitely worthy of release). Eurythmics' B-sides tended to be more avant garde and experimental than their album tracks, which might put off the casual listener, but they are never less then interesting. Home Is Where The Heart Is is pleasant, the instrumental Monkey Monkey is catchy if over-long, but it's Baby's Gone Blue which is the real find - a whirl of soundbites, samples and snatches of Annie's emotive singing describing a car crash. Although some purists aren't keen, I like both of the 1991 remixes included, which give a slightly different slant on the album's two big hits, although the excellent Obsession Mix of Love Is A Stranger would have been preferable to the Coldcut Mix included here. Finally, the little-heard cover of Lou Reed's Satellite of Love fits in perfectly with the rest of the album and is one of the best covers included in this series of reissues.For those looking to go beyond the greatest hits, this album is a perfect place to start and gives a good idea of why Eurythmics were seen as so innovative and slightly dangerous when they first appeared in the boardroom surrouned by cows. The original album was strong enough by itself: this remastered and expanded edition only makes it even more indispensible.
Rating: 5 out of 5
First I have to say that I love this album. This is one of my all times favorites, superb songwriting and innovative in production, but beware of the concept of remastering. Remastering should bring you a better recording but the truth is that in most cases you end up with a recording that is far worse than the original cd. Just compare the trumphet on track five ( The Walk )on the resmastered version with the original cd version. The new version is very harsh and much to noisy. The problem is that remastering in most cases only means turning up the loudness of the record. It gives you an impression of more power an apperance in the production, but if you put to much loudness into a media like the cd you lose some of the original sound. If the recording reaches more than 0 db you get a distorted sound i these parts. In the sound production you try to compensate by simply cutting out these parts but this also gives noise. The result is a very loud cd with a distorted trebble. This production technique is very common in the recording industri today. The idea is that you have to create at " wall of sound " so the record company can get their product at maximum attention level to the potential buyer. Bad speakers in cars, noisy cafés or recordshops are the medias that many ( big )record companys today have in mind when they produce their music. The end of story is that you if you care just tiny bit about sound quality and run a cd like this on a fairly good soundsystem, well then you got a headache comming your way. My advice is to buy the old version, it´s cheaper and the sound is so much better. Conclusion 5 stars for album and 1 for the mastering.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Eurythmics followed up the fragile and dream-like In the Garden with this album of pure pop genius. The early 1980s saw an explosion of synthesizer-driven sounds and there were other duos too, like OMD and Yazoo, but Eurythmics surpassed them all. This enhanced album contains 6 additional tracks and a booklet in a fold-out sleeve with historical notes and beautiful full color pics.
Sweet Dreams provided Eurythmics with the commercial breakthrough in its shimmering masterpieces such as Love Is A Stranger and the oneiric title track. The videos of these two songs are superb too. Not all the tracks are flowing pop songs though; there's also the ethereal I've Got An Angel and the enervated experimental Wrap It Up, plus the more soulful outings I Could Give You A Mirror and The Walk with its great trumpet solo.
Besides the aforementioned hits, my favorites include the atmospheric Jennifer and the elegant This Is The House with its Spanish spoken intro, its instrumental flourishes and its melancholy mood. It's true that not every single track on the original remains as memorable as the ones mentioned, but the album certainly deserves five stars for its melodic and lyrical beauty, especially with the added songs.
Of the bonus tracks, the best in my opinion are the lilting Home Is Where The Heart Is, the Hot Remix of Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), the Coldcut Remix of Love Is A Stranger and this awesome rendition of Lou Reed's Satellite of Love that in its vocal style reminds one somewhat of great atmospheric tracks like Belinda from the debut album. The classic Sweet Dreams album is now even better, revealing more of the greatness of this pioneering synth-pop band.
Rating: 5 out of 5