Art Of Falling Apart [Remaster]

Performer: Soft Cell
Distributor: MSI Music Distribution

Notes: Full title: The Art Of Falling Apart. This 1999 reissue contains bonus tracks not included on the original release. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Digitally remastered. New liner notes and packaging. The title is more than a clever rhyme. The unexpected success of 1982's "Tainted Love" took the duo of singer Marc Almond and keyboardist Dave Ball off guard and seemingly unprepared for its consequences, and while it's perhaps dangerous to read too much into these songs, it's easy to hear that the duo is in the process of disintegrating and would split within the year. Almond's vocals are much more querulous and melodramatic than before, and as Ball's synthesizers move further into cold abstraction, the tension adds a slightly disturbing edge to the music. The sentimental "Where the Heart Is" and "Kitchen Sink Drama" are highlights, but the two bonus tracks, originally included on a bonus 12-inch, are mistakes. The 10-minute "Martin" is repetitive and droning, but it's a masterpiece compared to an excruciating 11-minute medley of Hendrix covers (!!!) that's so godawful it becomes perversely fascinating. What WERE they thinking?

With their minimalist electronic approach and lyrics preoccupied with the seedier side of sensuality, the British duo Soft Cell were unlikely pop stars. Nevertheless, that's what they became in the early '80s, boosted by their massive hit "Tainted Love," an electro-pop version of a classic Northern Soul tune. Singer Marc Almond and keyboardist Dave Ball split in the mid-'80s, each moving on to other projects, but never equalled their Soft Cell success. Years later, the band reunited, emerging as godfathers of the early-2000s Electroclash scene.

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