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Pillow Lips

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pillow Lips
Studio album by
Released1990
Genre
Length32:40
LabelTVT[2]
ProducerPat Collier
Modern English chronology
Stop Start
(1986)
Pillow Lips
(1990)
Everything's Mad
(1996)

Pillow Lips is an album by the English band Modern English, released in 1990.[3][4] It contains a rerecorded version of "I Melt with You", which charted.[5] The album peaked at No. 135 on the Billboard 200.[6] The band again broke up after promoting Pillow Lips.[7]

Production

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The album was written over a period of 18 months, and was produced by Pat Collier.[8][9][10] Modern English recorded it as a trio.[11]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Calgary HeraldB+[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[13]
Ottawa Citizen[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "even the lightest, most eager and abandoned melodies on this album tap a deeper vein of feeling than most songs do."[16] Trouser Press thought that "the diverse record contains some easy-to-like bounce-pop ('Beauty', 'Care About You') but other tracks either drift along listlessly (like the enervated title tune) or sag under clichéd lyrics ('Life's Rich Tapestry'...) and equally unimaginative melodies."[17]

The Ottawa Citizen stated that, "now with the band trimmed back to a trio, the sound is tighter, the spirit more lively, and the approach better conceived."[14] The Los Angeles Times concluded that the album was "recorded without a permanent lead guitarist in the group and suffers accordingly, with a thin, techno-pop approach somewhere between OMD and late-period Sparks."[18] The Dallas Morning News determined that, "having provided us a near-perfect pop song, the group now delivers a hodgepodge that includes everything from neo-Modern English to country to watered-down Big Audio Dynamite."[19]

AllMusic noted that "older fans of the band despaired of their new, slicker variant."[12]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."I Melt with You"4:15
2."Life's Rich Tapestry"4:06
3."Beauty"2:26
4."You're Too Much"2:31
5."Beautiful People"3:11
6."Care About You"2:57
7."Let's All Dream"2:37
8."Coming Up for Air"3:46
9."Pillow Lips"3:31
10."Take Me Away"3:44

References

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  1. ^ Kostanczuk, Bob (6 July 1990). "Modern English Speaks the Language". Lifstyles/Weekend. Post-Tribune. p. 4.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Jim (23 July 1990). "Modern English Picks Up Where It Left Off". Arts and Film. The Boston Globe. p. 50.
  3. ^ "Modern English Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Okamoto, Shari (12 October 1990). "With the re-release of Modern English's 'I Melt With You'...". Daily Breeze. p. E10.
  5. ^ Majewski, Lori; Bernstein, Jonathan (15 April 2014). Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s. Abrams. ISBN 978-1-61312-666-0.
  6. ^ "Modern English". Billboard.
  7. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 822.
  8. ^ Danner, Jennifer (1 July 1990). "Modern English to bring 'new sound' to Club Met Tuesday". The Patriot-News. p. E2.
  9. ^ Gettelman, Parry (8 June 1990). "Modern English Speaks Up Again After 2-Year Hiatus". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 3.
  10. ^ The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. Billboard Books. 1999. p. 142.
  11. ^ a b Obee, Dave (2 August 1990). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. E3.
  12. ^ a b "Pillow Lips". AllMusic.
  13. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. pp. 770–771.
  14. ^ a b Erskine, Evelyn (3 August 1990). "Modern English Pillow Lips". Ottawa Citizen. p. D6.
  15. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 482.
  16. ^ "Pillow Lips". Entertainment Weekly.
  17. ^ "Modern English". Trouser Press. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  18. ^ Willman, Chris (9 August 1990). "Modern English Melts Down". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 2.
  19. ^ Samuels, Lennox (16 September 1990). "Modern English CD fades after first cut". The Dallas Morning News. p. 9C.
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