1984: For Love of Big Brother

by

Eurythmics

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After Eurythmics blew up internationally with the Sweet Dreams and Touch albums, this was quietly released originally back in 1984. The director of the film 1984 is said to have rejected the soundtrack Eurythmics recorded as "too modern sounding" in favor of a mostly orchestral and traditional sounding score, which was written by someone else entirely. Although it wasn't a commercial ( or critical ) sucess, it is probably my favorite Eurythmics cd, along with the first three ( In the Garden, Sweet Dreams, and Touch ). The mix of the synthetic music, which is sometimes cold and mechanical, with the always incredible vocals of Annie Lennox, might seem on the surface like to oil and water - they just wouldn't seem to go together. It is that juxstaposition that I find the most intriguing. I personally never cared for this duo's output when they began flirting with American styled R and B and giving their music a fuller "band" sound, with real drums, sax, etc. I much prefer the clinical, synthetic sounds of their earlier work, and I find 1984 to be the apex of this approach. This disc was SO ahead of it's time. It sounds in places much like the ambient house music and world-beat music which became popular almost ten years after this album's release. The instrumentals are often spare in arrangement, but feature very distintive sounds. It doesn't sound like Dave Stewart hit any factory pre-sets on his syths, in other words, and took the easy way out, as so many synth-based groups of that era did. There are many highlights on this disc, from the stunningly beautiful ballad "Julia" to the menacing "Room 101" to the tribal sounding percussive attack of "Doubleplusgood." There's just so much variety here, which is especially refreshing coming from a duo who could have easily fallen into the cracks of the limitations set upon them from being a so-called "synth pop" act. I got this as a cassette back when it was released originally and was very pleasantly surprised to find it in a used cd store in Seattle, Washington. It was never released in the US on cd and you might have to pay a little more for it as an import, but if you like the first few Eurythmics releases, I highly recommend it. Five stars, absolutely.

This CD contains music that was partially used in the original cinema and VHS release of the 1984 film 1984.

The film's director was, it seems, put under pressure to include The Eurythmics' music because the film was released on the Virgin label, who wanted to promote their band.

The current DVD release of the film includes only the Dominic Muldowney orchestral and choral score, compliant to the wishes of the director. I believe that the Eurythmics' score is presented as an extra alternative soundtrack in this DVD.

When I first watched the film I noticed the disparity of musical styles and, I must say, I thought that the synthesised sound of the Eurythmics' material spoiled the soundtrack.

I obtained Dominic Muldowney's score (which has had a recent CD release) and found, to my surprise, that I missed the sound of the Eurythmics' music. The synth textures, after more than 20 years, no longer sound incongruously modern, and their haunting effect is much enhanced.

I was delighted to be able to buy this CD of the music, and was even more delighted by its excellent quality.

If you really want the music from the film you will need to get both this and the Dominic Muldowney soundtrack.