^ Which album are you talking about? Is this Scitti Politti - Cupid And Psyche 85?
Yes, that's the one!
Best 1980's pop album ever made? Absolutely!
Rating: 10/10
Best tracks: "Absolute", "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)", "The Word Girl", "Absolute (Version)".
Cupid and Psyche `85 is probably the most 1980's album ever made, and yes, that is a compliment! A joyous, clever, silly, cute, exciting, dreamy and utterly addictive pop masterpiece, Scritti Politti, a.k.a Green Gartside (with new cohorts David Gamson and Fred Maher) pumped their sound to the max, creating an album that, for its time, was state-of-the-art pop at its finest, proving to be quite influential in the process. It still sounds fantastic, clearly very much of its time, but what's wrong with that? Just because a song sounds typically 1984/1985, that doesn't mean it's instantly a dated embarrassment, does it?
Let's focus on the best songs first....the album kicks off in the loveliest way possible with the gorgeous "The Word Girl", which remains the band's biggest UK hit and is a delightful slice of reggae-pop that skips through a truly summery sound that's pure sun-kissed ebullience. The song gets even better in its dub-fuelled, dreamy second half, and let's not forget the lyrics....then there`s "Absolute".....what on Earth can I say about this one? An absolute classic masterpiece, that's what it is. I can listen to this song forever, it's got absolutely everything a killer pop song needs, and much more; it's a total joy from start to finish, it sounds incredible loud and it's also got the most heart-stopping, thrilling chorus Green ever created. Beautifully, the 12" version is also available on this CD, and to say that the bit around 3.40 is nothing short of magical is an understatement to say the least. "Wood Beez" is, to put it mildly, a pop rush of the highest order; super-funky bass, a heavenly chorus, twisty-turny vocals and lyrics...this was the very first Scritti song I heard, and I fell in love with it immediately. Honestly, it's so good that you wonder why so many settle for less when it comes to great pop music, although at the time, for a brief while, Scritti and Green were kinda superstars, which is nice to know as they thoroughly deserved to make it big. By the way, "Wood Beez" has a sensational, wonderful middle-eight which stops time. It's that good. Almost as good as these three classics are the addictive, delicious "Lover to Fall", which has the kind of chorus you won't be able to get out of your head, while "Perfect Way" is perfect summer pop (and unsurprisingly, it was their biggest hit in the US). "A Little Knowledge" is a creamy, dreamy ballad, "Hypnotize" is all over the place, and delightfully so, "Don't Work That Hard" and "Small Talk" are crammed to the nines with brilliant pop hooks and...wait a minute, that's the whole album, isn't it? I guess it's all highlights then! Some cool bonus tracks include the afore-mentioned immortality of the "Absolute" 12", a fun, superior extended mix of "Hypnotize", an alternate version of "The Word Girl" (entitled "Flesh and Blood") that's a whole new song altogether and a mix of "Wood Beez" which is fun but doesn't beat the original. The playing is immaculate, the rhythms and beats are unbeatable, Green's voice has never sounded this good before or since, and overall the whole album sounds like the best 1980's summer pop dream imaginable.
