In the Garden | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 October 1981 [1] | |||
Recorded | January–May 1981 | |||
Studio | Conny's Studio, Wolperath, Cologne | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:10 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Producer |
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Eurythmics chronology | ||||
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Singles from In the Garden | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
Smash Hits | 7½/10 [5] |
In the Garden is the debut studio album by the British new wave duo Eurythmics. [6] It was released on 2 October 1981 by RCA Records.
It was co-produced with krautrock producer Conny Plank at his studio in Cologne, and features numerous guest musicians including Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft drummer Robert Görl, and Can duo Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. Plank had previously worked with the duo whilst they were in their previous band the Tourists.
Two singles were released from the album in the UK, "Never Gonna Cry Again" and "Belinda". Neither the album nor the singles achieved much commercial success, although "Never Gonna Cry Again" charted at number 63 in the UK singles chart. [7]
On 14 November 2005, RCA repackaged and released Eurythmics' back catalogue as "2005 Deluxe Edition Reissues". The re-issue of In the Garden added the B-sides from the album's two singles, plus three tracks recorded live on the accompanying tour.
Stewart first met Lennox in 1977 at the health food restaurant Pippins, where the latter was employed as a waitress. During that time, Lennox was studying at Royal Academy of Music and Stewart was performing in the band Longdancer with Peet Coombes. The three formed the Tourists, a folk band, with Coombs serving as the primary songwriter and Lennox playing a Vox keyboard that once belonged to John Lennon. However, the band collapsed in part due to Coombe's drug dependency. [8] [9] Stewart, who became romantically and musically involved with Lennox upon hearing her playing a song on the harmonium, had ended their romantic relationship around the time the Tourists dissolved, although the two still remained on amicable terms and formed Eurythmics in 1980. [9] [10]
The formation of Eurythmics occurred during a New Year's Eve Party hosted by Conny Plank at his recording studio in Germany. At the party, Stewart and Lennox encountered Robert Görl, who was the drummer of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. The three held a jam session at Plank's studio that night and listened to music with Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay. This group of individuals recorded a series of demos at the insistence of Plank, who subsequently secured a record deal for the band with RCA Records. Plank served as the producer for In the Garden and received one third of the royalties generated from the album. [11]
Lennox reflected in an interview with The Observer that the album title was a metaphor for "a place of change. It mixes growth and death with optimism and pessimism." [12]
Stewart characterized the band's experience in Germany as something that "left a really big impression on us" [13] Plank and several session members encouraged Stewart to incorporate a variety of sonic textures into their songs. Stewart first developed an interest in field recordings as a child and had experimented with recording sounds from a bakery adjacent to his house.
On In the Garden, Conny Plank and Holger Czukay from Can and Jaki [Liebezeit] would teach me to just record all different kind of sounds and mix them into the actual track—and even if you can't identify them, the whole track comes alive. I've always done that ever since, and it all goes back to being a kid and making a recording in the baking shop. [14]
In an effort to distance himself from the music of the Tourists, Stewart sold two of his guitars and replaced them with a Roland TR-606 drum machine, a Roland Space Echo, and a synthesiser. Stewart explained that this decision was partially in response to a perceived pivot away from guitar-oriented albums in England. "The punk movement had happened and had annihilated anything to do with guitar records. If you were in England, it was a joke if you just made a normal guitar record." [15]
Plank encouraged the band to experiment with microphone placement during the recording process. This resulted in microphones being suspended up in a barn and dangling over a well in certain instances. Stewart credited Plank with sharing techniques that prepared him to become a record producer. [15] During the development of In the Garden, Plank travelled between recording studios to work with Ultravox. [11]
In a favourable review in Smash Hits magazine, Tim de Lisle commented "The ex-Tourists pack their bags and leave the safe pastures of pure English pop for the electronic delights of Cologne and superstar producer Connie Plank. On the way, they mug up on their Ultravox, Bowie, and Joy Division without forgetting their own roots, and the result is an intelligent, accessible first album." [5]
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic thought that Lennox's "ethereal" vocals were more subdued on In the Garden compared to the band's subsequent releases. He further described the album's production as having a "distant, mechanistic feel of the European electronic music movement, but less of the pop sensibility of later Eurythmics." [3]
All tracks are written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, except "English Summer" and "Caveman Head" co-written by Roger Pomphrey
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "English Summer" | 4:02 |
2. | "Belinda" | 3:58 |
3. | "Take Me to Your Heart" | 3:35 |
4. | "She's Invisible Now" | 3:30 |
5. | "Your Time Will Come" | 4:34 |
6. | "Caveman Head" | 3:59 |
7. | "Never Gonna Cry Again" | 3:05 |
8. | "All the Young (People of Today)" | 4:14 |
9. | "Sing-Sing" | 4:05 |
10. | "Revenge" | 4:31 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Le Sinestre" | 2:44 |
12. | "Heartbeat Heartbeat" | 2:02 |
13. | "Never Gonna Cry Again" (Live) | 4:36 |
14. | "4/4 in Leather" (Live) | 3:05 |
15. | "Take Me to Your Heart" (Live) | 4:57 |
Eurythmics were a British pop duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band that broke up in 1980. They released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but achieved global acclaim with their second album, Sweet Dreams (1983). The title track became a worldwide hit, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Canada and the US Billboard Hot 100. Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums, including "Love Is a Stranger", "There Must Be an Angel " and "Here Comes the Rain Again", before splitting in 1990.
The Tourists were a British rock and pop band. They achieved brief success in the late 1970s before the band split in 1980. Two of its members, singer Annie Lennox and guitarist Dave Stewart, went on to international success as Eurythmics.
Can were a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). They featured several vocalists, including the American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73). They have been hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.
Holger Schüring, known professionally as Holger Czukay, was a German musician best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde", Czukay was also notable for having created early important examples of ambient music, for having explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and for having been a pioneer of sampling.
Konrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involved in releases by Neu!, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Harmonia, Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, Kraan, and other German groups of the era. He later produced for new wave acts such as D.A.F., Eurythmics and Ultravox. As a billed performer, Plank also formed the group Moebius & Plank, releasing 5 albums between 1979 and 1986.
"Never Gonna Cry Again" is the debut single by the British new wave duo Eurythmics, released in 1981. It was taken from their debut album In the Garden. Co-produced by krautrock producer Conny Plank, the track also featured two members of the krautrock band Can. The sleeve design of the single features a picture of Annie Lennox.
"Belinda" is a 1981 music recording by the British new wave duo Eurythmics. It was the band's second single, and the second of two singles to be taken from their debut album In the Garden. The song was co-produced by Conny Plank and featured Robert Görl of D.A.F. and members of Can.
Flux + Mutability is the second collaboration between David Sylvian and Holger Czukay. It was released in September 1989. The music consists of two instrumental tracks improvised by the participants.
Flow Motion is the seventh studio album by German rock band Can. It was released in October 1976 and features the UK hit single "I Want More".
Saw Delight is an album by the German rock band Can. It features two new band members who were ex-members of the band Traffic, Rosko Gee and Rebop Kwaku Baah, with Can's bassist Holger Czukay giving up the bass in favour of experimental effects.
Out of Reach is the ninth studio album by the German krautrock band Can, released as an LP in 1978 on Harvest Records. It is their tenth official studio album, discounting compilations such as Unlimited Edition.
Rite Time is the eleventh and final studio album by the German rock band Can. Though Can had not yet split up, it is considered a reunion album because of the time elapsed since the band's previous album, Can, was released in 1979. The album consists of sessions recorded in the South of France in late 1986, edited extensively by the band over the course of subsequent years. Rite Time features the vocals of the band's original singer, Malcolm Mooney, who had left the group in 1970 after their debut album Monster Movie. Upon the album's initial release, "In the Distance Lies the Future" only appeared on the CD version, but it was included on the 2014 vinyl reissue.
Can Live Music is a double live album by the band Can, released in 1999 and recorded in the UK and West Germany between 1972 and 1977. It was originally included in the now out-of-print Can box set, Can Box.
Can, also known as Inner Space, is the tenth studio album by experimental rock band Can, released in 1979. Former bassist Holger Czukay's involvement with this album was limited to tape editing. It was Can's last album before the reunion album Rite Time, ten years later, and was released after the band's break-up.
On the Way to the Peak of Normal is the third album by Holger Czukay, released in 1981 through Electrola.
Full Circle is a collaborative album between musicians Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble and Jaki Liebezeit, released in 1982 through Virgin Records.
Der Osten ist Rot is the fourth album by Holger Czukay, released in 1984 through Virgin Records.
Rome Remains Rome is the fifth album by Holger Czukay, released in 1987 through Virgin Records. One single was released, Blessed Easter, which samples Pope John Paul II's Easter message.
La Luna is an album by Holger Czukay, released on June 13, 2000. The album originally consisted of one extended work, "La Luna", recorded four years earlier and described as "an electronic night ceremony". According to Czukay,
It seems to me that certain types of albums almost create themselves. In such cases the composer is merely the conduit for a pre-existing energy waiting to be transformed into sound. My experience with La Luna was very much like that. The album […] is in many ways a product of something similar to the automatic writing techniques of the Surrealists. I had purchased a new sampler and began experimenting with the machine without reference to the instruction manual and filled the brain of the machine to its full capacity with 'sonic memories'. In the late hours of the evening the machine came to life and spoke! The recording you hear is the transcript of this transcendental conversation between man and machine.
Phew is the debut album by Japanese singer Phew, released in June 1981 by Japanese label Pass Records run by Yoshitaka Goto and recorded at Conny Plank studio in Cologne, with Holger Czukay & Jaki Liebezeit in January and February 1981.