Walking Wounded - Everything But The Girl (CD 1996)

I ll be the first to admit that it takes much too long for me to be exposed to various artists. For example, I first recall hearing Everything But The Girl after the single Missing made a splash on charts around the world. Little did I know in 1994 or 1995 that the English duo had actually been together since 1982. But I wasn t alone in my discovery It seems that Americans in the early and mid-1990 s were still rather wrapped up in the whole Seattle movement (or grunge as it s commonly known). I was certainly an avid fan of everything from that era. Anyway, when Everything But The Girl...

Everything But The Girl are probably one of the most sophisticated and alluring pop groups in recent memory. With the beautiful melancholy vocals of Tracey Thorne(whos voice is as distinct and memorable as Bjork, Tori Amos or Kate Bush) and the tight production, and songwriting of Ben Watt, they make an unstoppable force. Ben and Tracey most importantly are SONGWRITERS. They are amazing at their craft, eschewing pop cliches, for honest powerful lyrics and dilivery that seem lifted from your own diary or journal. Love, loss, and longing are their reoccuring themes, and they are experts at it...

Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn - collectively known as Everything But The Girl - have a way of being very graceful in their writings. There are rarely any raw, plain lyrics, yet they can be as catchy and forceful as anything else. There are many fine EBTG albums on which you could get a taste of their elegance. Walking Wounded, though, is just an incredible piece of art that can not be ignored. Walking Wounded is strictly electronic pop. Once the CD (or cassette) begins to play, though, the connection between this album and the remix of "Missing" crumbles. The album isn't danceable; it is a...

With their last record, 1995's winning AMPLIFIED HEART, Benn Watt and Tracey Thorn, the smartly sophisticated duo that makes up Everything but the Girl, pushed their songwriting to a new level. AMPLIFIED HEART was by far their best album yet. Combining their trademark acoustic harmonies with a new-found sense of musical freedom, they began to branch out from "English folk" music to create a sonically pleasing masterpiece. The happening Todd Terry remix of that album's hit single "Missing" brought a long overdue recognition to their music, and plunged them headfirst into a brand new musical...