All About Eve [1998] Winter Words - Hits & Rarities

[01] Our Summer
[02] Flowers In Our Hair
[03] In The Clouds
[04] Martha's Harbour
[05] Every Angel
[06] Wild Hearted Woman
[07] What Kind Of Fool
[08] Road To Your Soul
[09] Scarlet
[10] December
[11] Farewell Mr. Sorrow
[12] Strangeway
[13] The Dreamer
[14] Paradise
[15] Candy Tree
[16] Drowning
[17] Wild Flowers
[18] Theft
[19] Different Sky



amg: A fairly good compilation, Winter Words features most of the singles that the band released during their short career. While the collection is buyable for the few B-sides thrown in for good measure ("Theft," in particular, is one of the best All About Eve tracks around, and makes this worth having), it's more "hits" than "rarities.".
(amg 8/10)

All About Eve [1989] Scarlet And Other Stories

[01] Road To Your Soul
[02] Dream Now
[03] Gold And Silver
[04] Scarlet
[05] December
[06] Blind Lemon Sam
[07] More Than The Blues
[08] Tuesday's Child
[09] Pieces Of Our Heart
[10] Hard Spaniard
[11] The Empty Dancehall
[12] Only One Reason
[13] The Pearl Fisherman



amg: It happens all the time. A band puts out a well-received debut, tours successfully, and generally feels excited about its future. And while it may seem that the "sophomore slump" is an overused cliché, before issuing their premier releases most bands spend years working on songs live, refining their songwriting, and finding their place in things. They get the record deal, and take those well-worked songs into the studio with them. They record, release, and if they're lucky, the album is a moderate to big hit. If it is, then they get a follow-up to make. Only this time, the band has to come up with new tracks, usually in a sterile, studio environment, and given that they're probably sick of playing the same tunes for the last few years, cracks in morale start to appear. To say this happened to All About Eve would be hitting the nail on the head. Recorded in somewhat idyllic surroundings should have had a positive effect on the band, but instead the Eves had a bit of a meltdown. Scarlet and Other Stories, their "difficult" follow-up, is the result of a band trying to cope with moderate success while working new sounds and styles into their music. More diverse and a tad longer than All About Eve, Scarlet has some fantastic moments and some not so fantastic moments. Tracks like "Road to Your Soul" and "December" are quintessential All About Eve, while others, such as "Hard Spaniard" and "Blind Lemon Sam," are catchy and melodic but stretch the ability of the band a bit too far. Lyrically, Scarlet is considerably darker than its predecessor, lacking the angels and hippies and flower children of the debut. What it all boils down to is that when the band is playing to its strengths, the album is great. When they're trying too hard, the album feels a bit like a misstep.
(amg 7/10).

All About Eve [1988] All About Eve

[01] Flowers In Our Hair
[02] Gypsy Dance
[03] In The Clouds
[04] Martha's Harbour
[05] Every Angel
[06] Like Emily
[07] Shelter From The Rain
[08] She Moves Through The Fair (Version)
[09] Wild Hearted Woman
[10] Never Promise (Anyone Forever)
[11] Apple Tree Man
[12] What Kind Of Fool
[13] In The Meadow
[14] Lady Moonlight



amg: To label (in any way) the self-titled debut from All About Eve "goth" is a perfect example of how loosely the term was being thrown around in the mid- to late '80s in England. Sure, the Eves had a bit of goth cred (touring with the Mission, early singles that sounded a lot like Siouxsie), but All About Eve is more folksy than menacing, and follows the tradition of later-era Fairport Convention more than Bauhaus or the Sisters of Mercy. The band had already developed its more folksy sound on its independently released singles, but with Paul Samwell-Smith producing, All About Eve graduated from quasi-Siouxsie clones into a full-blown example of late-'80s "goth pop." Steeped in folksy melodies and hippie-esque lyrics, All About Eve can seem a bit dramatic and drippy, but it makes up for its faults with solid song arrangements and a glossy production that fits the band's melodic sensibilities and polished guitar work. While it may not be part of the pantheon of rock as a whole, All About Eve stands out as a prime example of a time in English pop music when things weren't quite certain.
(amg 8/10)