Army Of Lovers - Glory, Glamour And Gold + [1994, 320 kbps]

ARMY OF LOVERS - Glory, Glamour and Gold + (1994)



Codec: mp3.

Description: MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3.

Bit rate: 320 kbps.

Sample rate: 44100 Hz joint stereo.

Tags: ID3V1 & ID3V2.

Source format: CD.

Number of tracks 24.



Army Of Lovers' fourth - and final - studio album. The group would reform for the compilations "Les Greatest Hits" in 1995 and "Le Grand-Docusoap" in 2001 which both included new recordings, but "Glory, Glamour and Gold", which features the singles "Lit De Parade", "Sexual Revolution" and "Life Is Fantastic", sadly remains their final full-length album to date. It also came to be their final album with the line-up Michaela de la Cour, Dominika Peczynski, Jean-Pierre Barda and Alexander Bard.



The lead single from the album was "Lit De Parade", a majestic collaboration with the Swedish duo Big Money, consisting of keyboardist and composer Lars "Vasa" Johansson, briefly seen in the video as the grim reaper, and lead singer Magnus "Big" Rongedal, who in turn plays the resurrected knight in shining armour, this while Army Of Lovers themselves somewhat unusually take on the roles of relatively unglamourous 18th century paesants. Big Money released two albums in the early 1990s, none of which set any sales records, but both of which are historic in a round-about way all the same; they were both produced by Michael B. Tretow, the sound engineer behind the famous ABBA sound. The two albums with Big Money, "Lost In Hollywood" (1992) and "Moonraker" (1994), became Tretow's final pop projects before his retirement from the music business in the early 2000s. Magnus and his identical twin brother Henrik went on to sing backing vocals for a large number of famous Swedish artists all through the 1990s and 2000s before forming their own duo, simply called Rongedal. In 2008 they competed in the Swedish pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with "Just A Minute" and finished fourth and that same year they released their eponymous debut album. Magnus can also be heard on shared lead/backing vocals on the opening track "Hurrah Hurrah Apocalypse" and "Stand Up For Myself", and in 2001 both brothers sang on Army Of Lovers' cover version of "Let The Sunshine In" from the musical "Hair".



The second single from "Glory, Glamour and Gold" in 1994 was the anthemic "Sexual Revolution", with lyrics like "Stand united, black and white, sleep together, hold on tight, tonight" and "Stand together, straight and gay, sleep together, night and day, tonight". As most people are aware, everything about Army Of Lovers was "fake", even the live shows employed hair-brushes, toy microphones, plastic violins, anything the band could think of to make sure that everyone, absolutely everyone, knew that they were miming. Guitar solos were evil. There was nothing rawk 'n' roll about Army Of Lovers whatsoever. They took pride in not being "real" singers and they also very rarely used "real" musicians on their albums, instead opting for a completely synthesized and genuinely "faked" soundscape. "Sexual Revolution" is one of the very few exceptions to that rule. The album cut was a fairly straight-forward disco track, but for the single version they brought in an entire Latin percussion band into the studio (you can even hear them cheering each other on if you listen carefully to the extended mix) and turned the song into an irresistible samba fiesta!



The third and final single was the exact opposite to "Sexual Revolution". Usually the band hid behind their tons of make-up, sequins, their almost cartoon-like characters and their über-camp sense of humour, but every once in a while you could glimpse that these were real people, with real emotions, just like everybody else. And just like everybody else they had suffered losses in life; "Life is fantastic, the beauty, the sorrow. Death is too drastic, I can't say goodbye....." Undoubtedly one of their finest moments.



And there, unfortunately, ends the story of Army Of Lovers, after having released some twenty singles and just four studio albums. Luckily they would over the following decades reform every now and then. Release a few new songs and, just as importantly, make a few new videos every now and then. Make a few surprise guest appearances at Gay Pride Festivals every now and then. And who knows, maybe one day they'll be make a proper come-back with another full-length album full of pop gems, just like "Glory, Glamour and Gold". With Army Of Lovers one thing is for certain; you can never know for sure - and that, strange as it may seem, feels reassuring.....





TRACK LIST



Glory, Glamour and Gold

========================



01. Hurrah Hurrah Apocalypse

02. Sexual Revolution

03. Stand Up For Myself

04. Lit De Parade (Video Edit)

05. Life Is Fantastic

06. Mr. Battyman

07. C'est Démon

08. Shine Like A Star

09. You've Come A Long Way Baby

10. Ballrooms Of Versailles

11. Dub Evolution

12. Like A Virgin Sacrified

13. Lit De Parade (Radio Edit)

14. Lit De Parade (Plaisir De Nivana Mix)

15. Lit De Parade (Doug's Apple Mix)

16. Lit De Parade (Sexecution Mix)

17. The Grand Fatigue (Nuzak Remix)

18. Sexual Revolution (Latin Radio Edit)

19. Sexual Revolution (Latin Club Mix)

20. Life Is Fantastic (Scatman, John Radio Version)

21. Life Is Fantastic (The Plastic Fantastic H-Muzik Mix)

22. Life Is Fantastic (Scatman, John Long Version Remix)

23. Life Is Fantastic (The 1995 Remix)

24. Stand Up For Myself (The 1995 Remix)



Enjoy - and thanks in advance for seeding.