Stunning
Jonah Falcon | New York, NY USA | 07/29/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Controversial for its frank depiction of (gay) sex, "Relax" highlights this essential album of British 80's techno/club mix. Other highlighted tracks include the opening "The World Is My Oyster", "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome", Frankie's cover of "War", the energetic "Two Tribes". The album eventually begins to run out of steam, but there are still nice entries, such as the band's great cover (but shockingly faithful) of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run", the romantic "Fury" (preceded by the odd "(Tag)" intro) and their cover of "San Jose", which is startlingly incongruent to the album. The album closes with the cheeky "Bang". Overall, this is a prime example of 80's pop, and particularly British with American influence."