Toyah - Minx (1985)

Butterfield wrote:

9 8 School's Out

postpunkmonk30 Jan 2008
Edited 10 years ago wrote:

referencing Minx ...Plus (CD, Album, Reissue) DIAB 8074

This is an impossibly glossy Toyah album, all Fairlight Page R and Yamaha DX-7 and with only a little of the essential Toyah mojo. "Soldier Of Fortune, Terrorist Of Love" could have been on "Changeling" but Christopher Neil's production has that same "plastic"' sound of Nile Rodgers that wears out its welcome. "Don't Fall In Love" is the best single here but it too succumbs to mid-80s production. "Soul Passing Through Soul" is a poor knockoff of Bowie's "Heroes." "The Space Between the Sounds" is Toyah at her mystical second-worst; "Ieya" still takes the cake on that score! The "School's Out" cover seems a blatant stab an US airplay that makes no sense at all. Too bad the album never got released in the US as planned. The incisive "America For Beginners" stands far and above all of the music here with strong, ever more timely lyrics and a subdued, subtle production. It seems more valid than ever 22 years later, sad to say. Tracks 13-18 are new to CD. "Snow Covers The Kiss" is a very elegant number originally the b-side of "Don't Fall In Love." Too bad it's followed by "Kiss The Devil," a Toyah b-side if ever there was one. The 12" mixes here are of mostly inconsequential quality. "Don't Fall In Love" gains a bit of sonic heft in its 12" arrangement but is otherwise very similar in sound to the LP cut. The "World In Action (Action Mix)" is the only 12" version here where the result differs greatly from the shorter curt. Lots of samples and drop-ins make for different listening. The very frank liner notes are nice reading. They practically spend the entire 16 pages apologizing for the album and its place in the Toyah canon. Such forthrightness is refreshing since even Toyah rolls her eyes metaphorically over "The Space Between The Sounds."

The Call of the Wendigo wrote:I've been sitting here thinking that's Julian Clary on the cover.

The I realised its a Toyah album.