Pleasure Victim

Pleasure Victim is the second studio album by American new wave band Berlin. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released in October of that year by M.A.O. Records and Enigma Records.[3] After the second single, "Sex (I'm a ...)", received considerable attention, the album was re-released on January 26, 1983, by Geffen Records in the United States and by Mercury Records internationally. The album marked the return of lead singer Terri Nunn to the group. To date, it is Berlin's best-selling album and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 9, 1993, becoming the band's only album to be certified platinum.[4]

Pleasure Victim
Studio album by
Berlin
ReleasedOctober 1982
Recorded1982
GenreSynth-pop[1]
Length29:07
Label
Producer
  • Daniel R. Van Patten
  • The Maomen
Berlin chronology
Information
(1980)		 Pleasure Victim
(1982)		 Love Life
(1984)
Singles from Pleasure Victim
  1. "Pleasure Victim"
    Released: 1982
  2. "Sex (I'm a ...)"
    Released: February 1983
  3. "The Metro"
    Released: April 1983
  4. "Masquerade"
    Released: September 1983[2]

"Sex (I'm a ...)" peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100, while subsequent singles "The Metro" and "Masquerade" reached numbers 58 and 82, respectively.[5] The album itself peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200 in May 1983.[6]

Release

Originally including seven tracks on both vinyl and cassette, Pleasure Victim is sometimes listed as being an EP album. Subsequent cassette and CD versions of Pleasure Victim include the extended version of "Sex (I'm a ...)" as a bonus track.[1] According to John Crawford, the album's reissue on Geffen was identical to the original Enigma release aside from "a little remixing".[7]

On August 31, 2020, a remastered version of Pleasure Victim was released on CD by Rubellan Remasters, expanded with single mixes and extended remixes from 1982 and 1983. Early versions of singles from 1981, when Berlin was with M.A.O. Records, were not available for licensing.[8]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[9]

The album's original release on Enigma sold 25,000 copies, an exceptionally high amount for an independent release.[7]

In a joint review of Pleasure Victim's 1983 reissue and Soft Cell's The Art of Falling Apart, Michael Goldberg of Record panned the album, saying that Berlin's use of sex to sell their music (particularly noting the track "Sex (I'm a ...)" and the inner sleeve photo of Terri Nunn wearing nothing but a mink stole) is unintentionally humorous, and that the instrumentation is riddled with synthpop cliches. He concluded, "Like bad pornography, comic books and a Top 40 hit like 'Rosanna', one can wallow in the sheer trashiness of Pleasure Victim, though you wouldn't really want to call this stuff 'music'".[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Crawford, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tell Me Why" 5:34
2."Pleasure Victim" 3:50
3."Sex (I'm a ...)"
5:08
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
4."Masquerade"Chris Ruiz-Velasco4:04
5."The Metro" 4:07
6."World of Smiles" 3:50
7."Torture" 2:36
Total length:29:07
Geffen reissue bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Sex (I'm a ...)" (Extended Version)
  • Crawford
  • Diamond
  • Nunn
8:10
Total length:37:17
2020 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Sex (I'm a ...)" (Single Remix)
  • Crawford
  • Diamond
  • Nunn
3:31
9."Tell Me Why" (Single Remix) 4:10
10."The Metro" (Euro Single Remix) 4:28
11."Masquerade" (Single Remix)Chris Ruiz-Velasco4:04
12."Sex (I'm a ...)" (Extended Remix)
  • Crawford
  • Diamond
  • Nunn
8:08
13."The Metro" (Extended Remix) 6:19
14."Masquerade" (Extended Remix) 7:22

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pleasure Victim.[11]

Berlin
  • John Crawford – bass, synthesizer, vocals
  • David Diamond – synthesizer, guitar, vocals
  • Terri Nunn – vocals
  • Daniel Van Patten – drums, electronic percussion
  • Chris Ruiz-Velasco – guitar
  • Ric Olsen – guitar
  • Rod Learned – drums (track 1)

Technical
  • Daniel R. Van Patten – production (tracks 2–7); engineering
  • The Maomen – production (track 1); remix (tracks 3, 4, 7)
  • Charles Ramirez – engineering assistance
  • Jon St. James – engineering assistance

Artwork
  • PWR – still photography
  • Mark Ulves – art direction, design
  • Martin Mann – insert photographs

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for Pleasure Victim
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[17] Platinum 15,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Mason, Stewart. "Pleasure Victim – Berlin". AllMusic. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  2. "Berlin – Masquerade". 45cat. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  3. "Vinyl Album – Berlin – Pleasure Victim – Enigma". 45worlds. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  4. "American certifications – Berlin". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  5. "Berlin Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  6. "Berlin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  7. Meyer, Marianne (June 1983). "We Now Take 'Sex' Seriously, Thanks to a Shot in the Dark". Record. Vol. 2, no. 8. p. 6.
  8. "Berlin / Pleasure Victim". Rubellan Remasters. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  9. Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. Goldberg, Michael (June 1983). "The Art of Falling Apart/Pleasure Victim review". Record. Vol. 2, no. 8. pp. 28–29.
  11. Pleasure Victim (liner notes). Berlin. Enigma Records. 1982. Enigma 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6272a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  13. "Charts.nz – Berlin – Pleasure Victim". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  14. "The Top Albums of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39, no. 17. December 24, 1983. p. 15. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  15. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1983". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  16. "Top Selling Albums of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  17. "New Zealand album certifications – Berlin – Pleasure Victim". Recorded Music NZ. January 20, 1985. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  18. "American album certifications – Berlin – Pleasure Victim". Recording Industry Association of America. February 9, 1993. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
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