The Gods of Earth and Heaven

The Gods of Earth and Heaven is Swedish band Army of Lovers' third studio album. It was the first album, after the replacement of La Camilla by Michaela de la Cour and the introduction of new member Dominika Peczynski. It contains the hit singles "Israelism" and "La Plage de Saint Tropez". "Israelism" was banned from MTV for allegedly making fun of Jewish culture (despite the fact that two of the band members were Jewish). The album didn't do as well as Massive Luxury Overdose did. Album charted 20 weeks and peaked at number eight in Finnish Albums Chart Top-40. In the end of June 1993, Army of Lovers performed in several TV shows in France, Spain and Italy.[5]

The Gods of Earth and Heaven
Studio album by
Army of Lovers
ReleasedJune 1, 1993
GenrePop, dance
LabelStockholm Records
ProducerAlexander Bard, Per Adebratt, Anders Wollbeck
Army of Lovers chronology
Massive Luxury Overdose
(1991-1992)		 The Gods of Earth and Heaven
(1993)		 Glory, Glamour and Gold
(1994)
Singles from The Gods of Earth and Heaven
  1. "Israelism"
    Released: March 1993
  2. "La Plage de Saint Tropez"
    Released: June 1993
  3. "I Am"
    Released: September 1993
  4. "Sons of Lucy"
    Released: December 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Music Week[3]
NME7/10[4]

The first single released from the album, "Israelism", is about Jean-Pierre Barda's way back to his Jewish culture and history.[6]

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "Myriad Influences — opera, cabaret, Hi-NRG, classical, pop and rap to name but a few — collide in a way that will endear few on The Gods of Earth and Heaven. The camp Swedish-based group's single "Israelism" has attracted some attention, but this album you order at your peril."[3] Stephen Dalton from NME compared Army of Lovers with ABBA, saying, "Tabernacle choirs, string quartets, folk music maestros and even an entire orchestra: meticulous attention to detail which almost qualifies this Stockholm-based foursome as — whisper quietly — the new Abba. [...] Army of Lovers are Doctor Zhivago set to a relentless disco beat, a bawdy historical romp stuffed with futuristic techno slammers and throbbing rude bits. Abba on drugs with their knobs out, basically."[4]

Track listing
Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Chihuahuas on Parade"0:41
2."We Are the Universe"3:41
3."La Plage de Saint Tropez"3:32
4."I Am"3:54
5."Le Portrait de Jean-Pierre"0:44
6."Israelism"3:20
7."The Grand Fatigue"3:32
8."Carry My Urn to Ukraine"4:04
9."Sebastien"3:33
10."La Storia di O"0:45
11."Blood in the Chapel"3:16
12."The Ballad of Marie Curie"3:48
13."Heterosexuality"4:10
14."Sons of Lucy"3:02
15."Also Sprach Alexander"0:35
16."The Day the Gods Help Us All"3:45

Credits
  • Choir [The Army Tabernacle Choir Features] – The 69 Caruso, Erika Essen-Möller, Lilling Palmeklint, Malin Bäckström, Ricco (3)
  • Coordinator [Promotion] – Jonas Holst
  • Directed By [Video Clips] – Fredrik Boklund
  • Engineer, Programmed By [Additional] – Per Adebratt
  • Executive-Producer – Ola Håkansson
  • Film Producer [Video Clips] – Martin Persson
  • Keyboards, Programmed By, Guitar – Anders Wollbeck
  • Management – Anders Bladh
  • Mastered By – Björn Engelman
  • Producer, Mixed By – Alexander Bard, Anders Wollbeck, Per Adebratt
  • Supervised By [Project Supervisor] – Eric Hasselqvist
  • Vocals, Bass – Dominika Peczynski
  • Vocals, Drums – Jean-Pierre Barda
  • Vocals, Guitar – Alexander Bard
  • Vocals, Keyboards – Michaela de la Cour[7]

Charts
Chart performance for The Gods of Earth and Heaven
Chart (1993) Peak
position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 36

References
  1. The Gods of Earth and Heaven at AllMusic
  2. Larkin, Colin (2006). "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". Omnibus Press. p. 249.
  3. Jones, Alan (24 July 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week. p. 7. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  4. Dalton, Stephen (28 August 1993). "Long Play". NME. p. 36. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  5. Okej, No 12, June 1993, Sandra Grossman, "Galnaste midsommarbuden Jean-Pierre Barda -Jag drömmer om en grupporgie med mig själv", p. 11
  6. Judisk Krönika, no 2 1993, Madeleine Salomon, "Jean-Pierre Barda i Army of Lovers: Nya singeln en väg tillbaka till de judiska", pp. 32-33
  7. Army Of Lovers – The Gods Of Earth And Heaven
  8. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alice Cooper". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 19.
  9. "Swedishcharts.com – Army of Lovers – The Gods of Earth and Heaven". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
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