The Language of Life

The Language of Life is the fifth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 5 February 1990 by Atlantic Records and Blanco y Negro Records.

The Language of Life
Studio album by
Everything but the Girl
Released5 February 1990 (1990-02-05)
Recorded1989
StudioBill Schnee Studios (Los Angeles)
Sunset Sound (Los Angeles)
Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length41:08
Label
ProducerTommy LiPuma
Everything but the Girl chronology
Idlewild
(1988)		 The Language of Life
(1990)		 Worldwide
(1991)
Singles from The Language of Life
  1. "Driving"
    Released: 1990
  2. "Take Me"
    Released: 1990
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[3]
NME4/10[4]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[5]
Q[6]
Record Collector[7]
Record Mirror4/5[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[11]

The Language of Life became Everything but the Girl's second album to surpass sales of 500,000 copies, but the album divided the group's British fanbase.[12] In 2012, group member Tracey Thorn described The Language of Life as "a slightly slick, kind of semi-jazzy, sophisticated record" and recalled that it "was a definite attempt to try and do something that had a character to it, but in retrospect when we were asked why we had taken that direction, we couldn't entirely say why".[13]

Background

Producer Tommy LiPuma had previously worked with artists like Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Randy Newman, and George Benson, and had contributed production to Aztec Camera's 1987 album Love. He had expressed an interest in producing Everything but the Girl, and Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, feeling that they had lost their place within the UK music scene, contacted him and asked him if he wanted to hear some demos. He invited them to New York City, and then to Los Angeles, where they would eventually record The Language of Life.

Tracey Thorn performed lead vocals on the album, and Ben Watt played guitar and piano, as well as doing some singing. Song arrangements were written by Larry Williams and Jerry Hey. The band LiPuma put together included Omar Hakim on drums, John Patitucci on bass and Larry Williams on keyboards. LiPuma produced, in Thorn's words, "a fully realised, immaculately performed and produced modern American soul-pop record".[14]

The cover shot was by Nick Knight.[15]

Track listing
The Language of Life (1990 release)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Driving"Ben Watt3:57
2."Get Back Together"Watt3:55
3."Meet Me in the Morning"
3:49
4."Me and Bobby D"
  • Watt
  • Thorn
4:09
5."The Language of Life"
  • Watt
  • Thorn
4:01
6."Take Me"
4:08
7."Imagining America"Watt4:58
8."Letting Love Go"Watt4:45
9."My Baby Don't Love Me"Watt3:40
10."The Road"Watt3:46
Total length:41:25
The Language of Life (2013 Edsel reissue - CD1)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Driving"Watt3:57
2."Get Back Together"Watt3:55
3."Meet Me in the Morning"
  • Watt
  • Thorn
3:49
4."Me and Bobby D"
  • Watt
  • Thorn
4:09
5."The Language of Life"
  • Watt
  • Thorn
4:01
6."Take Me"
  • C. Womack
  • L. Womack
4:08
7."Imagining America"Watt4:58
8."Letting Love Go"Watt4:45
9."My Baby Don't Love Me"Watt3:40
10."The Road"Watt3:46
11."Driving" (Masters at Work Racing Mix)Watt5:42
12."Driving" (Underdog Vocal Remix)Watt3:15
13."Take Me" (Clifton Mix)
  • C. Womack
  • L. Womack
5:05
14."Take Me" (Clifton Mix instrumental)
  • C. Womack
  • L. Womack
4:47
15."Take Me" (Lee Hamblin Remix)
  • C. Womack
  • L. Womack
6:21
16."Take Me" (Lee Hamblin Love Mix)
  • C. Womack
  • L. Womack
4:41
Total length:41:25
The Language of Life (2013 Edsel reissue - CD2)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Downtown Train"Tom Waits3:08
2."Driving" (acoustic)Watt2:27
3."Imagining America" (home demo)Watt4:12
4."Driving" (home demo)Watt3:38
5."The Road" (New York live demo)Watt3:48
6."Meet Me in the Morning" (New York live demo)
  • Watt
  • Thorn
3:41
7."Will the Roof Fall In?" (home demo)Watt4:46
8."Meet Me in the Morning" (live)
  • Watt
  • Thorn
3:59
9."The Road" (live)Watt4:09
10."Driving" (live)Watt4:26
11."Me and Bobby D" (live)
  • Watt
  • Thorn
4:44
12."Imagining America" (live)Watt6:12
13."The Language of Life" (live)
  • Watt
  • Thorn
5:40
14."Letting Love Go" (Michael Brecker final solo and alternatives)Watt1:46
15."Driving" (Michael Brecker final main solo and alternatives, rough mixes)Watt1:58
16."Driving" (Michael Brecker final outro solo and alternative, rough mixes)Watt2:33
17."The Road" (Stan Getz alternate whole take, rough mixes)Watt3:51
Total length:1:30:13

Personnel
Everything but the Girl
Additional musicians
Technical

Additionally, Rod Temperton, James McMillan, Geoff Travis, Damon Butcher, Steve Pearce, Cecil and Linda Womack and Archie Williams are thanked in the liner notes.

Charts
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 90
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 61
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 10
US Billboard 200[20] 77

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 288–289. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  2. Ruhlmann, William. "The Language of Life – Everything But the Girl". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  3. Sandow, Greg (16 February 1990). "The Language of Life". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  4. Staunton, Terry (10 February 1990). "Hull Hath No Fury". NME. p. 37.
  5. Moon, Tom (11 March 1990). "Everything but the Girl: The Language of Life (Atlantic)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  6. "Everything but the Girl: The Language of Life". Q. No. 42. March 1990.
  7. Waring, Charles (2013). "Everything but the Girl: The Language of Life / Worldwide & the Acoustic EPs / Amplified Heart". Record Collector.
  8. Crossing, Gary (10 February 1990). "Everything but the Girl: The Language of Life". Record Mirror. p. 15.
  9. Stenger, Wif (12–26 July 1990). "Everything But the Girl: The Language Of Life". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  10. Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 288–289. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. Crist, Renée (1995). "Everything but the Girl". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  12. "About". EBTG.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  13. Wade, Ian (19 June 2012). "From Eden With Love: Everything But The Girl Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  14. Thorn, Tracey (2013). Bedsit Disco Queen. Virago Press. pp. 213–19. ISBN 978-1-8440-8868-3.
  15. The Language of Life (Media notes). Everything but the Girl. Blanco y Negro Records. 1990. 229246260-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Moonlight Publishing. pp. 97–98.
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Everything but the Girl – The Language of Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  18. "Charts.nz – Everything but the Girl – The Language of Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  20. "Everything but the Girl Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  21. "British album certifications – Everything but the Girl – The Language of Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
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