The Lexicon of Love

The Lexicon of Love was ABC's debut studio album. The band had formed a few years earlier as electronic band Vice Versa and released their first single as ABC "Tears Are Not Enough" in 1981.

The songs on the album were written collectively by the band, with arranger Anne Dudley given songwriting credits on some tracks. Martin Fry said that the band's ambition was to fuse punk and disco, music that was more sophisticated but still had some attitude. Lyrically, the songs are all about the matters of the heart. "Most of the other people were writing about electric pylons. We wanted to hark back to Cole Porter and his ilk, but in a very modern way", Fry said. The title The Lexicon of Love originated from a headline of a live review of ABC in NME.[13]

The majority of the album was recorded at Sarm East Studios in London, as well as at Abbey Road Studios, Townhouse Studios, RAK Studios and Good Earth Studios. The production includes both orchestral arrangements and the use of the then latest technology.[13]

The album was produced by Trevor Horn, engineered by Gary Langan and features orchestrations by Anne Dudley and Fairlight CMI programming by J. J. Jeczalik; Horn, Langan, Dudley and Jeczalik would later form the Art of Noise a year after the release of this album. Indeed, most of the production team and session musicians on the album would form the basis for the ZTT label, and their work with Horn meant all concerned would be in constant demand throughout the industry in years to come. The cover photograph is by Gered Mankowitz.[13]

"Tears Are Not Enough" (in its initial release produced by Steve Brown), "All of My Heart", "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love (Part One)" were all top-20 entries in the UK; the latter two also charted in the US, peaking at No. 25 and No. 18, respectively.[14] The album reached No. 1 on the UK charts and peaked at No. 24 in the US charts.

The album was followed by a tour with the band extended to an 11-piece onstage, reaching Europe, USA and Japan. The shows at Hammersmith Odeon in November 1982 were recorded for inclusion in ABC's forthcoming film Mantrap.[13]

In 2004, a two-disc deluxe reissue including previously unreleased outtakes and early demos and a live performance of the album from 1982 was released by Neutron Records.

In 2009, ABC (with Fry as its sole member) performed the entire album at the Royal Albert Hall in London, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conducted by arranger and composer Anne Dudley. They were joined onstage by the album's producer Trevor Horn.[15]

The Lexicon of Love was again performed live in its entirety on 18 December 2012 at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. This marked the 30th anniversary of the album's release and once again featured Dudley as conductor, performing with the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra. The same line-up (with Dudley and Southbank Sinfonia) concluded a four-date mini-tour at this same venue on 30 March 2014 performing the album in its entirety. Martin Fry and band were once more accompanied by the Southbank Sinfonia Orchestra for dates at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sheffield City Hall, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, between November 4 and 9, 2015.

A sequel studio album The Lexicon of Love II was released on 27 May 2016.[16]

A Blu-ray audio disc with new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound Blu-ray remixes by Steven Wilson, as well as a remastered vinyl edition of the original mix, was announced for release on 4 August 2023.[17]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[18]
Blender	[19]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[20]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[21]
Mojo	[22]
Q	[23]
Rolling Stone	[24]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[25]
Select	4/5[26]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[27]

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 and remained on the charts for 50 weeks. It was the fourth biggest selling album in the UK in 1982.[13]

From contemporary reviews, Mitchell Cohen of Creem declared the album to be a "piece of sumptuous kitsch" and that "the whole shebang is so florid, so exaggerated, so damned catchy – you want to hear "The Look of Love" a second time before it's even half over; it's a casserole of about forty different pop hits and advertising jingles – that you may feel guilty for falling for it."[28] Don Waller of the Los Angeles Times praised the album, stating that producer Trevor Horn "deserves a share of the applause, but the songs — credited to all four ABC members — are the real deal: apocalyptic, widescreen romances with more hooks than a meat-packing plant."[29] Waller proclaimed that "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love (Part I)" call out for "any one of a dozen contemorary black vocalists" stating that "ABC's biggest drawback is Martin Fry's singing, which borders on the effete."[29] Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a one star out of five rating stating that the album was "prissy dance music, light on the beat and heavy on the sort of maundering crooning that the effete English rock musicians frequently mistake for passion."[30]

From retrospective reviews, AllMusic wrote: "The production style was dense and noisy, but frequently beautiful, and the group's emotional songs gave it a depth and coherence later Horn works (...) would lack." "Fry and company used the sound to create moving dancefloor epics like "Many Happy Returns," which, like most of the album's tracks, deserved to be a hit single."[18] In a review of the 2004 Deluxe Edition BBC stated that "The Lexicon of Love stands as a landmark album in British pop". Rob Webb wrote: "It underpins just what a sharp band ABC were: witty, lyrical and very, very funky (...) Each track is a love affair in miniature: some are touching ("All of My Heart", "Show Me"), others a bitter invective at misplaced passion ("Many Happy Returns"). There is more going on in "2 Gether 4 Ever" than many bands squeeze into an entire album (...) Dance music had rarely been so literate."[3] Colin Larkin awarded the album 5 stars (outstanding) in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music stating: "Their pristine pop songs were nowhere better showcased than on the superb The Lexicon of Love. This Trevor Horn-produced album remains a benchmark of 80s pop, and a formidable collection of melodramatic love songs assembled in one neat package."[31]

ABC

• Martin Fry – lead and backing vocals
• Mark White – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals (6)
• Stephen Singleton – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Mark Lickley – bass guitar (2, 4, 6)
• David Palmer – drums, Linn LM-1 programming, percussion
• David Robinson – drums on single/demo versions of "Tears Are Not Enough"

Additional personnel

• Anne Dudley – keyboards, orchestrations
• J. J. Jeczalik – Fairlight CMI programming
• Brad Lang – bass guitar
• Luís Jardim (misspelled as "Louis Jardin" on album notes) – additional percussion
• Andy Gray – trombone (4)
• Kim Wear – trumpet
• John Thirkell – trumpet (2, 6), flugelhorn (2, 6)
• Gaynor Sadler – harp
• Karen Clayton – female speaking voice (2)
• Tessa Webb – female lead vocal (7)

Production and artwork

• Trevor Horn – producer
• Gary Langan – engineer
• Howard Gray – assistant engineer
• Gered Mankowitz – film photography
• Paul Cox – band photography
• Pete Bill – cover photography
• Visible Inc. – design
• Neutron Records – design

2004 deluxe edition credits

• Gary Moore – digital remastering
• Daryl Easlea – album coordinator, compiler
• Martin Fry – compiler
• Deluxe Graphics@Green Ink – artwork restoration, adaption[32]

• The Lexicon of Love (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• The Lexicon of Love at Discogs (list of releases)