…for a white-knuckle ride:
Honestly, I had forgotten how very much I love this song and the entire jagged, crazy album it came from. Beauty Stab is aptly named! It’s 180 degrees removed from the silky, full-piece orchestrations of The Lexicon of Love. And yet, I wouldn’t change a bit of it, even though I was kind of hoping ABC would have released a followup in the same vein (and now they have, or are just about to!) This departure is radical, but it feels right, and at the same time, the musical prowess, lyrical cleverness, and vocal polish save it from what could so easily have been total disaster. It didn’t get the greatest reception, critically or commercially, but who cares? It’s held up a hell of a lot better than many other wild-and-hairy innovations.
