Berlin: Pleasure Victim CD Track Listing

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Berlin Pleasure Victim (1982)
Originally Released 1982\nCD Edition Released 1987 ??\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Originally released by the fledgling Enigma Records in 1982 and picked up by Geffen in early 1983 when the lascivious novelty single "Sex (I'm A...)" started picking up radio attention, Pleasure Victim is a frankly exploitative little slab of synth pop cynicism, so baldly crass in its positioning of lead singer Terri Nunn as a sex kitten (posing her in the nude on the inner sleeve, listing her contributions as "vocals, bj's" in the liner notes) and lyrically obsessed with the seedy side of the Los Angeles demimonde that criticism becomes nearly beside the point. Lyrical obsessions aside, Pleasure Victim actually holds up quite well as a piece of early-'80s synth pop, with two very good tunes ("Tell Me Why" and "Masquerade") and one masterpiece of the genre, the gimmicky and atmospheric "The Metro," the one song where Nunn's limited vocal abilities are put to their best use. The other three songs (not to mention the tiresome eight-minute remix of "Sex" on the cassette and CD versions) are much weaker, but surprisingly, for a record that was completely unfashionable seemingly within months of its initial release, Pleasure Victim actually has more to offer than many might remember. -- Stewart Mason\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOk for starters, but things got better., June 8, 2006 \nBy A. Griffiths "Adrian" (London)\nIf you like Berlin but haven't got this album, you might be disappointed by the rather cheap and raw synthesizer production on it. Berlin didn't hit the big time until "Take My Breath Away", but by then they were up to their third album and had taken on a mainstream sound. This was where they started. \n\nSo what does it sound like? Well its new-wave power pop with borderline Hi-NRG overtones. The underground hit "Sex (I'm A...)" is bolstered with a chattering synth bassline that could have come straight out of Eurodisco. Funny, then, that the song is this hilariously macho and sexist rubbish about a woman promising to be everything a man could fantasize about...it apparently caused a stir at the time with it's explicit content but it just sounds amusing now: "I'm a little girl... I'm a hooker... I'm a goddess...I'm a one-night stand" are some of the lines poor Terri Nunn has to sing while the drum machine and percussion huff and puff away in the background. I have nothing but respect for Terri Nunn, she's a great singer and accomplished performer, so thank goodness that Berlin matured as each album was released and she was able to sing songs with a bit more substance! \n\nActually, all the other songs on the album are probably better than "Sex (I'm A...)" lyrically, although they all have the same tinny synth backing. it works most of the time though, and it was definitely "the" sound of it's time. My favourite is the opener "Tell Me Why", but the slower songs are as good as the fast paced ones, with "Pleasure Victim" and "Torture" being fairly memorable songs. The weakest tracks for me have to be "The Metro" (too much bleep-bleeping and tin-pot bashing ) and "World of Smiles" (it just goes nowhere). Bear in mind also, that this is an incredibly short CD - and the inclusion of the extended version of "Sex" makes scant difference as it's a very unremarkable edit job. \n\nStill, it's fun to play, and Terri Nunn is already capable of stealing the show, even working with this rather adolescent material. The Berlin albums got better after this one, so think of "Pleasure Victim" as their way of just testing the water. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nI'm a man- I'm a (fill in here), February 19, 2004 \nBy Daniel J. Hamlow (Farmington, NM USA)\n\nAfter cutting a single and breaking up, bassist and synthesizer-man John Crawford and lead vocalist Terri Nunn resurrected Berlin with a new lineup that included Dave Diamond and Rick Olsen on guitars, Matt Reid on keyboards, and Rod Learned on drums, although he only performed on the first track of their debut EP, Pleasure Victim, the remainder being done by Daniel Van Patten.\nThe uptempo drum machines, sci-fi sounds, and swirly synths of "Tell Me Why" makes this a hallmark of early 80's New Wave. The sound is similar to one adopted earlier by Kim Wilde on her debut album. The title track sports a wall of synth and a more leisurely sound and BPM.\n\nThe next three songs ended up on Berlin's greatest hits album. "Sex (I'm A...)" will definitely go in rock history as a controversial single right from the first lyric. This uptempo synth number with grinding guitar has in its chorus vocals traded between Crawford (?) and Nunn: "I'm a man-I'm a goddess/I'm a man-Well, I'm a virgin/I'm a man/I'm a blue movie/I'm a man/I'm a b-tch/I'm a man-I'm a geisha/I'm a man-I'm a little girl/and we make love together." What I'm seeing here is that a man is just a man, and the many fantasies and roles he conjures up of a woman. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the most-played track for most listeners. Although I never had the pleasure of seeing the video, it did also gain more notoriety of being edited for MTV. In the eight minute extended version, there are more drums and synths, but at one point, the music cuts off to just drums, nad then the line "I'm a sl-t." Was that there to wake the listener or was that a confessional? (JK)\n\n"Masquerade" has that "Kids In America"-type sound and the life in a late-night dance club, which has its incessant lifestyle and perils: "so they reached for tomorrow/but tomorrow never came." More pronounced keyboards feature in "The Metro," a bitter and sad retrospect about an encounter aboard a subway car.\n\nSci-fi style zaps and Cars-style synths figure in the weird "World Of Smiles" while "Torture" is a slow ballad of someone dying for love with some stark imagery: "kiss me, kick me, feel my blood."\n\nA good first effort from the group, followed by greater things to come.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\n"I remember the letter wrinkled in my hand...", September 9, 2003 \nBy M. Fantino "Disco-Punk Evangelist!" (San Francisco, California USA)\nThis is the revolutionary album that put Berlin on the map of unchartered New Wave waters. A lot of eyebrows were raised in 1982 when this one came out, an album completely devoid of guitar, not to mention the credits for Terri Nunn include "Vocals, BJ's". \nThe songs are great, the best Berlin ever did as a band. "The Metro" can be played endlessly for eons and you'd never get tired of it. It sums up so perfectly everything that the new romantics stood for. I always felt that this song could be made into a John Hughes film and be acted out by Molly Ringwald. The exctended version of "Sex (I'm a...) is included on the disc as is the original. Such a great song. Did I mention the lyrics are provided?\n\nNo eighties collection should be without this classic. The price is right too. My only complaint is I wish this album would be remastered. It plays on the quite side, compared to remastered discs. I hope somebody important reads this and decides to do justice to this wonderful little record. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSoundtrack for the decadent eighties., March 1, 2001 \nBy kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States)\n\nThis is an excellent blend of disco/new wave that reflects the early eighties when it was released. The songs mostly revolve around a decadent sexual theme and are driven by a pulsating tech/synth beat. Teri Nunn's vocals are a perfect match for the songs. A bonus track of the extended 8 minute disco version of Sex has been added to the CD version of the EP. There are some good additions like Nunn's orgasmic moanings, but it does go on a little too long and gets repititious. But, it is a good dance track. With the bonus track the CD is now 36 minutes long.\nBerlin was formed in the 1980 by John Crawford. He auditioned band members and found Teri Nunn who was an out of work actress/reporter. He helped create a new sound where new wave and punk were blended with disco targetted for the dance clubs where disco was going stale. They released Pleasure Victim as an EP on an independent record label. Geffen got ahold of it, remastered a couple of the songs and gave it nationwide release in 1982. \n\nIn 1984, Berlin released their first full lenght album, Love Life. It is a good title. It is a collection of nondescript love songs set to pop synth beat. It is nothing like Pleasure Victim. Berlin's second full length album was Count Three and Prey. It was fairly experimental and had some good songs on it. It didn't do very well and Berlin broke up. Even though Berlin only released two albums and one EP, there are numerous collections and greatest hits albums.\n\nIn the nineties, Teri Nunn has gotten a back up band and has been touring as Berlin. She released a live album in 1999. Unfortunately, Berlin has never been able to live up to the potential of Pleasure Victim. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nDon't underestimate this disc!, October 17, 2000 \nBy tonyscam "tonyscam" (Fort Worth, Texas United States)\nWhen I say this is my very favorite album, it might help you to know that I appreciate many "critically acclaimed" artists such as Dylan, Lou Reed, Jules Shear, and Roger Waters' Pink Floyd. So, having established that I'm not an airhead, let me tell you that this is a powerfully moving album, not to be taken lightly. \nWhether primary songwriter John Crawford intended it or not, this is indeed a concept album -- I'd say what Dark Side of the Moon did for insanity, Pleasure Victim does for masochism. It requires listening from beginning to end. "Tell Me Why" opens the album with the anxiety and confusion of an unexpected rejection. "Pleasure Victim", then, may be seen as a recollection of submissive ecstacy, and "Sex (I'm A . . .)" inflates the ego with a laundry list of sexual roles (it also features a helluva guitar solo, by the way). \n\nSide Two is sequenced perfectly. "Masquerade" tends to grate on my ears a bit (I notice it's written by someone else entirely), but the beautiful, soaring bridge makes it all worthwhile. If you haven't yet heard "The Metro", I don't know what to tell you -- words fail me to describe this hypnotic song; read the other reviews. I consider "World Of Smiles" to be the absolute highlight of this excellent disc . . . while it first appears to be hyper bimbo-pop, the choruses (enhanced with some eerie harmonies from singer Terri Nunn) are absolutely chilling.\n\nAfter all that, there's "Torture", the summarization. "Forever for now, my heart screams for you / Desperate memories, broken and true . . . ." Make sure you're feeling stable before you listen to this song; it can push you over the edge.\n\nNow for the bad news: This disc badly needs to be remastered. My cassette of it is both louder and more dynamic than the CD. Also, you can safely ignore the "Extended Version" of "Sex"; it does nothing new, and hearing the song twice throws the whole thematic balance out of whack.\n\nI have little use for Berlin's subsequent albums, but this is a masterpiece. Perhaps someday, album-oriented radio will forgive the synthesizers, and give it the full-length spin it so richly deserves. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPleasure Treasure, August 11, 2000 \nBy Armando M. Mesa (Chandler, AZ)\nEvery track, with the exception of World Of Smiles, is mesmerizing and intoxicating. There was practically nothing like this out there in the music scene back in '82-'83 (maybe Missing Persons). While Sex was the most pronounced and overplayed track of the entire album,Tell Me Why,Pleasure Victim, Masquerade, and Torture were equally worthy of airplay time on the radio.Writer, producer, instrumentalist John Crawford and singer Terri Nunn and the rest of Berlin brought the California/West Coast New Wave sound to the forefront for the rest of the country; It was a pioneering and revolutionizing effort.The synthesizer work was incredible and very state-of-the art for early eighties which had just begun to lose the disco stigma. Berlin was also a group whose music was a precursor or blueprint for later artists of the 90's with regards to techno music.What also set this group apart from the rest of the other groups was Terri Nunn's strong, sensual and seductive vocals. Terri wasn't just looks but talent (still is)!... \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSeductive and Rich..., July 21, 2000 \nBy David Lombardi (Toronto, Ontario Canada)\n\nBeing a big synth-pop fan, a friend of mine recommended this album. I was familiar with the big single off this album "Sex (I'm a...)" but had no idea it was filled with other gems.\nThis EP contains 8 synth-y tracks that will satisfy the tastes of any synth-pop fan. But it doesn't end there, along with a classic 80's sound there are amazing songs and vocals. Terri Nunn's vocals on this album are priceless. One thing you have to love about Nunn is her 'trademark' whisper (then shout!) voice. \n\nThats what really makes this album more than just an every day 80's classic. The songs are sly, sentious and almost addictive. "Tell me why" has some of the best synth/drummachine/guitar combinations I've ever heard. "The Metro" has enough attitude to make an early 90's Madonna choke on her own dust. "Pleasure Victim", another great track, with a great opening line:\n\n"We touched, there was temprature/ I'm not the same..../ Now your walking through my door, it's a pleasure game".\n\nCoupled with a slow synth melody and softer drum sounds, this song deserves to be on the Greatest Hits compilation.\n\n"Torture" and "World full of smiles" are both intriguing tracks. They have an almost dark, off-beat sound that seems to be the total opposite of Berlin's other singles.\n\nI wish there were more than just 7 (origional) tracks since I love this sound so much. Still...this album is a must... a total classic.\n\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Daniel R. Van Patten, Maomen \n\nAlbum Notes\nBerlin: David Diamond (vocals, guitar, synthesizer); John Crawford (vocals, synthesizer, bass); Terri Nunn (vocals).\n\nAdditional personnel: Chris Ruiz-Velasco, Ric Olsen (guitar); Daniel Van Patten (drums, electronic percussion); Rod Learned (drums).\n\nIndustry Reviews\nRanked #6 in CMJ's Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1983.\nCMJ (01/05/2004)
This rock cd contains 8 tracks and runs 37min 38sec.
Freedb: 7908d008
Buy: from Amazon.com

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