Adam 'N' Eve

Album Review

For the follow-up to Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves, Friday and Seezer retained Willner as producer, also recruited Flood to help out, and assembled a semi-free-floating band as back-up throughout. Some reappeared from the first album, like drummer Michael Blair, while others were new cohorts — Maria McKee contributed some backing vocals, while elsewhere Flo and Eddie did the honors. In a very knowing move, the latter essentially re-created the same role they once did for Marc Bolan on the T. Rex-homage "King of Trash," laden with sleazy horns and a big drum stomp. As for Adam 'n' Eve as a whole, the cabaret influence of Each Man Kills remains — one listen to the playful piano on "Why Say Goodbye" shows that much — but the hints of other approaches throughout that album now have greater prominence, making for a busy album. "I Want to Live" has a crisp dance arrangement, clearly signaling an influence from Flood (if anything, it sounds like he did a more natural job introducing that to Friday's work than he did with U2). Friday's elegant, restrained singing and Seezer's sweeping string-synths and piano playing turn the track into an addictive James Bond-style anthem. With that as a great start, Adam 'n' Eve moves from one miniature masterpiece to another, Friday and Seezer the perfect pairing for witty lyrics, melodramatic romance, and much more. The great character portrait "Saint Divine" has an ear for late Roxy Music drama without simply cloning it, while "Fun and Experience" is literally that, a fun, glammy number with everything from backing yelps to lush orchestral bursts. "Falling Off the Edge of the World," meanwhile, has Friday offering up his own wry takes on things like the Gulf War over nightclub jazz jams while McKee engages him in a fantastic full duet.