Thompson Twins Album: “Into the Gap”

As passionate as I am about new wave, retro and synth-pop, there is no greater album to me than the Thompson Twins' 1984 release "Into the Gap". Now going on 25 years, the record still creates vivid images of places into ether and beyond in layers of spacey atmospheres, beautiful guitar melodies, alternative percussive rhythms and dreamy choruses by lead vocalist Tom Bailey and his colorful antic sidekicks Joe Leeway and Alannah Currie. Alex Sadkin's production is masterful, capturing the distant seaside presence of where the trio recorded the album in Nassau in the autumn of 1983. Finally, nearly 25 years later, the record has been re-released in a remastered version complete with b-sides, 12'' mixes, heavenly instrumentals and limited releases. Although the Thompson Twins owned the world and the pop charts, don't be underestimated. The talent speaks not in the fashion, but in the music that made this album my personal favorite of all time.

Other reviews are critiquing the quality of the sound on a few of tracks. However, the fact that this collection captures over 90% of the material recorded (that we know of) for the period that we'll simply call "The Gap", I shant try and decompose the very minor 'hissing' on one or two tracks and debate selected US / UK / Japanese versions. Given the fact that this LP is nearly a quarter of a Century old now, it is of great pleasure and honor that Edsel Records have spotlighted this album and given it this vinyl-reunion on compact disc for the first time.

If you were to choose a Thompson Twins album, non-compilation or remix release, this is it. The most hits, the biggest hits, and best songs are here.

I guess a lot of people are almost ashamed of admitting that they actually liked the Thompson Twins. Admitting it is the first step.Yes, they are one of my favorite bands from the 80's. "Into the Gap"is their best. Ironically, the single that was their biggest hit, "Hold me Now" is not my favorite. I love "You Take Me Up" (a minor US hit #44...major UK hit #2), "No Peace for the Wicked," "The Gap," and "Doctor! Doctor!"If you love the carefree, fun 80's music, this CD is a necessity.

1984 was truly the "Year of the Thompson Twins". After they appeared on the 1983 MTV New Years Eve ball, where they debuted a new song of theirs called "Hold Me Now", the Thompson Twins were set for world domination. Their album "Quick Step and Side Kick" had already made a big sensation in the United Kingdom and other European countries, but "Into the Gap" was the album that brought them strong success in the United States.

"Into the Gap" has a strange thing going on. On the one hand, it's a beautifully crafted album, carrying forward with the theme of their previous record, which brought together quirky synth sounds with warm bass and percussion. "Into the Gap" focuses even more on the songwriting and arrangement, with stunning results. And yet....it's 2006, and this album seems to only be remembered by 80s purists. Something about it contributed to it being written off as a period piece, forever identified with the 80s.

I can understand why when you take the band's image, which was very cartoonish and "new wave" (whatever that term was supposed to mean). They had weird hair, strange clothes, and Alannah Currie shaved off her eyebrows. On this record, she even had a "mohawk".

But if you would divorce the Thompson Twins from their then-commercial fashion sense, you'd find a gorgeous album in "Into the Gap". Shimmering synths exist alongside intricately-programmed drum patterns and live percussion that give it depth. Timpanis, bells, toms, the full range of percussion is represented here. Even more melodic than "Side Kicks", this album explores a fascination with Eastern cultures and melodies. Check out the opening track, "Doctor! Doctor!", which features a mesmerizing three-chord progression that evokes exotic adventure, repeated throughout the course of the song in varying combinations. This flavor continues throughout the rest of the album, most notably on tracks like "The Gap", an idealistic exhortation against xenophobia, and "Day After Day", which suggested an agnostic point of view that surfaced in other Thompson Twins songs as well.

There are a few other styles on here as well, like the gospel-reggae song "You Take Me Up", but songs like "Sister of Mercy" (the album's weakest point) and "Who Can Stop the Rain" don't have immediate reference points to them, and they seem to best represent the unique sound that the Thompson Twins acheived. The album contains two ballads as well; the haunting "Storm on the Sea", and the international hit "Hold Me Now", which seems to be the one song that everybody will remember them by.

Truthfully, it is debatable what kind of input Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway actually had on the album. You can hear them in a few places here, contributing backup vocals, but both have admitted much later that they had very little to do with the music, and even felt embarassed about their miscellaneous role in the band. Tom Bailey, on the other hand, is the voice of the band and compliments the music beautifully. His voice was never that strong, but could be warm and friendly or haunting and cold. It sometimes seemed to be on the verge of cracking or breaking, which created a great tension in the music, and at other times he sounded more relaxed and confident.

The following Thompson Twins records, which eventually saw the departure of Leeway, were mixed bags, and they wouldn't find this same alchemy again until their final album, "Queer", which still didn't quite recapture the magic here, at their zenith. Still, I find it amazing that the band's legacy hasn't carried on, if only for the sheer quality of their cornerstone albums, "Side Kicks" and "Into the Gap".

Compared to previous works, the Thompson Twins' "Into the Gap" shows a musical maturity that was not displayed in the past... and they were rewarded with their first (and only) U.S. Top 10 album.

Alannah Currie's lyrics move from delightfully dippy to heart-warming romanticism, especially on tracks like "Hold Me Now" (their biggest U.S. hit) and "Storm on The Sea". The Twins have also been able to concoct the bounciest hooks & melodies, textured with layers of keyboards -- like the Arabian chant-induced magic carpet ride of "The Gap", the upbeat & positive harmonica-ridden spin of "You Take Me Up", the sacrifices and punishment of an abused wife in "Sister of Mercy", and the emotional co-dependence of "Doctor! Doctor!".

Definitely one of the best all-original albums in the Twins' catalog... and one of the only not out-of-print. Check it out, you'll understand why...