Recurring Dreams LP Reviews

'Sounds' 17th Nov. 1984

LP Review by Andy Hurt

Not to be confused with the Bristol band of the same name, whose Heartbeat single 'Europeans' was one of the highlights of 1978. That was their only moment of inspiration, but that's one more than is likely from this boresome foursome.

They really don't live up to their name, the musical alignment of 'Recurring Dreams' being emphatically that of US/UK axis, Police meets the Fixx meets the Thompson Twins.

What they do, however, they do well, aided by the crisp production of David Lord who extracts the maximum atmospheric effect from inadequate raw material such as 'Burning Inside You' to manufacture the best track on the album.

In fact, the whole album consists of mediocre songs transformed by the twiddle of a knob and the inflexion of a note into very passable end product.

'Melody Maker' 17th Nov. 1984

LP Review by Ted Mico

I closed my eyes and envisaged a utopia where ghouls only exist on the telly, and George walks back to 'Brookside' a free man. Then I sent the needle coasting around the new Europeans' new disc, and all such illusions cascaded in to oblivion.

"Recurring Dreams" are exactly that : Having failed to impinge their name on the collective consciousness of the pop market with their first, and most attractive single, "Animal Song", the Enduro-peans must feel their time for glory slipping away.

While the rest of us are content to put our clocks back an hour, The Europeans have decided to set their digital timepieces back a decade. "Acid Rain" and "Burning Inside You" offer a summation of all the nightmares born around '74. Beneath an auto-pop exterior lurk the spectres of "Tales of Topographic Boredom" retold from Genesis to resignation.

A special commendation for valour in the face of hopeless tedium, must be awarded to Geoff Dugmore whose strident drumming struggles to revive the likes of "You Don't Want Me (in Your Life)", but eventually succumbs to the soporific irritation of Harper and Hogarth's vocals.

In fact "Recurring Dreams" has only one saving grace - it isn't a double.

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