The Martyr Mantras

The Martyr Mantras
Studio album by Jesus Loves You
Released 1990
Genre Pop, dance, soul, house, Balearic, acid house, deep house
Label More Protein/Virgin Records
Producer Simon Rogers (track 1 & 11), Mark Brydon (tracks 2 & 3), Angela Dust (tracks 4 & 9), Jon Moss (track 4), John Themis (track 5), Bobby Z & Jeremy Healy (track 6), Bruce Forest (tracks 7 & 10), Zeo (track 8)
Jesus Loves You chronology
High Hat
(1989)		 The Martyr Mantras
(as Jesus Loves You) (1991)		 Cheapness And Beauty
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

The Martyr Mantras is a 1990 album by Jesus Loves You. It was credited to Jesus Loves You worldwide except in North America, where it was credited to Boy George upon its release there in 1991.

Overview

The Martyr Mantras contains many dance-oriented tracks, most of them with an electronic production. It is partly a collection of some of the songs that were released as one-off singles many months before (“No Clause 28” in 1988, “After the Love” in 1989, “Generations of Love” and “One On One” in 1990). The lead single was the Indian and house mash-up "Bow Down Mister" which reached the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

George’s songwriting credits are also on another alias, as “Angela Dust”.

The Martyr Mantras was not a strong seller, only reaching #60 on the UK Albums Chart. Although it did fare better in European countries, The Martyr Mantras entirely failed to dent the Billboard Top 200.[1]

Critical reception

In a contemporaneous review in Keyboard, Jim Aikin described the album as "blue-eyed soul for the '90s". He added that "[George] updates his British R&B roots very effectively with hip-hop beats and techno tricks". Aikin also noted that, whatever the mood of any particular track, "you feel that George is sincere".[2]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann found the music to be "largely anonymous, if danceable", but singled out "Bow Down Mister" as an exception.[3]

Track listing

  1. "Generations of Love" (Oakenfold Mix) (Angela Dust, Caron Geary, Simon Rogers)
  2. "One on One"(Brydon L.P. Mix) (Dust, Mark Brydon)
  3. "Love's Gonna Let U Down" (Popcorn Mix) (Dust, Brydon)
  4. "After The Love" (Ten Glorious Years Mix) (Dust, Jon Moss)
  5. "I Specialise in Loneliness" (Dust, John Themis)
  6. "No Clause 28" (Pascal Gabriel Mix) (Boy George O'Dowd, Glenn Nightingale, Ian Maidman, Richie Stevens, Steve Fletcher)
  7. "Love Hurts" (L.P. Mix) (Dust, Bruce Forest, Richard Cottle)
  8. "Siempre Te Amare" (Dust)
  9. "Too Much Love" (Dust, Brydon)
  10. "Bow Down Mister" (Dust)
  11. "Generations of Love" (Seventies Mix)

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Boy George solo discogrpahy chart performance
  2. ↑ Aikin, Jim, "In Review" Keyboard Volume 17, Number 7 (Issue #181) May 1991, page 17
  3. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "The Martyr Mantras". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
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