The Lexicon Of Love

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The wit and rigour of ABC’s first album make it a standard-bearer for the opulent strain of '80s pop known as New Romanticism.

This Trevor Horn-produced album remains a benchmark of 80s pop, and a formidable collection of melodramatic love songs assembled in one neat package. In 2009, ABC (with Fry as its sole member) performed the entire album at the Royal Albert Hall in London, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conducted by arranger and composer Anne Dudley. In a review of the 2004 Deluxe Edition BBC stated that " The Lexicon of Love stands as a landmark album in British pop".The Guardian gave the album a positive review, stating that it was "the sound of an old master falling not far short of a standard that his youthful self set very high indeed. The shows at Hammersmith Odeon in November 1982 were recorded for inclusion in ABC's forthcoming film Mantrap. It was released on June 25, 1982 and reached number 24 in the United Kingdom and number 24 in the US Billboard 200.

From contemporary reviews, Mitchell Cohen of Creem declared the album to be a "piece of sumptuous kitsch" and that "the whole shebang is so florid, so exaggerated, so damned catchy – you want to hear "The Look of Love" a second time before it's even half over; it's a casserole of about forty different pop hits and advertising jingles – that you may feel guilty for falling for it. The majority of the album was recorded at Sarm East Studios in London, as well as at Abbey Road Studios, Townhouse Studios, RAK Studios and Good Earth Studios. The release of the album was followed by a tour of festival shows during mid-2016, followed by a scheduled ABC tour in the later half of the year including one show with an orchestra, the Southbank Sinfonia, at the Royal Festival Hall, conducted by Anne Dudley. The Lexicon of Love was again performed live in its entirety on 18 December 2012 at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Trevor Horn, who had produced The Lexicon of Love, was not available for the new album which led to Fry and producer Gary Stevenson to produce it.Fry created the album with the title The Lexicon of Love II, noting that "People have a great affection for the first record, [but] I'm beyond risk now. Some of the founding members of the later record label ZTT Records and the band The Art of Noise collaborate in the production of the album. Crooning, whispering or bellowing, Martin Fry is the group's suave centre of gravity; Trevor Horn's vivid production on disco-pop numbers like "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love, Pt. Indeed, most of the production team and session musicians on the album would form the basis for the ZTT label, and their work with Horn meant all concerned would be in constant demand throughout the industry in years to come.