The Lexicon of Love was an early production by a producer that in many ways would go on to define the sound the eighties, Trevor Horn. and stereo for this reissue, but before we get to that, let’s establish the formats for this re-release. Homegrown soul produced by Trevor Horn and including the pop hit "Look of Love", The Lexicon of Love is bursting with hooks, clever lyrics and synthetic funk-inspired grooves that hold up better than most others from the early 1980s.

I’ve compared Side A with an OG and recent remaster, and they have a similar sound, which confirms my observation. ABC and lead singer Martin Fry were an 80's pop band and along with the likes of Spandau Ballet, Ultravox and Duran Duran brought out some great songs which are still classics and played extensively today.

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. Decked out in tailored suits and gold lame, the Sheffield quartet - fronted by the elegant Martin Fry - pounced onto dance floors in October 1981 with the splendid "Tears are Not Enough". A year after its release, Horn, Langan, Dudley and Jeczalik formed the Art of Noise, and most of the production team and session musicians on the album formed the basis for the ZTT label. Si sente molto l’impronta di alcuni collaboratori che poi diventeranno gli Art of Noise: Anne Dudley alle tastiere e all’arrangiamento delle orchestrazioni, Trevor Horn (che poi ci regalerà un altro capolavoro come Welcome to the pleasure dome) alla produzione ecc.

Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer was less enthusiastic, dismissing the album as "prissy dance music, light on the beat and heavy on the sort of maundering crooning that the effete English rock musicians frequently mistake for passion. In a review of a 2005 retrospective of Trevor Horn's work, Pitchfork concluded: "If you don't already own the original records, all can be found cheap and all (especially ABC's Lexicon of Love) are essential documents of their era". Supporting SDE with these initiatives is leading to similar collaborations with labels/artists and we are keen to bring your more in the near future!

Mitchell Cohen of Creem contemporaneously declared it to be a "piece of sumptuous kitsch", adding 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. ABC was formed by Stephen Singleton and Mark White following the breakup of electronic band Vice Versa. Disc 2 features some early demos and a previously unreleased live run-through of virtually the entire album, recorded during the band's heyday in 1982.

Show Me' is a lively opener whilst '4 Ever 2 Gether', which weighs in at over 5 minutes in length, is quite inspired.

Lexicon of Love contains their biggest hit Look of Love, along with a whole host of others which will rapidly grow on you if not heard before. Lauding the "pristine pop songs", he declared that it "remains a benchmark of 80s pop, and a formidable collection of melodramatic love songs assembled in one neat package. In a BBC review of the 2004 Deluxe Edition, Rob Webb stated that " The Lexicon of Love stands as a landmark album in British pop", and "underpins just what a sharp band ABC were: witty, lyrical and very, very funky". Don Waller of the Los Angeles Times praised the album, stating that Horn "deserves a share of the applause, but the songs — credited to all four ABC members — are the real deal: apocalyptic, widescreen romances with more hooks than a meat-packing plant. Album d'ABC avec la fraicheur des premiers morceaux d'un groupe et surtout la perfection et finesse du producteur de ce début de décennie : Trevor Horn.