Envy (Ambitious Lovers album)

Envy
Studio album by Ambitious Lovers
Released	1984 (1984)
Recorded	BC Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Genre	New wave
Length	32:46
Label	E.G.
Producer	Arto Lindsay, M. E. Miller and Peter Scherer[1]
Ambitious Lovers chronology
Envy (1984) Greed (1988)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	A[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Envy is the debut album by Ambitious Lovers.[6][7] It was released in 1984 through E.G. Records.[4] The album marked the first entry in what, at one point, was supposed to be a seven-album series on the seven deadly sins.[5]

Production

Arto Lindsay, who grew up in Brazil, incorporates on the album many elements of that country's heritage.[8] Most of the music was written by keyboardist Peter Scherer.[9]

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that "Lindsay’s words are tantalizingly oblique, but there’s nothing oblique about his record’s lusty cry for recognition."[10] Maximum Rocknroll called the album "slick and subdued," writing that Lindsey is "one of the few improv dudes who can make you laugh."[11] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide called it "shocking in its juxtapositions."[1]

John Leland of Spin called it, "the most generous and appealing work Lindsay has ever done. He brings his formerly anti-pop trademarks — demented, chicken-scratch guitar, fragmented lyrics, idiosyncratic compositions, choppy rhythms — intact into a contemporary pop format."[12]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Cross Your Legs"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	5:05
2.	"Trouble Maker"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	2:25
3.	"Pagode Americano"	Fernandes, Nogueira, Silva	2:12
4.	"Nothing's Monstered"	Lindsay, Miller, Moss	1:00
5.	"Crowning Roar"	Lindsay, Miller	1:00
6.	"Too Many Mansions"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	3:52

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Let's Be Adult"	Lindsay, Scherer	4:18
2.	"Venus Lost Her Shirt"	Fernandes, Lindsay, Miller, Nogueira, Scherer, Silva	1:55
3.	"My Competition"	Lindsay, Miller	0:45
4.	"Badú"	Nogueira, Silva, Silva	1:06
5.	"Dora"	Caymmi	2:55
6.	"Beberibe"	Lindsay, Nogueira	1:00
7.	"Locus Coruleus"	Fier, Lindsay, Scherer	5:06

Sampling

The hook in "Let's Be Adult" is also in the song "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" by Groove Armada.

Personnel

Ambitious Lovers

• Arto Lindsay – vocals, guitar, production
• Peter Scherer – Yamaha DX7, Synclavier, synthesizer bass, sampling, production

Additional musicians and production

• Martin Bisi – mixing, recording
• Reinaldo Fernandes – vocals, repinique
• Mark E. Miller – Oberheim DMX, Tom-toms, backing vocals, production
• Robert Musso – mastering
• David Moss - Voice
• Toni Nogueira – surdo, timpani
• Claudio Silva – pandeiro
• Jorge Silva – repinique
• Seth Tillett – art direction
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

References

1. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 24.
2. Dougan, John. "Envy". AllMusic. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
3. Christgau, Robert. "Arto Lindsay/Ambitious Lovers". Robert Christgau.com. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 249.
5. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 13.
6. "Ambitious Lovers | Biography & History". AllMusic.
7. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. February 18, 2003. ISBN 9781858284576 – via Google Books.
8. Spins. SPIN Media LLC. June 18, 1985. ISBN 9780674443181 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
9. Christgau, Robert (February 18, 1998). Grown Up All Wrong: 75 Great Rock and Pop Artists from Vaudeville to Techno. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674443181 – via Google Books.
10. "Arto Lindsey". Trouser Press. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
11. "Envy LP".
12. John Leland (June 1985). "Spins". Spin. No. 2. p. 31.