Track Listing

1. Skywriting
2. Honey Be Good
3. Skeleton Crew
4. November Brides
5. Cigarette Girls
6. Crystal Palace
7. Wishing Game
8. Red Hollywood
9. Tiny Lights
10. Blue Shoes Stepping

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80735 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

The finest pop songs ever written?
I've had this album on an old cassette from the 80's. It's time for a replacement on CD as the cassette can no longer cope with my repeated listenings. Why do I listen to it so often? Because it is quite simply one of the finest albums of pop songs ever written. Wonderful, punchy melodies combine with memorable and catchy lyrics to produce perfect slices of four-minute pop. The musicanship is of a high standard with the occasional foray into a jazz-like sound which is never self-indulgent or dull. Ah, but it was made in the 80's you say... Doesn't that mean tinny synths and saccharine tunes? Not at all. Eureka! sounds as fresh today as it did then mainly due to the strength of the songwriting. If you stumble upon this review accidentally or otherwise, do yourself a favour and buy this album. If you don't like it, someone you know will.

Desperately underrated....
Welcome to hidden classics of the 80's part IV.

I originally purchased this on vinyl from Woolies on a rainy Saturday back in the day, the transfer to a blank cassette was immediate and it hardly left my walkman for the next 5 years, always there as an old favourite to fall back on. With both Vinyl and cassette worn out long ago, as soon as i discovered this was now re-issued onto CD, it was a no brainer.

What a joy to re-discover. This album was simply ahead of its time. Many 'singer-songwriters' could do worse than copy this. The quality of song writing and performance stands up even today. If the Bible had included the repeatedly re-released 7" version of Graceland (close to rivalling Danny Wilson and Mary's prayer in that regard) Eureka would have practically been a Bible greatest hits.

So why didnt Eureka fare better? Well this was released at a time of the charts being dominated by Stock, Aitken and Whatisface and riff tastic perm rock from the likes of Europe et al. Quality music like this never stood a chance. At the time, I recall some airplay of the track Crystal Palace as part of a Radio 1 concert promotion for the venue of the same name, but that was it. These days you might hear Honey be Good occasionally on Radio2.

The track listing shown here isn't 100% accurate as the CD re-release has spoiled the flow of the album a little, by including 2 b-sides at the end of what would have been the original side 1 and side 2 and Blue Shoes stepping was a great final track, other than this though, perfect.

I'll be buying their other album :)
Despite the band’s very limited chart success this, their second album, is a worthy collection of pop songs. The album could probably exist solely on the merits of the The Bible’s most successful song, Honey Be Good. Infact, I bought the album after hearing Honey Be Good on the radio (thanks Radio 2!). As the previous reviewer said, the solidarity of the song writing on this album does not leave it behind in the 80s – it could have been released yesterday and you wouldn’t realize it was recorded 18 years ago. Boo Hewerdine showcases his talents as a lyricist here, with words that are clearly based on the trials and tribulations of relationships yet are neither cheesy or ‘lovy dovy’. Crystal Palace, the album’s second single, is quite a lively number with a catchy melody and is quite rightly one of the best songs on the album. Other memorable songs for me are Skywriting and The Wishing Game. Red Hollywood is an example of the jazz injection this album was given (The Style Council anyone?). Although I’m not a fan of jazz music, it adds a bit of relaxation to the album’s journey.

Overall then, this is a descent pop album with the right amounts of complexity, energy and mood. It’s an album I’ll be listening to more than a few times.