Saint Etienne – So Tough

Pumping out a hit release in 1993, Sarah Cracknell and her musicians created as much a noisy-industrial-busy city guide as an album. There're railroad station sounds, phone rings, car horns etc on this CD. Finally, this techno-electronic-house mix was recorded with Sara's melody parts. Replacing the song Mario's Cafe with its visions, one can imagine where you want to be, but the tracks Railway Jam and Avenue give you a feeling to walk around a night city etc. Listening to this album is great fun!

"Everlasting" samples the drum loops of Mayday's "Freestyle" and of Reese's "Just Another Chance". "Rainy Day Women" uses the former during the last minute.

this is a very good package (got it when it was released) and I wonder why the price tag is so low

Yeah...OK. I don't know if enough can be said about the quality of this pressing, but it's quite beautiful. As pristine as can be. (It didn't even need a cleaning.) No pops or skips. Just pure St. Etienne. Buy this edition if you want this album.

Very good release, sounds brighter than I remember. They did a good job with the cover and inner sleeve.

This sounds a million times better than that horrible Plain reissue from a few years ago! Definitely worth buying.

Note: does not feature the lock groove ending on side A that the original pressing has.

Can anyone comment on the sound quality on this release? Also, does it reproduce the original printed inner sleeve? TIA

SO TOUGH remains Saint Etienne's highest pinnacle of pop perfection; indeed it's a seminal document in the annals of pop. Who else can make the character study of "Mario's Cafe" into a groovy hit? But the real magic comes with the trifecta of "Avenue," "You're in a Bad Way" and "Hobart Paving." "Avenue," a delicious midtempo track tinged with sadness, flows through its numerous tempo changes with grace. "You're in a Bad Way" is a deliriously bright track that harkens back to the 60s, with cheeky lyrics and a finger-snapping rhythm. "Hobart Paving" is a deeply moving torch song with its tender refrain of "don't forget to catch me." After those, of course, it's difficult to compare (where do you go after perfection?), but Saint Etienne manage to pop out a few more gems: the house/guitar-thrash of "Conchita Martinez" or the self-referential "Join Our Club." All in all, an indispensible album.