The Thompson Twins trio scored a worldwide hit in late 1983/early 1994 with the synth pop sound of “Hold Me Now”. 40 years later the band released the 40th anniversary of the album it’s from, The Gap. Two extra discs of rarities, B-sides, and alternate mixes of the record’s five singles fill up the rest of this deluxe edition of the album that went to #1 in the UK and top 10 in the US.
Charting higher than the first single in the UK were “Doctor! Doctor!” with it’s easily remembered chorus and the faintly ridiculous Southern US influenced but no less catchy “You Take Me Up” with it’s line, “I know what it means to work hard on machines”. Whether singer Tom Bailey is referring to the factory or synthesizers is anyone’s guess. The album is loaded with slightly eastern influenced synth pop including the title track, one of the album’s highlights. Other songs like “Sister of Mercy” touch on domestic abuse and “Storm On The Sea” hits the more melancholy side of the band with the lyric, “This party is over/and we, we are alone”.
Listeners should be prepared to listen to the album’s five singles in several variations on this triple disc collection. There are plenty of tracks to like including “Down the Tools”, an extended take on “You Take Me Up” that has the xylophone playing of Allanah Currie and Joe Leeway’s backing vocals on “Hold Me Now (Phil Thornalley Extended Mix)” that is one of the better variations on the track. The instrumentals and backing tracks of several of the singles provides a different and enjoyable perspective on the songs while B-side “Leopard Ray” adds more guitar crunch to their sound.
Into The Gap – 9/10
Extras – 7.5/10
The Light Appears 