Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album)

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) is the second studio album by British pop duo Eurythmics, released on 4 January 1983 by RCA Records.

Recording and production
The album was assembled by Eurythmics mainly at two locations: a small project studio in the attic of an old warehouse in the Chalk Farm district of north London, where the duo spent seven months living and working, followed by a small room in the Church Studios in London. The album was largely recorded onto an 8-track tape machine, apart from three songs: "The Walk" was transferred onto a friend's 16-track, and "Somebody Told Me" and "Wrap It Up" were both recorded onto 24-track (using only half the tracks) while the Church studio was being built. Equipment-wise, the band had a basic recording setup consisting of a Tascam 80-8 8-track, a Soundcraft Series 2 mixer, two Beyerdynamic M201 TG microphones, a Roland Space Echo, a Furman compressor, a B.E.L. Electronics noise reduction unit, and a Klark Teknik DN50 spring reverb unit. The instruments they used were mainly a Roland SH-09 synthesizer (later said to be an SH-101 instead), a CSQ-100 sequencer, a Gretsch slide guitar, a Movement drum computer, a Roland Juno-6, and a borrowed Oberheim synthesizer (later described as the OB-X model by Stewart). Overall, the record cost around £5,000 to make, due to equipment costs.

Release and popularity
After a year and a half of initial commercial failure for Eurythmics, this album became a breakthrough for the duo on both sides of the Atlantic. The title track became particularly popular and remains one of Eurythmics' most recognisable songs. Its music video, popular on MTV in the United States, is memorable for Annie Lennox's gender-bending imagery. In the wake of this success, the single "Love Is a Stranger", previously a flop, was re-released and became a hit as well. It too was accompanied by a striking video that featured Lennox dressed both as a man and a woman.

The album was re-released in 2005 with the entire Eurythmics studio catalogue except the 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) album, to which Virgin Records holds the rights. The recordings were remastered and several bonus tracks added to each of eight albums. In this release, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) acquired six bonus tracks.

Releases
Early Australian, German, and US CD releases (printed in Japan) and the 2005 reissue version of this album have a slightly longer version of "This City Never Sleeps". The length of 6:40 is due to some mixed sound effects and a backmasked message by David A. Stewart saying, "I enjoyed making that there record. Very good, very good" that total 21 seconds. This message also appears on original UK vinyl pressings.

During 1982, Eurythmics recorded many tracks that ended up as B-sides of singles or as alternative versions of other songs. Tracks such as "Step on the Beast", "Invisible Hands", "Dr. Trash", or the alternative versions of "The Walk" have not been released on CD yet and any future plans for re-release are unknown at this time. However, these tracks can now be heard through YouTube.

Critical reception
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
 * Annie Lennox – vocals
 * David A. Stewart – production (all tracks); engineering
 * Adam Williams – production (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8); engineering
 * Robert Crash – production (tracks 3, 4, 9); engineering
 * Chris Ashbrook – video stills
 * Lewis Ziolek – cover photography
 * Laurence Stevens – design
 * Green Gartside – guest vocals (track 3)

Sweet Dreams: The Video Album
Eurythmics also released a video album for Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), featuring in-concert performances, promotional videos, and narrative animation highlighting the duo's singles "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Love Is a Stranger", and other songs from the album.

The live concert performances, taped at the Heaven nightclub in London, feature a selection of songs from Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), as well as two songs from their 1981 debut album, In the Garden, "Never Gonna Cry Again" and "Take Me to Your Heart".

The video album was directed by Derek Burbidge, with the exception of the promos for "Love Is a Stranger" (directed by Mike Brady), "Who's That Girl?" (directed by Duncan Gibbins), and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (directed by Chris Ashbrook).

Information

 * Director: Derek Burbidge
 * Producers: Kate Burbidge, Maurice Bacon
 * Executive producer: Mickey Shapiro
 * Animation: Bura and Hardwick Animation
 * VHS release: 1983
 * DVD release: 1998

Track listing

 * 1) "Prologue" (introduction montage) – 1:46
 * 2) "This Is the House" (live version) – 4:48
 * 3) "Never Gonna Cry Again" (live version) – 4:21
 * 4) "Take Me to Your Heart" (live version) – 4:08
 * 5) "I've Got an Angel" (live version) – 3:41
 * 6) "Satellite of Love" (live version) – 5:01
 * 7) "Love Is a Stranger" (promo) – 3:26
 * 8) "Who's That Girl?" (promo) – 3:40
 * 9) "This City Never Sleeps" (live version) – 5:12
 * 10) "Jennifer" (live version) – 4:39
 * 11) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (live version) – 3:36
 * 12) "I Could Give You (A Mirror)" (live version) – 3:47
 * 13) "Somebody Told Me" (live version) – 3:25
 * 14) "Wrap It Up" (live version) – 3:20
 * 15) "Tous les garçons et les filles" (live version) – 3:40
 * 16) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (promo) – 3:40