Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) is the second studio album by British pop duo Eurythmics, released on 4 January 1983 by RCA Records. Along with the title track, which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 that year, the album also features the singles "This Is the House", "The Walk", and "Love Is a Stranger".

Background and release

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. Equipment-wise, the band had a 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.

Stewart was particularly pleased with the final product and called it "one of the most important records of 1983", due to the "carefully structured" arrangements and lyrics.

Critical reception

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) has generally received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics. Smash Hits noted that some of the lyrics detracted from the "otherwise pleasant LP", although they were complimentary of "Love Is a Stranger". AllMusic praised some of the singles but felt that the album possessed a few dull moments.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

  • Annie Lennox – vocals
  • David A. Stewart – production ; engineering
  • Adam Williams – production ; engineering
  • Robert Crash – production ; engineering
  • Chris Ashbrook – video stills
  • Lewis Ziolek – cover photography
  • Laurence Stevens – design
  • Green Gartside – guest vocals

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
  • 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

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

! scope="col"| Chart (1983–2022)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 5

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)

| 66

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 77

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| US Rock Albums (Billboard)

| 18

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1983 year-end chart performance for Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

! scope="col"| Chart (1983)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 19

|-

! scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)

| 17

|-

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 33

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 34

|-

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 4

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (Gallup)

| 15

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 72

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1984 year-end chart performance for Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

! scope="col"| Chart (1984)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 72

|}

Certifications

References

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)