Pleasure Victim is the second studio album by American new wave band Berlin. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released in October of that year by M.A.O. Records and Enigma Records.[3] After the second single, "Sex (I'm A...)", received considerable attention, the album was re-released on January 26, 1983, by Geffen Records in the United States and by Mercury Records internationally. The album marked the return of lead singer Terri Nunn to the group. To date, it is Berlin's best-selling album and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 9, 1993, becoming the band's only album to be certified platinum.[4]
"Sex (I'm A...)" peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100, while subsequent singles "The Metro" and "Masquerade" reached numbers 58 and 82, respectively.[5] The album itself peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200 in May 1983.[6]
Originally including seven tracks on both vinyl and cassette, Pleasure Victim is sometimes listed as being an EP album. Subsequent cassette and CD versions of Pleasure Victim include the extended version of "Sex (I'm A ...)" as a bonus track.[1] According to John Crawford, the album's reissue on Geffen was identical to the original Enigma release aside from "a little remixing".[7]
On August 31, 2020, a remastered version of Pleasure Victim was released on CD by Rubellan Remasters, expanded with single mixes and extended remixes from 1982 and 1983. Early versions of singles from 1981, when Berlin was with M.A.O. Records, were not available for licensing.[8]
The album's original release on Enigma sold 25,000 copies, an exceptionally high amount for an independent release.[7]
In a joint review of Pleasure Victim's 1983 reissue and Soft Cell's The Art of Falling Apart, Michael Goldberg of Record panned the album, saying that Berlin's use of sex to sell their music (particularly noting the track "Sex (I'm A...)" and the inner sleeve photo of Terri Nunn wearing nothing but a mink stole) is unintentionally humorous, and that the instrumentation is riddled with synthpop cliches. He concluded, "Like bad pornography, comic books and a Top 40 hit like 'Rosanna', one can wallow in the sheer trashiness of Pleasure Victim, though you wouldn't really want to call this stuff 'music'".[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by John Crawford, except where noted.
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Pleasure Victim is the second studio album by American new wave band Berlin It was originally recorded in 1982 and released in October of that year by M A O Records and Enigma Records 3 After the second single Sex I m A received considerable attention the album was re released on January 26 1983 by Geffen Records in the United States and by Mercury Records internationally The album marked the return of lead singer Terri Nunn to the group To date it is Berlin s best selling album and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA on February 9 1993 becoming the band s only album to be certified platinum 4 Pleasure VictimStudio album by BerlinReleasedOctober 1982Recorded1982GenreSynth pop 1 Length29 07LabelM A O EnigmaProducerDaniel R Van Patten The MaomenBerlin chronologyInformation 1980 Pleasure Victim 1982 Love Life 1984 Singles from Pleasure Victim Pleasure Victim Released 1982 Sex I m A Released February 1983 The Metro Released April 1983 Masquerade Released September 1983 2 Sex I m A peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 while subsequent singles The Metro and Masquerade reached numbers 58 and 82 respectively 5 The album itself peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200 in May 1983 6 Contents 1 Release 2 Reception 3 Track listing 4 Personnel 4 1 Berlin 4 2 Technical 4 3 Artwork 5 Charts 5 1 Weekly charts 5 2 Year end charts 6 Certifications 7 ReferencesRelease EditOriginally including seven tracks on both vinyl and cassette Pleasure Victim is sometimes listed as being an EP album Subsequent cassette and CD versions of Pleasure Victim include the extended version of Sex I m A as a bonus track 1 According to John Crawford the album s reissue on Geffen was identical to the original Enigma release aside from a little remixing 7 On August 31 2020 a remastered version of Pleasure Victim was released on CD by Rubellan Remasters expanded with single mixes and extended remixes from 1982 and 1983 Early versions of singles from 1981 when Berlin was with M A O Records were not available for licensing 8 Reception EditProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic 1 Christgau s Record GuideC 9 The album s original release on Enigma sold 25 000 copies an exceptionally high amount for an independent release 7 In a joint review of Pleasure Victim s 1983 reissue and Soft Cell s The Art of Falling Apart Michael Goldberg of Record panned the album saying that Berlin s use of sex to sell their music particularly noting the track Sex I m A and the inner sleeve photo of Terri Nunn wearing nothing but a mink stole is unintentionally humorous and that the instrumentation is riddled with synthpop cliches He concluded Like bad pornography comic books and a Top 40 hit like Rosanna one can wallow in the sheer trashiness of Pleasure Victim though you wouldn t really want to call this stuff music 10 Track listing EditAll tracks are written by John Crawford except where noted Side oneNo TitleWriter s Length1 Tell Me Why 5 342 Pleasure Victim 3 503 Sex I m A CrawfordDavid DiamondTerri Nunn5 08 Side twoNo TitleWriter s Length4 Masquerade Chris Ruiz Velasco4 045 The Metro 4 076 World of Smiles 3 507 Torture 2 36Total length 29 07 Geffen reissue bonus trackNo TitleWriter s Length8 Sex I m A Extended Version CrawfordDiamondNunn8 10Total length 37 17 2020 reissue bonus tracksNo TitleWriter s Length8 Sex I m A Single Remix CrawfordDiamondNunn3 319 Tell Me Why Single Remix 4 1010 The Metro Euro Single Remix 4 2811 Masquerade Single Remix Chris Ruiz Velasco4 0412 Sex I m A Extended Remix CrawfordDiamondNunn8 0813 The Metro Extended Remix 6 1914 Masquerade Extended Remix 7 22Personnel EditCredits adapted from the liner notes of Pleasure Victim 11 Berlin Edit John Crawford bass synthesizer vocals David Diamond synthesizer guitar vocals Terri Nunn vocals Daniel Van Patten drums electronic percussion Chris Ruiz Velasco guitar Ric Olsen guitar Rod Learned drums track 1 Technical Edit Daniel R Van Patten production tracks 2 7 engineering The Maomen production track 1 remix tracks 3 4 7 Charles Ramirez engineering assistance Jon St James engineering assistanceArtwork Edit PWR still photography Mark Ulves art direction design Martin Mann insert photographsCharts EditWeekly charts Edit Weekly chart performance for Pleasure Victim Chart 1983 1984 PeakpositionCanada Top Albums CDs RPM 12 22New Zealand Albums RMNZ 13 12US Billboard 200 6 30 Year end charts Edit 1983 year end chart performance for Pleasure Victim Chart 1983 PositionCanada Top Albums CDs RPM 14 89US Billboard 200 15 661984 year end chart performance for Pleasure Victim Chart 1984 PositionNew Zealand Albums RMNZ 16 31Certifications EditCertifications for Pleasure Victim Region Certification Certified units salesNew Zealand RMNZ 17 Platinum 15 000 United States RIAA 18 Platinum 1 000 000 Shipments figures based on certification alone References Edit a b c Mason Stewart Pleasure Victim Berlin AllMusic Retrieved July 8 2019 Berlin Masquerade 45cat Retrieved July 8 2019 Vinyl Album Berlin Pleasure Victim Enigma 45worlds Retrieved July 8 2019 American certifications Berlin Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved July 8 2019 Berlin Chart History Hot 100 Billboard Retrieved December 10 2021 a b Berlin Chart History Billboard 200 Billboard Retrieved July 8 2019 a b Meyer Marianne June 1983 We Now Take Sex Seriously Thanks to a Shot in the Dark Record Vol 2 no 8 p 6 Berlin Pleasure Victim Rubellan Remasters Retrieved August 31 2020 Christgau Robert 1990 B Christgau s Record Guide The 80s Pantheon Books ISBN 0 679 73015 X Retrieved August 16 2020 via robertchristgau com Goldberg Michael June 1983 The Art of Falling Apart Pleasure Victim review Record Vol 2 no 8 pp 28 29 Pleasure Victim liner notes Berlin Enigma Records 1982 Enigma 3 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link Top RPM Albums Issue 6272a RPM Library and Archives Canada Retrieved July 8 2019 Charts nz Berlin Pleasure Victim Hung Medien Retrieved July 8 2019 The Top Albums of 1983 RPM Vol 39 no 17 December 24 1983 p 15 ISSN 0033 7064 via Library and Archives Canada Billboard 200 Albums Year End 1983 Billboard Archived from the original on April 15 2020 Retrieved April 15 2020 Top Selling Albums of 1984 Recorded Music NZ Retrieved July 8 2019 New Zealand album certifications Berlin Pleasure Victim Recorded Music NZ January 20 1985 Retrieved July 8 2019 American album certifications Berlin Pleasure Victim Recording Industry Association of America February 9 1993 Retrieved July 8 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pleasure Victim amp oldid 1095436248, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
