Forty years after its release, Eurythmics’ fifth album Revenge remains one of the duo’s defining records, delivering global hits including ‘Missionary Man’, ‘Thorn In My Side’, ‘When Tomorrow Comes’ and ‘The Miracle Of Love’.
by Paul Cashmere
On 30 June 1986, Eurythmics released Revenge, the fifth studio album from Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart and the record that completed the duo’s transformation from synth-pop innovators into a fully realised rock band. The album produced four hit singles, generated a world tour that reached Australia, and delivered one of the biggest late-career successes of the duo’s chart run.
Coming just a year after Be Yourself Tonight, Revenge arrived at a time when many acts of the early 1980s were reassessing their sound. For Eurythmics, the move towards rock and R&B instrumentation had already begun on the previous album, but Revenge pushed further in that direction. The album’s success demonstrated that Lennox and Stewart could evolve beyond the electronic sound that had first brought them international recognition with songs such as Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and Here Comes The Rain Again.
Recorded between July 1985 and May 1986 in Cologne and Paris, Revenge featured a collection of songs that balanced hard-edged rock with melodic pop and emotionally charged ballads. Stewart again handled production duties and assembled a cast of musicians that broadened the album’s sound.
Among the contributors was Blondie drummer Clem Burke, who played drums throughout the project and subsequently toured with Eurythmics. Harmonica and saxophone player Jimmy “Z” Zavala brought a blues influence to tracks including Missionary Man and Thorn In My Side, while acclaimed composer Michael Kamen contributed orchestral arrangements to several songs, including The Miracle Of Love.
The album opened with Missionary Man, a song that became one of Eurythmics’ most enduring recordings. The track reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and topped Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart, becoming the duo’s only number one song on that survey. In Australia, Missionary Man peaked at number nine and became one of the group’s biggest local hits.
Missionary Man also delivered industry recognition. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and its stop-motion video, directed by Willy Smax, received heavy rotation on MTV and earned five nominations at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards.
Lennox later explained that the song had a deeply personal inspiration. While acknowledging elements of her own experiences, she also broadened its meaning, saying she distrusted people who seek power over others through religion, politics or philosophy.
Elsewhere, Thorn In My Side became Eurythmics’ ninth and final UK Top 10 hit, peaking at number five. Its accompanying video, directed by Chris Ashbrook and Stewart, featured the band performing in a bar setting surrounded by bikers and included an appearance by Burke, who had become an integral member of the live touring line-up.
Lead single When Tomorrow Comes found a stronger audience outside Britain. Co-written with keyboard player Patrick Seymour, the song reached the Top 10 in Australia and several European territories.
Meanwhile, The Miracle Of Love showcased another dimension of the album, pairing Lennox’s vocal with Stewart’s soaring guitar work on an emotional electropop ballad that became a Top 20 hit in Australia and parts of Europe.
Commercially, Revenge was a significant success and remains one of the key albums in the Eurythmics catalogue. Critics were divided at the time, with some praising the group’s embrace of rock arrangements while others preferred the more experimental electronic direction of earlier releases. Yet four decades later, the record’s enduring appeal lies partly in that willingness to change.
The album also marked the last phase of a particularly prolific period for Eurythmics. It was followed in 1987 by Savage, a darker and more conceptual work that again altered the duo’s musical direction. By then, Lennox and Stewart had already demonstrated an uncommon ability to reinvent their sound while maintaining a distinctive identity.
Forty years on, Revenge stands as both a commercially successful album and a pivotal chapter in the Eurythmics story. Its hit singles remain staples of the duo’s legacy and the record captures a period when Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart expanded their ambitions, embraced a rock-oriented approach and produced some of the most memorable songs of their career.
Tracklisting
Missionary Man
Thorn In My Side
When Tomorrow Comes
The Last Time
The Miracle Of Love
Let’s Go!
Take Your Pain Away
A Little Of You
In This Town
I Remember You
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first-Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
Bluesky
Instagram
X (Twitter)
