Envy (Ambitious Lovers album)

Envy is the debut album by Ambitious Lovers.^[6][7] It was released in 1984 through E.G. Records.^[4] The album marked the first entry in what, at one point, was supposed to be a seven-album series on the seven deadly sins.^[5]

Envy
Studio album by Ambitious Lovers
Released	1984 (1984)
Recorded	BC Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Genre	New wave
Length	32:46
Label	E.G.
Producer	Arto Lindsay, M. E. Miller and Peter Scherer[1]
Ambitious Lovers chronology
Envy (1984) Greed (1988)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	A[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Production

Arto Lindsay, who grew up in Brazil, incorporates on the album many elements of that country's heritage.^[8] Most of the music was written by keyboardist Peter Scherer.^[9]

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that "Lindsay’s words are tantalizingly oblique, but there’s nothing oblique about his record’s lusty cry for recognition."^[10] Maximum Rocknroll called the album "slick and subdued," writing that Lindsey is "one of the few improv dudes who can make you laugh."^[11] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide called it "shocking in its juxtapositions."^[1]

John Leland of Spin called it, "the most generous and appealing work Lindsay has ever done. He brings his formerly anti-pop trademarks — demented, chicken-scratch guitar, fragmented lyrics, idiosyncratic compositions, choppy rhythms — intact into a contemporary pop format."^[12]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Cross Your Legs"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	5:05
2.	"Trouble Maker"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	2:25
3.	"Pagode Americano"	Fernandes, Nogueira, Silva	2:12
4.	"Nothing's Monstered"	Lindsay, Miller, Moss	1:00
5.	"Crowning Roar"	Lindsay, Miller	1:00
6.	"Too Many Mansions"	Lindsay, Miller, Scherer	3:52

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Let's Be Adult"	Lindsay, Scherer	4:18
2.	"Venus Lost Her Shirt"	Fernandes, Lindsay, Miller, Nogueira, Scherer, Silva	1:55
3.	"My Competition"	Lindsay, Miller	0:45
4.	"Badú"	Nogueira, Silva, Silva	1:06
5.	"Dora"	Caymmi	2:55
6.	"Beberibe"	Lindsay, Nogueira	1:00
7.	"Locus Coruleus"	Fier, Lindsay, Scherer	5:06

Sampling

The hook in "Let's Be Adult" is also in the song "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" by Groove Armada.

Personnel

Ambitious Lovers

• Arto Lindsay – vocals, guitar, production
• Peter Scherer – Yamaha DX7, Synclavier, synthesizer bass, sampling, production

Additional musicians and production

• Martin Bisi – mixing, recording
• Reinaldo Fernandes – vocals, repinique
• Mark E. Miller – Oberheim DMX, Tom-toms, backing vocals, production
• Robert Musso – mastering
• David Moss - Voice
• Toni Nogueira – surdo, timpani
• Claudio Silva – pandeiro
• Jorge Silva – repinique
• Seth Tillett – art direction
• Howie Weinberg – mastering