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UncutThe finest tracks here update the duo's attitude as well as their sound, dissecting anew cultural and emotional climate with a bittersweet detachment reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys. [Oct 2002, p.124]
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Q MagazineIt's great, with well-judged strings and horns giving full rein to some marvellously acute lyrics.... A glorious return. [Oct 2002, p.117]
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As before, attempts to explore London's seedy underbelly verge on hamfisted and voyeuristic. But, again as before, Soft Cell really flourish with Marc's relationship horror stories, which happens on two songs.
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BlenderIn updating the duo's dirty old sound, Ball makes the arrangements clunky, too clean and dangerously close to the blandness Almond bemoans. [#10, p.126]
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Cruelty Without Beauty is the sound of Soft Cell reclaiming the musical territory they staked out in their 1981 hit debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, offering up hooky, dancefloor-oriented synthetic soul, now jacked up into a higher gear for the clublands of the new millennium.
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With songs full of piss and vinegar, Soft Cell's return is triumphant and toxic.
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MixerWhat Cruelty Without Beauty lacks in originality it more than makes up for with sheer wit. [Oct 2002, p.81]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 1 out of 10
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TonyBJan 3, 2003
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MikeS.Oct 16, 2002
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BTHONTHONOct 16, 2002