release date: Jul. 25, 1985
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,72]
producer: Christopher Neil
label: Portrait Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Soldier of Fortune, Terrorist of Love" - 2. "Don't Fall in Love (I Said)" - 3. "Soul Passing Through Soul" - 11. "America for Beginners"
Studio solo debut by Toyah Wilcox, although it's also the sixth album credited Toyah. After Love Is the Law (1983) the band faced declining sales figures and interest, and most of the band members became engaged in other acts, basically, leaving Wilcox and Joel Bogen alone - once again. Except this time, Toyah Wilcox now signed a contract with CBS subsidiary Portrait as a solo artist. Songwriting duo Wilcox / Bogen is here credited a single song (track #7), while most of the other tracks are credited Wilcox and keyboardist Simon Darlow. The album also feature a total of four covers - songs originally released by Rare Bird (track #4), DATA (track #6), Alice Cooper (track #9), and Latin Quarter (track #11).
Apparently, the label's money men had a much to say in terms of details about the album's sound, style, and which tracks they wanted on an album, which appears to have been produced with an American market in mind, with focus on a mainstream style within a pop / rock bubble at a time when synthpop and the contemporary soft version of new wave with toned-down art pop was state-of-the-art. The arrangements show bold use of vocal harmonies, keyboards, and a most typical '80s drum sound, as well as the use of strings. Even the front cover highlights a shift towards a different crowd with Toyah Wilcox [in a Sheena Easton / Frida / Tina Turner look-a-like] style and definitely not meant for a punk rock audience.
The album actually performed quite well, peaking at number #24 on the national albums chart, and the first single "Don't Fall in Love (I Said)" peaked here as number #22. Tracks #3 and #10 were also issued as singles and landed as No. #57 and #93 respectively.
Musically and stylistically, Toyah simply didn't appeal to me after Love Is the Law, and this very album just cemented my lack interest. I still think much of the relatively significant commercial success she experienced after all is largely due to her background as an actor in a number of British films, TV series, and in roles as TV presenter on various BBC-productions. From a musical historical perspective, the band Toyah and soloist Toyah Wilcox released only a few really fine albums, where Anthem (1981) is the only truly outstanding album.
One year following Minx, Wilcox married guitarist Robert Fripp, and she continued to release solo albums up until '96, after which the pace of new releases slowed considerably. The 2008 album In the Court of the Crimson Queen - paying tribute to husband Fripp's band King Crimson's acclaimed debut In the Court of the Crimson King from 1969 - is by the beginning of 2021 Wilcox's most recent studio album.
Not recommended.
