The Gods of Earth and Heaven is Swedish band Army of Lovers' third studio album. It was the first album, after the replacement of La Camilla by Michaela de la Cour and the introduction of new member Dominika Peczynski. It contains the hit singles "Israelism" and "La Plage de Saint Tropez". "Israelism" was banned from MTV for allegedly making fun of Jewish culture (despite the fact that two of the band members were Jewish). The album didn't perform as well as Massive Luxury Overdose. Album charted 20 weeks and peaked at number eight in Finnish Albums Chart Top-40. In the end of June 1993, Army of Lovers performed in several TV shows in France, Spain and Italy.Okej, No 12, June 1993, Sandra Grossman, "Galnaste midsommarbuden Jean-Pierre Barda -Jag drömmer om en grupporgie med mig själv", p. 11

The first single released from the album, "Israelism", is about Jean-Pierre Barda finding his way back to his Jewish culture and history.Judisk Krönika, no 2 1993, Madeleine Salomon, "Jean-Pierre Barda i Army of Lovers: Nya singeln en väg tillbaka till de judiska", pp. 32-33

Critical reception

In his review of the single "I Am", Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "Kitschy Swedish disco/pop act returns with a record that is a lot more sonically subtle than past efforts, though biting and humorous lyrics remain a primary element." In his review of the album, Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "Myriad Influences — opera, cabaret, Hi-NRG, classical, pop and rap to name but a few — collide in a way that will endear few on The Gods of Earth and Heaven. The camp Swedish-based group's single "Israelism" has attracted some attention, but this album you order at your peril." Stephen Dalton from NME compared Army of Lovers with ABBA, saying, "Tabernacle choirs, string quartets, folk music maestros and even an entire orchestra: meticulous attention to detail which almost qualifies this Stockholm-based foursome as — whisper quietly — the new Abba. [...] Army of Lovers are Doctor Zhivago set to a relentless disco beat, a bawdy historical romp stuffed with futuristic techno slammers and throbbing rude bits. Abba on drugs with their knobs out, basically."

Track listing

Credits Choir [The Army Tabernacle Choir Features] – The 69 Caruso, Erika Essen-Möller, Lilling Palmeklint, Malin Bäckström, Ricco (3) Coordinator [Promotion] – Jonas Holst Directed By [Video Clips] – Fredrik Boklund Engineer, Programmed By [Additional] – Per Adebratt Executive-Producer – Ola Håkansson Film Producer [Video Clips] – Martin Persson Keyboards, Programmed By, Guitar – Anders Wollbeck Management – Anders Bladh Mastered By – Björn Engelman Producer, Mixed By – Alexander Bard, Anders Wollbeck, Per Adebratt Supervised By [Project Supervisor] – Eric Hasselqvist Vocals, Bass – Dominika Peczynski Vocals, Drums – Jean-Pierre Barda Vocals, Guitar – Alexander Bard Vocals, Keyboards – Michaela de la CourArmy Of Lovers – The Gods Of Earth And Heaven

Charts +Chart performance for The Gods of Earth and Heaven Chart (1993) Peakposition Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) 8

References