by William Ruhlmann
The American version of Reality Effect included three songs previously released only in the U.K. -- the British singles &Blind Among the Flowers& and &The Loneliest Man in the World& and the album track &Fool's Paradise& -- as well as songs released on the U.K. version of the album, which had been released the previous fall. The new songs found the group rocking harder for the most part and incorporating such influences as Jefferson Airplane, with lead singers Annie Lennox and Peet Coombes playing the parts of Grace Slick and Marty Balin. But the standout track was Lennox's reading of Dusty Springfield's 1964 hit &I Only Want to Be with You,& which made the U.S. singles chart after being a British Top Ten hit. Also included was its U.K. Top Ten follow-up, the Coombes/Lennox duet &So Good to Be Back Home Again.& [Originally released in October 1979 in the U.K. as Logo 1019, Reality Effect was released in the U.S. in an altered version containing songs from The Tourists in April 1980 as Epic 36386.]