The Blue Nile - Tinsel Town In The Rain (Linn Records)

This is quite an achievement for only their second single, it's quite nice. There's nothing that jumps out at you but I love the strings, more bands should use them. I don't know if it'll be a hit because I'm lousy at picking them. I think they'll develop into quite a big band. (Andy Taylor [Duran Duran], Record Mirror, July 14, 1984)

This comes from the band's new album Walk Across The Rooftops, but there's no doubt that as an album track it's sophisticated, subtle and slightly melancholy. Sadly, though, it's also a single which makes it boring, predictable and slightly weak. It's hard for The Blue Nile to top their wonderful single "I Love This Life" and they certainly won't do it with this. If anything, it's very reminiscent of early '70s Steely Dan which, in 1984, is nothing to be proud of. (Muriel Gray, Smash Hits, July 19, 1984)