''Pleasure Victim'' is the second studio album by American new wave band

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released in October of that year by M.A.O. Records and

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...

. After the second single, " Sex (I'm A...)", received considerable attention, the album was re-released on January 26, 1983, by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

in the United States and by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

internationally. The album marked the return of lead singer

Terri Nunn Terri is an alternative spelling of Terry. It is a common feminine given name and is also a diminutive for Teresa. Notable people with the name include: *Terri Allard (born 1962), American country/folk singer/songwriter * Terri S. Armstrong, Ame ...

to the group. To date, it is Berlin's best-selling album and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 9, 1993, becoming the band's only album to be certified platinum. "Sex (I'm A...)" peaked at number 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, while subsequent singles " The Metro" and "Masquerade" reached numbers 58 and 82, respectively. The album itself peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in May 1983.

Release

Originally including seven tracks on both vinyl and cassette, ''Pleasure Victim'' is sometimes listed as being an EP album. Subsequent cassette and CD versions of ''Pleasure Victim'' include the extended version of "Sex (I'm A ...)" as a bonus track. According to John Crawford, the album's reissue on Geffen was identical to the original Enigma release aside from "a little remixing". On August 31, 2020, a remastered version of ''Pleasure Victim'' was released on CD by Rubellan Remasters, expanded with single mixes and extended remixes from 1982 and 1983. Early versions of singles from 1981, when Berlin was with M.A.O. Records, were not available for licensing.

Reception

The album's original release on Enigma sold 25,000 copies, an exceptionally high amount for an independent release. In a joint review of ''Pleasure Victim''s 1983 reissue and

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their pla ...

's '' The Art of Falling Apart'', Michael Goldberg of ''Record'' panned the album, saying that Berlin's use of sex to sell their music (particularly noting the track "Sex (I'm A...)" and the inner sleeve photo of Terri Nunn wearing nothing but a mink stole) is unintentionally humorous, and that the instrumentation is riddled with synthpop cliches. He concluded, "Like bad pornography, comic books and a Top 40 hit like ' Rosanna', one can wallow in the sheer trashiness of ''Pleasure Victim'', though you wouldn't really want to call this stuff 'music'".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Pleasure Victim''.

Berlin

* John Crawford – bass, synthesizer, vocals * David Diamond – synthesizer, guitar, vocals *

– vocals * Daniel Van Patten – drums, electronic percussion * Chris Ruiz-Velasco – guitar * Ric Olsen – guitar * Rod Learned – drums

Technical

* Daniel R. Van Patten – production ; engineering * The Maomen – production ; remix * Charles Ramirez – engineering assistance * Jon St. James – engineering assistance

Artwork

* PWR – still photography * Mark Ulves – art direction, design * Martin Mann – insert photographs

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Berlin (band) albums Enigma Records albums Geffen Records albums Mercury Records albums