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 do as well as Massive Luxury Overdose did. 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.[5]
The first single released from the album, "Israelism", is about
Jean-Pierre Barda's way back to his Jewish culture and history.[6]
Critical reception
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."[3] 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."[4]
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