Take the Leap!

Take the Leap!
Studio album by Toyah
Released	October 1993 (cassette), 1994 (Japanese CD)
Recorded	1993
Studio	A deserted farmhouse in the outskirts of Salisbyury, UK
Genre	Rock, power pop
Length	59:30
Label	Pony Canyon (Japan)
Producer	Toyah Willcox
Toyah chronology
Ophelia's Shadow (1991) Take the Leap! (1993) Dreamchild (1994)
2006 edition cover

Leap! and Take the Leap! are the names for Toyah Willcox's project subsequent to Ophelia's Shadow. It consists of six new tracks, either previously unrecorded or written for the new album, and eight older tracks re-recorded with her new band.

It was originally released as Leap!, a cassette-only tour album, and was sold at concerts during her 1993 tour, while a CD version called Take the Leap! released in Japan the following year. In 2006, the album was finally released by Edsel in the UK and consequently original copies of the album have become much sought after.^[1] The album's first ever digital release came in December 2014 when it was made available to download at iTunes and Amazon and to stream via Spotify.^[2]

The release shows again a change in style from previous recordings, and has a much more raw feel than the polished albums which preceded it. Many of the six 'original/new' compositions had been written and demoed much earlier, including "Invisible Love" in 1989 with Simon Darlow. A glutch of demos recorded with Phil Nicholas in 1992, were also re-worked from their dancey ambient style into album tracks with a rockier feel, namely "God Ceases to Dream" and "Now I'm Running". Another demo from these sessions with Nicholas, "Tears for Elie" was included as a bonus track on the 2006 reissue CD, along with "Requite Me", a stray 1992 demo produced by Willcox and Darlow.^[1]

"God Ceases to Dream" is a track which was written and recorded as an ambient electronic demo. It contains lyrics and melodies Willcox had originally written and performed with collaborative band side-projects, as the songs "Born Again" with Sunday All Over the World, and "Broken Special (The Island)" with Kiss of Reality. The latter was recorded and appeared on the Kiss of Reality sophoremore studio album, whilst "Born Again" was never recorded in studio. The chanting at the beginning of this album's version of "Ieya" are lyrics (which crib The Lord's Prayer) which also appeared on the Kiss of Reality album opening track "Harlequin (Holy Day)".^[1]

"Lust for Love" had previously been written and performed live as a Strange Girls song, and later recorded as a demo by Cris Bonacci and Willcox. The version found on this album is subtly altered.^[1]

"It's a Mystery" was due to appear on the album in a version recorded with Phil Nicholas and Friday Forever which was an African dance, tribal metal rock version. Complications at the time of original release meant this could not occur and a straightforward rock version featured. The 2006 reissue of Take the Leap! on Edsel includes this previously unreleased version.^[1] Tracks from 7 to 14 are completely re-recorded versions of tracks with same titles on earlier recordings.

Singles and EPs[]

To mark the album's twentieth anniversary, and first ever digital release, two EPs of Take the Leap!-era material, entitled Winter in Wonderland and Has God Ceased to Dream You, were released in December 2013 and December 2014 respectively. In addition, a free digital EP of bonus material, also pertaining to the Take the Leap! album period, entitled Whisper the Elixir, was issued by Willcox's official website shortly after the release of Has God Ceased to Dream You. Its tracks were "It’s a Mystery (Whispered Elixir Mix)", "It’s a Mystery (Distant Sirens Mix)", "It’s a Mystery (Acoustic Poolside)" and "Waiting (Alternate Mix)".^[3]

Track listing[]

All songs arranged by Toyah and Friday Forever

1. "Now I'm Running" (Phil Nicholas, Toyah Willcox) - 5:21
2. "Lust for Love" (Cris Bonacci, Willcox) - 3:59
3. "Invisible Love" (Simon Darlow, Willcox) - 5:06
4. "Name of Love" (Nick Beggs, Willcox, Steven Askew) - 3:38
5. "Winter in Wonderland" (Beggs, Willcox, Askew) - 5:03
6. "God Ceases to Dream" (Nicholas, Willcox) - 5:23
7. "Ieya" (Willcox, Joel Bogen, Pete Bush) - 4:48
8. "Waiting" (Willcox, Steve Bray) - 2:56
9. "Neon Womb" (Willcox, Bush, Bogen) - 3:37
10. "Elusive Stranger" (Willcox, Bogen, Bush) - 4:02
11. "Our Movie" (Willcox, Bogen, Bush) - 3:00
12. "Thunder in the Mountains" (Willcox, Adrian Lee, Nigel Glockler) - 4:32
13. "I Wanna Be Free" (Willcox, Bogen) - 3:26
14. "It's a Mystery" (Keith Hale; additional lyrics: Willcox) - 4:39

2006 CD bonus tracks[]

15. "Requite Me" (Demo) (Willcox, Darlow) - 4:28
16. Tears for Elie" (Demo) (Willcox, Nicholas) - 6:34
17. "Waiting" (Alternate Mix) (Willcox, Bray) - 3:00
18. "It's a Mystery" (Weybridge Mix) (Hale) - 6:15

Personnel[]

• Toyah Willcox - vocals
• Paul Beavis - drums, percussion

Friday Forever

• Jolyon Dixon - rhythm and lead guitars, acoustic guitars
• Paul Luther - rhythm and lead guitars
• John Wakefield - bass
• Stuart Ross - additional drums

Production

• Toyah Willcox - producer
• Paul Nicholson, Chris Binns, Dave Kingsley - engineers, soundscapes
• Mark Evans - mixing at Big Ocean Studios, Weybridge, Surrey
• Paul Muggleton, Mike Paxman - mixing assistants
• Robert Fripp - sound advice

References[]