All About Eve's 2nd LP was always destined to be a difficult affair. After the success of their epnoymous first LP, could the Eves possibily live up to their initial promise, or would they sink into a mire of goth imagery and pseduo- hippy lyricism?

Road to Your Soul opens the LP on a glorious wave of keyboards and soaring vocals, some of Julianne's finest moments, with the chorus being lifted by Tim Bricheno's crunching rock guitar. As a first single, it bode well for the rest of the LP. The follow up single, December, was still a fine showcase for 'Scarlet' even if it did follow the exact same formula as 'Road..' The rest of the LP however, is a patchy affair to say the least. The track Scarlet stands up well, in the same vein as Martha's Harbour though less cloying, though there are songs which perhaps should have been relegated to b-sides (in fact Hard Spaniard *was* a b-side, as well as a CD bonus track)

Dream Now bounces along quite merrily, provoking neither scorn nor love while Gold And Silver follows much the same pattern. More than the Blues is reasonably catchy, with only some dubious banjo to spoil it. Tuesday's Child is a perfect All About Eve-by-numbers song, rocking in all the right places though failing to stretch the formula too much. Pieces of Our Heart is instantly forgettable filler material.

Blind Lemon Sam has Tim playing some of the most horrendous slide guitar imaginable, alongside a dodgy tale of escapism that Julianne has done better before (most notably on Like Emily) and it would probably be the low point on the LP were it not for the aforementioned Hard Spaniard. Perhaps a case could be made for the vinyl version rather than the CD, as Hard Spaniard is mercifully omitted - one up for vinyl junkies!

Thankfully, Empty Dancehall, Only One Reason and The Pearl Fishermen stand out like beacons in the quagmire of mediocrity, with Pearl Fishermen being worth the price of the LP on it's own. A tale of two brother's fighting for the love of a woman who wants neither, it is probably the most moving song on 'Scarlet..', avoiding any guitar hero bombastics Tim displays elsewhere.

Scarlet and Other Stories has aged fairly well, sounding less 'dated' than it's predecessor and stands up to repeated listening more, perhaps due to the better production values than actual song-writing however. Julianne has been quoted as saying Val Doonican could have guested on Scarlet, though this may be a bit too harsh. For many fans Scarlet is All About Eve's highest peak, one to which they would never return with the subsequent departure of Tim to the Sisters of Mercy.