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Colour by Numbers
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==Reception== {{Album ratings | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="am">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/colour-by-numbers-mw0000189686 |title=Colour by Numbers β Culture Club |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Promis |first=Jose F.}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' | rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Two soulful voices prove fickleness of British trends |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=23 October 1983 |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine}}</ref> | rev3 = ''[[Number One (magazine)|Number One]]'' | rev3score = 5/5<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Brilliant Boy |magazine=[[Number One (magazine)|Number One]] |issue=24 |date=15 October 1983 |last=Voller |first=Debbi |page=32}}</ref> | rev4 = ''[[Record Mirror]]'' | rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Away from the numbers |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |date=15 October 1983 |last=Smith |first=Graham K. |page=16}}</ref> | rev5 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' | rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="rs">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/cultureclub/albums/album/304512/review/5943492/colour_by_numbers |title=Culture Club: this Boy's the real thing |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=407 |date=27 October 1983 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Holden |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Holden |pages=77β79 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807143426/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/cultureclub/albums/album/304512/review/5943492/colour_by_numbers |archive-date=7 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev6 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' | rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/204 204β205]}}</ref> | rev7 = ''[[Slant Magazine]]'' | rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="sm">{{cite web |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/culture-club-colour-by-numbers/ |title=Review: Culture Club, Colour By Numbers |website=[[Slant Magazine]] |date=3 April 2005 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Shetler |first=Scott}}</ref> | rev8 = ''[[Smash Hits]]'' | rev8score = 10/10<ref name="sh">{{cite magazine |title=Culture Club: Colour by Numbers |magazine=[[Smash Hits]] |volume=5 |issue=21 |date=13β26 October 1983 |last=Martin |first=Peter |page=44}}</ref> | rev9 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]'' | rev9score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=99β100}}</ref> | rev10 = ''[[The Village Voice]]'' | rev10score = B+<ref name="vv">{{cite news |url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv12-83.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |date=27 December 1983 |access-date=28 July 2011 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}</ref> }} Reviews for ''Colour by Numbers'' have been generally positive. ''[[Smash Hits]]'' reviewer Peter Martin called it "simply one of the most enjoyable records I've ever heard."<ref name="sh" /> [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' said that the album "secures lead singer [[Boy George]]'s place as a [[blue-eyed soul]] balladeer in the first rank." Holden found that it "is by no means a weighty album", but nonetheless "has gobs of emotion plastered as thickly as Boy George's makeup, and ten tunes that stick", and concluded: "Whether you like the band or not, Culture Club is one pop group that matters."<ref name="rs" /> [[Robert Christgau]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' wrote that "George's warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy croon signifies most effectively when it has the least to say – when it's most purely a medium for his warm, well-meaning, slightly clumsy self", and that "his real aim in life is to reenact the story of [[The Ugly Duckling|the ugly duckling]] – and to radiate the kind of extreme tolerance that's so often engendered by extreme sexual ambiguity."<ref name="vv" /> ''Colour by Numbers'' was ranked at number seven among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by ''[[NME]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/features/1983-2-1045394 |title=NME's best albums and tracks of 1983 |website=[[NME]] |date=10 October 2016 |access-date=13 March 2018}}</ref> In a retrospective review, [[AllMusic]]'s Jose F. Promis wrote: "The songs were infectious, the videos were all over [[MTV]], and the band was a media magnet." He deemed the album "flamboyant, fun, sexy, soulful, colorful, androgynous, and carefree" like other 1980s music, and concluded by calling it "the artistic and commercial pinnacle of a band that still attracted new fans years later."<ref name="am" /> Scott Shetler of ''[[Slant Magazine]]'' stated that "Culture Club hit their stride, and the influence of its 10 colorful songs can still be felt today." He said that "its greatness can be measured by the fact that its album tracks are just as good as its singles", and that "in the end, ''Colour by Numbers'' is an album that needs no tinkering."<ref name="sm" /> In 1989, ''Colour by Numbers'' was ranked at number 96 on ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.<ref name="rs100">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/culture-club-colour-by-numbers-55659/ |title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1980's |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=565 |date=16 November 1989 |access-date=2 December 2021}}</ref> The album was included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Culture Club: Colour by Numbers |last=Kato |first=Yoshi |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |title-link=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |publisher=[[Universe Publishing]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7893-1371-3 |page=515}}</ref>
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