This Side of Love

In his late teens, D'Arby enlisted in the U.S. Army and considered becoming a professional boxer.[1] While stationed in Germany, he joined a group named Touch and realized that he wanted to dedicate his life to music.[1] He left the Army, moved to London, and while there recorded a music demo; this led to his getting to a record contract.[2] In 1987, D'Arby released his debut album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, which sold millions of copies worldwide.[3][4] While his first album was heavily influenced by soul music, between its release and the recording of his second album, Neither Fish Nor Flesh, D'Arby became influenced by innovative 1960s music, including the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.[5]

Like all of the tracks on Neither Fish Nor Flesh, D'Arby wrote and produced "This Side of Love" himself.[6] He additionally played many of the instruments on the song, such as drums, guitar, keyboards, and piano.[6] A string section also performed on the recording, as did musicians Cass Lewis (bass) and Christian Marsac (saxophone).[6]

The sound of "This Side of Love" has been compared to the work of Prince,[7][8] Grand Funk Railroad,[7] and Sly and the Family Stone.[9] The song is "garage band-ish R&B"[10] that has "sparse floor-tom rhythm, psychedelic strings, slashes of ricochet guitars bouncing from ear to ear, all tied together in a loose bow with a tough riff and hoarse vocal".[10] The sound of the track has also been described as "skeletal, fiery",[11] and "raw".[10]

"This Side of Love" was released in October 1989 on Neither Fish Nor Flesh[11] by Columbia Records.[8][12] D'Arby initially convinced record executives to hold back from releasing any singles from the album;[3] however, by November of that year sales of the album were slow,[3] and "This Side of Love" was put out as the lead single.[13] Its B-side was "Sad Song for Sister Sarah Serenade".[13] "This Side of Love" was a No. 10 hit on one Dutch chart,[14] and reached No. 36 in both Italy and New Zealand.[15][16] Later, the song appeared on compilation albums including Terence Trent D'Arby's Greatest Hits (2002), Collections (2006), Sign Your Name: The Best of Terence Trent D'Arby (2007), and Original Album Classics (2011).[17]

Critical appraisal of "This Side of Love" has generally been positive. The song is described by The Atlantic's Jay Ferguson as "adventurous" and "raw and exciting",[10] by Spin's Howard Hampton as "ear-popping",[18] and by New York magazine's Elizabeth Wurtzel as "fun and raucous".[9] Robert Christgau cites the track as an example of D'Arby's "master[y] of the black spectrum" of music.[8] For AllMusic's Tom Demalon, the song is a "highlight" of Neither Fish Nor Flesh,[11] while The New Yorker's Ben Greenman calls it "one of [D'Arby's] finest moments".[19]

• Christgau, Robert. "Terence Trent D'Arby". Consumer Guide. Retrieved 2014-02-12.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Coleman, Mark (1989-11-30). "Terence Trent D'Arby – Neither Fish Nor Flesh". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2014-02-12.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Demalon, Tom. "Terence Trent D'Arby – Neither Fish Nor Flesh". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-02-13.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Terence Trent D'Arby – Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-02-22.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ferguson, Jay (2012-03-06). "Track of the Day: 'This Side of Love'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2014-02-15.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Greenman, Ben (2013-06-04). "Whatever Happened to Terrence Trent D'Arby". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2014-02-13.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hampton, Howard (1993-06-01). "Terence Trent D'Arby – Symphony or Damn". Spin. Retrieved 2014-02-22.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "Indice per Interprete: D" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
• Kennaugh, Jonathan (2003). Buckley, Peter (ed.). Terence Trent D'Arby. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Leland, John (1989-10-01). "Son of a Preacher Man". Spin. Retrieved 2014-02-23.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Neither Fish Nor Flesh (CD booklet). Terence Trent D'Arby. Tokyo: CBS Sony. 1989.CS1 maint: others (link)
• "Neither Fish Nor Flesh – Singles". Sanandamaitreya.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
• Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "Terence Trent D'Arby – This Side of Love". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
• "Terence Trent D'Arby – This Side of Love". charts.nz. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
• "Terence Trent D'Arby – This Side of Love" (in Dutch). GfK Dutch Charts. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
• "Top 40" (in Dutch). Media Markt. 1989-12-09. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
• "Top Singles – Volume 51, No. 10, January 20, 1990". RPM. 1990-01-20. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
• Wurtzel, Elizabeth (1989-12-04). "Big Time". New York. Retrieved 2014-02-13.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics