Beloved Wife

The collected anthology from the innovative group from the late 1980's and early 1990's that includes all their hits and more. The Beloved are a British electronic group best known for the singles "Sweet Harmony", "The Sun Rising", "Hello", "Your Love Takes Me Higher", and "Satellite". Originally a post-punk/new wave band formed in 1983, they underwent a change in direction in the late 1980s to a house/alternative dance sound and experienced chart success inside and outside of the UK.

In 1990, the duo of Steve Waddington and Jon Marsh released its debut album Happiness under the name the Beloved, and found modest success by combining light, Erasure-style dance-pop with Marsh's breathy vocals and atmospheric arrangements. Following the release of a remix album Blissed Out (also from 1990), Waddington left the band, and was replaced by Jon Marsh's wife Helena Marsh just in time for the recording of the group's follow-up, the lifeless Conscience. The 1993 release largely abandoned the Beloved's pop approach in favor of more ambient soundscapes, limiting the album's appeal. (Jon Marsh's distant, uninvolved vocal style certainly didn't help, making the album sound cold and uninviting.) Unfortunately, the Beloved's third album X continues in this tradition…