Could Have Been Better
directions | Space Time Foam | 05/15/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is not nearly as interesting as the unfortunately way out of print compilation of an early incarnation of the Human League, "The Golden Hour of the Future". If you're expecting Cabaret Voltaire or Throbbing Gristle you probably will be disappointed (unless you go for T.G.'s occasional synth pop songs such as "United"). Other than that, the music has a dull depressive sound that (unlike say Joy Division) doesn't go anywhere. The lyrics can be irritating ("Dehumanization. Its such a big word. Its been around since Richard the third"-huh?). And the cover of "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" shows the direction the band were headed in. Though they started off in the post punk scene, they obviously wanted to be a synth pop band and after the first two albums achieved their success as just that, though they never had the creativity of other artists who combined synth pop with aspects of punk such as say, Ultravox's "Ha Ha Ha" or the essential synth masterpieces of Kraftwerk who got the ball rolling for this genre as well as many others."