Nostalgia for the Future
A. G. Bailey | Birmingham, - United Kingdom | 05/12/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hmm, very Kraftwerk. In going back to a sound even older than that of his own first foray into Electronic music, 1980's 'Metamatic', John has produced an excellent record of timeless quality. And for lovers of 'Metamatic', the tracks here 'Invisible Women' and 'Quiet City' are clever reworkings of that past glory.Equally at home on the CD players of oldies reminiscing on the golden age of synth rock, of DJs burning the uptodatest dancefloor tracks and of those looking for some serious chillout musik."
Hypnagogic Hallucinations
David Hoffend | Rochester, NY USA | 06/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have always been fascinated by John Foxx's surreal lyrics, and this collection of songs is nothing short of brilliant. A hypnagogic hallucination is a vivid, dreamlike hallucination that occurs as you are falling asleep. Some people see visions or hear people talking in that moment between waking and sleeping. John Foxx perfectly captures that moment on this album, and translates it to music. The lyrics often make you wonder if he is dreaming or awake; or living a moment in time or daydreaming about a moment in time. The music itself is minimal, clear, clean, and surreal without being disruptive. The dance beats of each song are very hypnotic and help to drive the dream like nature of the lyrics. John's voice is as beautiful and as clear as a bell ringing through fog. Relaxing yet exciting, beautiful yet surprising; thought provoking, and thoroughly entertaining."
John Foxx - still a cut above the rest
TM77 | nj, usa | 07/09/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"On The Pleasures Of Electricity, John Foxx, along with Louis Gordon, returns to his early 80s Metamatic era sound, which was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk. In fact the song Camera reminds me a lot of Kraftwerk's Europe Endless and Neon Lights combined only Camera is much more dancable. Still Foxx manages to show a bit more emotion into his music on this album than Kraftwerk and he even he himself did on Metamatic
The song Invisible Women is basically a reworking of an earlier John Foxx song Underpass which is available on Metamatic. The same keyboard notes are also played in the song The Garden from the 1981 album of the same name. He's repeating himself but he does it so well. I love the soaring synth solo.
City Of Light is a great song to dance to and it features another soaring synth solo which is one thing John Foxx' is known for.
The Falling Room is probably my favorite song on the cd. Most of the vocals on The Pleasures Of Electricity are electronically altered but on The Falling Room you get John's real voice(for the most of the song) which I really enjoy. That's a bit ironic perhaps because the music is probably at it's strangest on this song.Some other standouts for me are -
Automobile
Travel
Quiet CityThis is some great music from one of the founding fathers of electronica."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1