|
| Walhello -> Knowledge Base -> CDs -> H -> Human League Octopus |
| Human League - Octopus Band: Human League Tracks: - Tell Me When - These Are the Days - One Man in My Heart - Words - Filling up With Heaven - Housefull of Nothing - John Cleese; Is He Funny - Never Again - Cruel Young Lover great 90's come-back album The Human League's 1990 album, Romantic? was a big disappointment to the new wavers. It then lost the synth beats and catchy melody and lyrics. After a Five year silence, they come back with this album, Octopus. My opinion...buy this album! It's worth every cent! Awesome pop synth music that you can easily dance to! Best tracks are Tell Me When, These Are The Days, One Man In My Heart, House Full Of Nothing, and the non-vocal, trancy John Cleese: Is He Funny? Octopus reaches dizzy heights of Dare! The critics have been unkind to The Human League over the years since the release of the ground breaking album Dare in 1981. The music press rightly praised Dare when it was released as the European innovation that would combat the stale and pedestrian guitar driven rock from America. The subsequent album releases of the 80's failed to Live up to Dare, and how could they? It wasn't until 1995 with the release of Octopus, that the critics finally began to give Phil and the girls some credit. The album opener Tell me When was a fine return to form with it's catchy Analogue rifts that made it sound so fresh and unique. Thankfully, Octopus continues to dazzle the listener with one of the highlights These are The Days. A song which should have been the next single with a melody to kill for. Other highlights include the bass driven House full of Nothing and the modern techno/house epic Cruel Young Lover. The crisp production is every bit as clear as Dare, and Octopus represents the League's finest collection of songs in over 14 years. If you own a copy of Dare, you *have* to buy Octopus! It simply get's better with every listen. "Octopus" has enough tentacles to grab plenty of attention By C.S. There are artists that only last as long as the current musical trend will allow and others who exude staying power. Somewhere in the middle lie talented music Makers that continue to produce albums but are not always recognized for their durability.<BR> For England's Human League the latter has certainly held true but they, like many artists from the Second British Invasion and numerous outfits from the 1980's, have been defined by one major hit. <BR>"Dont You Want Me Baby" from the critically acclaimed "Dare" album was only of the earliest syth pop hits in 1981 on the heels of Gary Numan, The Talking Heads, and The Cars.It became a launching pad for "New Wave", The New Romantic Movement",and a Second British Invasion, filled with bands following in The League's synth -heavy footsteps.<BR> North American audiences were not as hip to the raw U2 like riff attached to "The Lebanon", the first release from the next LP "Hysteria", but The Band again struck lightning with the Jimmy Jam /Terry Lewis produced "Human" from " Crash", a bad car wreck of a record that offered little excitement beyond the chart success of the first single.<BR> That sealed the Sheffield based group's fate for a period of time and though "Heart Like A Wheel" was a minor hit from the "Romantic" LP, the campaign for that project from a North American standpoint,went virtually ignored.<BR> Prior to the release of 2001's "Secrets",The League have, despite the perception the group ceased to exist beyond " Crash" (and in the minds of some all the way back to "Dare"), released a few noteworthy records. This is one of them - 1995's "Octopus".<BR> Though the package of songs on this disc are No Doubt a straight-foward attempt to re-capture their early success with synth- laden work,make no mistake - the clarity and production is first class. The music is very pretty and in some cases compromised by Philip Oakley's unpolished monotone delivery. Yet it offers some humor to the tracks and his strained appeals to get the message across give Human League it's musical stamp.<BR> Add to the mix the beautiful if not note- perfect vocals of Jo Anne Catherall and Susan Sulley that work well in contrast with Oakley, and what you have here on some levels, an updated version of "Dare",with a touch of techno/trance. <BR> The group also attempt to inter-twine accesible pop into the synth -effect driven tracks, and they Fall on their collective Faces with a flat arrangement and weak chorus on the Sulley led "One Man In My Heart", but they recover admirably on "Words", a visual track containing atmospheric keyboards that take the listener into a musical time warp. Oakley bolsters the good foundation musically with the key punchline "words come back to haunt you". They b Buy Human League Octopus at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
