The Modern Dance

Didn’t even get through the first song. If your album opens with tinnitus then go fuck yourself

If I wanted to listen to random noises I would listen to my butt cheeks.

why do i have the best time with the weird albums

One guy on Rate Your Music said this is his favorite album ever. I disavow that.

This sounds like a cross between Hawkwind and Television, albeit some rather twisted, scary versions of both bands. Does that sound like the perfect blend to you? It does to me

bro why is this on the list

Ground zero for postpunk. The avant garage. The beauty of Cleveland pressed into vinyl... A band I'd probably have never got into, except for reading Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds amazing book on postpunk 78-84. I hear it very differently now. Not a perfect album, but the highs are totally exhilarating. 4.5*

Summery: One of the rare albums that's genuinely hard to listen to. Solid bass and drum playing throughout (including some undeniably good bass riffs), but the vocals are consistently garbled and grating. It gets even worse when the vocal harmonies join in. Additionally, the sound effects are really, really annoying. I can see these songs being used to extract information from foreign espionage agents. Non-Alignment Pact: Punk, for sure. Very high drone in the right channel is annoying and unnecessary. Fantastic bassline begins to make itself known, and around 1:30 we get some really solid reduction in texture. The right channel is almost completely unlistenable - like the end of Queen's Sheer Heart Attack (the 1977 song), but for more than 3 minutes. Too irritating for my taste. Modern Dance: The right-channel noise has been replaced by literal static noise (a bit like the sound lava makes in Minecraft when it turns into obsidian), and it's a welcome relief. The song would be much stronger without it, though. Fun vocal back-and-forths, and an overall fast-paced groove. Unfortunately, though, Pere Ubu adds these really unappealing sound effects that make these songs go directly from 3-4 stars to 2 or less. Laughing: I sat through 125 seconds of painful, off-tune intro, before an equally out-of-tune shouting harmony ensued. At 2:50, the thinning of texture was again a welcome relief. Great bassline and decent drumming, but everything else is... not good... At least the ending was tolerable. Street Waves: Easily the best track so far, because it lacks the incredibly grating sound effects that dominates the earlier songs. Another solid bassline that steals the show, and a garbled, technically unsound vocal that brings the song up several notches as soon as it ceases. Chinese Radiation: It's alright until the loud-crowd section, which is bad. Strange piano-based section at the end that I can't really comment on. Life Stinks: The singing is actually pretty funny here. However, whatever's happening at around 0:55 is unacceptable. Real World: Pretty good, actually. Fairly nondescript. The singing is very weak. Over My Head: Floyd-esque whale noises, but the comparison ends there. The singing is okay, particularly the backup vocals (they're especially okay). Nice and chill. Sentimental Journey: The breaking glass probably means something. I wonder if it's a result of the vocal performance. Lots of nonsensical noises here, again reminding me of some early experimental rock piece by Pink Floyd (think Several Species from Ummagumma) or possibly Revolution 9. Not fun. Humor Me: At this point, you'd have to give me a Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven to bring this album up from 1 star to 2 stars, and this song wasn't either of those. It was pretty good though, especially the bassline. Good guitar playing, but whatever effect was used on it doesn't fit the song well (too much distortion). A decent ending to an indecent album.

Really dug this. It's got a raw, punk rock vibe to it.

I've got no language for Pere Ubu's early genus. No positive language, at least, which made the trip from second to first release a search for flaws. I suppose there are plenty: It's a rough album, deliberately spiky at all kinds of levels. But breaking glass fills the brain-space prepared for it more than perfectly. I'm no dancer, so even the title is appropriate. Glad there are several more hours of this somewhere out there.

An absolute assault on the senses! My ears feel like they’re bleeding. Pure trash, throw it in the bin! Zero stars - dont rizz me, dont come by ohio, we’re done!!

This is SO weird, but I LOVE IT.

Discordant at times, feels like it's going to lose control then finds it right back. Awesome album, undeniable energy and a pace you can't help but want to match.

Sounds like a bunch of children were let loose with instruments and a sound effect machine. And to top it off you have the mumbling and random shouting which sounds like someone on a drug binge. Couldn't distinguish any of the songs from eachother. 36 mins of assault to my ears Don't listen with headphones - save yourself from the offensive screeches. The worst song for me was "Sentimental Journey" - what I imagine the inside of a microwave sounds like. Also includes birds/clown horn and bottles being smashed repeatedly. Lyrics include - " Table. Chairs. TV. Books. Other stuff". To the 5 (!!!) writers who wrote those lyrics - I hope you didn't give up the day job Terrible 1 ⭐️ but wish I could give it less

I can imagine this will be a pretty devisive album. For money - this is as much a piece art - a true display of intention and expression - as anything I have heard on this list. Garage-prog, art punk. There are songs that feel like the could be talking heads that then veer in a wildly different direction. Kids music not for kids. There is real raw email under the chaos. And the bass lines. A one of one band for sure.

I hear a lot of fantastic later bands in this record, and the best parts have this sublime controlled hysteria to them, but I have owned this record for over ten years and never feel like putting it on. A great three out of five record!

willfully ugly

One of my favorite albums. Probably listened to hundreds of times. The tunes, the sounds, the pacing...all excellently conceived and executed out of the cultural cave that is Cleveland. Gets to places no other record does. Years after I got into this album I saw the 1973 Terrence Malik film "Badlands" (w/ Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen) and recognized that the dialogue must have inspired some of this album's lyrics, specifically "my baby says that when the devil comes, shoot him with a gun."

Discarding all sense of musical conventions reminds me of both the fall and the minutemen but with less of an effort to make musical sense. Anti music Don’t take the brown acid, man. It’s “challenge music.” Side effects may include writer’s block, delusions of postmodernism, man’s inhumanity to man, and improper comparisons to abstract art.

Back when I were young, in the mid 80s, it was hard to track down truly left-of-centre music. Here in Australia, it meant listening to Triple J late at night on the off chance they played something really out-there and then haunting stores like Red Eye Records to see if you could find vinyl, hopefully without getting gouged for expensive imports. (I once made the naive mistake of buying a pricey imported Canadian edition of a Severed Heads album, not realizing that they were, in fact, a Sydney band and there were much more reasonably priced local pressings to be had). That is how, for instance, I discovered The Residents, who I think could be considered in the same sphere as Pere Ubu. Their 13th Anniversary Show Live in Japan album was briefly available as a cheap local pressing on AIM, so I snapped it up and spun it obsessively for at least a year. I loved it, partly because it was so hard to find these things. It was exciting to be challenged by music in that kind of way. I can imagine that I might have had a similar relationship with Pere Ubu if I had access to this record when I was 15. I have certainly read a lot about them; Simon Reynolds is almost hagiographic in his description of the band, especially their early years, in his wonderful survey of postpunk 1978-1984 'Rip It Up and Start Again' (highly recommended). On paper, this should be right up my alley; abstract, intellectual, industrial postpunk, with weird noises and a rhythm section described as "the tank side". But Reynolds quotes Dave Thomas as saying "I was totally obsessed with the abstract", and cites the massive influence of Captain Beefheart, although studiously avoiding any blues elements at all (which, frankly, are the best bits of Beefheart). The result is, often, an unfocussed mess, more idea than execution. There are a handful of strong songs on the record (Non-alignment Pact, Modern Dance, Street Waves) that I quite like. I would totally dig an EP of songs like that. But many of the tracks are more interesting in the concept than the actual listening experience. It doesn't help that Dave Thomas can really only sing one melody, which gets tedious as we move into the second half stretch. So, 2.5 stars for having a few good songs (which certainly makes this better than Dub Housing, which doesn't have any). But I'm rounding down, because I'm cranky. Maybe if I'd spun this obsessively when I was a teenager, I'd love this, but these days I just don't have the time and energy.

poo

40 minutes of goofy caterwauling

This was weird and fun. Don’t even recognize the name of this band. Contemporary with punk, but ahead of their time - sounds more post punk like Talking Heads, early Modest Mouse, or, more modern, Parquet Courts. I love this stuff. Clean guitars, bass high in the mix. Messy and noisy, but finds a way to keep the wheels on - until the last few songs I suppose. Maybe a little too arty for me to return to super regularly or to play around the house, but it was great for a couple of spins with headphones on. Highlights for me are Chinese Radiation, Street Waves, and Over My Head. Great as a complete album piece. Also, newcomer Frank 2/Fascist Frank found this amazing rule book the band/collective wrote: https://www.ubuprojex.com/facts/uburules.html

Every post punk, new wave, no wave band that followed owes this album a debt of gratitude. Not everyones taste and jarring at times but influential and important

Ooh, this is great - a bit more accessible than "Dub Housing", I think, but, you know, still not _that_ accessible. I was entertained, while listening, by trying to come up with similes for what I was hearing. "They're like The B-52's on a bad batch of meth!" "It's like the Pixies, but they fucking hate you!" I was thinking 4 stars, but I wanted to play it again immediately after after my second play through finished, so that, plus the broken glass sound effects rounds it up to 5! Fave tracks - any of the first 3 tracks, "Real World", "Sentimental Journey", I like the lot!

I love the garage intellectual blend that happened in the mid to late 70s, where you've got Pere Ubu chanting "merdre" from Ubu Roi and Patti Smith singing "go Rimbaud" instead of "go Johnny go" Pretentious? Don't know, don't care, I'm a sucker for it, even if I do think "Sentimental Journey" might have gone on a little long.

Within the world of punk and anything adjacent to it, also one of the best albums I've ever heard. It's really big shoes to fill to follow up Gil Scott-Heron the day before, and I don't think anything in the world of punk can fill those shoes, but if I HAD to pick something, this is such a strong contender. Two very 1970s albums that both capture a place in time in 1970s America, and while they're both very different, there's still similarities in having avant-garde sensibilities and jazz structures, and both are very, very good. Also... man are there some reviewers with bad taste on this site. The top review for this album on the site generating these is someone who gave it 1 star but gave Limp Bizkit a 5. That should tell you pretty well what rock fans this is and isn't made for. This is what punk once was, back when it didn't really have a "sound" yet and what it is to me. Pere Ubu didn't consider themselves a punk band but then again what even is punk anyway?

This album is pretty goddamn wild. It is frenetic. The vocals are quite shrill, feverish, explosive and unpredictable. Early explorations in primal post punk and getting to a steady barebones sound for grooves. There's a sporadic improvisation to the playing of certain instruments I really like, like saxophone, adding a wild jazziness to the main driving punk sounds. The album opens incredibly strong with 'Non-Alignment Pact', by the 30 second mark we are off to a running start for a proper kickass punk track. The next few tracks exude jazz-soaked punk rock energy, with a healthy dose of freakish vocals and shrieks. 'Life Stinks' kicks the vocals up several notches in their intensity, while the band absolutely shreds. This whole album is super bold and brash, the guitars seem to warp and mutate and wander off on their own. All the instruments seem like they have their own goals- but like, I think that's mostly a good thing. Take the weirdness of 'Real World' for example. There is an Avant-Garde nature to the glass breaking, crowd sounds, talking recordings playing out over the soundscape of 'Sentimental Journey'. Freaky as fuck. Using that word a lot in this review but goddamn no other word comes close. 'Humor Me' is an awesome closer. It's just a joke, man! Color me a fan. Delightfully weird and surprising album.

Very wild and eccentric post-punky, ridiculously influential

More cranky, hanky stuff like Dub Housing, but it feels slightly more like organised chaos here. In some senses, that's great, this album has ten actual songs, but on the other hand, I quite liked the terrifying unpredictability of the former. In short, both are great, the people low balling this just want everything in varying shades of grey and beige.

I really wanted to like this, as I know the "hits"; unfortunately it starts with two absolute bangers and then - nothing much else happens. My eldest thinks Thomas sings like Peter Griffin. Was hoping for more Gang-of-Four-like action and less obtuse weirdness. Gotta appreciate the history, however

3.5 stars. Started off great for being pretty out there. But second half faded and got too harsh. Standout is "Non-Alignment Pact".

Best Song: Life Stinks. The one song that was appreciably punk. Worst Song: Non-Alignment. Who decides to kick off an album with such an insufferable noise? "Hey, you know how we should start the album? How about a metro train screeching into the station, but worse?" Overall: Not every obnoxious art project is accidentally great art. This is mostly just directionless, uninspired nonsense. I bet they had fun making the album, and I love that for them, but it sure isn't fun to listen to.

This is why I keep listening to the albums on the list. I'd heard of Pere Ubu, but never any of their music, or even what genre of music they played. This album is right up my street, I listened to it 4 times yesterday and I can see myself listening a lot in the future.

LOVE this! I don't know why I always heard the name Pere Ubu and thought they were a crappy Pet Shop Boys clone. This album has a great post-punk sound with a LOT of artsy experimentation. Really fun first listen, that inspires replaying for sure.

First time listening to a Pere Ubu album. I was anticipating something more off-putting, though way more avant guard than expected. Great album. Another reminder that I really like a lot of what would be considered strange music.

With the manic energy of a punk band and chaotic experimentation that leaves the listener unsure of what's about to happen next, Pere Ubu's 'The Modern Dance' is not the most inviting album, but for 1978, it's quite a bold statement of the direction punk and garage rock would soon take in the 1980s, where oddball alternative bands such as Butthole Surfers, The Pixies and Sonic Youth would relish in uncomfortable yet enthralling music. Pere Ubu can be considered a good bridging point between those wild 80s bands and the relentless experimentation of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart preceding it. Infused within the songs of 'The Modern Dance' is uncomfortable feedback, random crowd sounds, zany horns and the unhinged ranting of vocalist David Thomas, someone who the likes of Jello Biafra [Dead Kennedys], Gibby Haynes [Butthole Surfers] and Black Francis [Pixies] were certainly taking notes from. If you're a fan of conventional, easy listening music, you're not going to like 'The Modern Dance'. But if you love alternative/punk music, and are keen to hear a pivotal record that is essential listening concerning the development of the weird alternative 80s music scene [including Australia's best 'weird' band, The Birthday Party], check this out, you won't be disappointed! With that said, as important as this record is, others did end up doing it better. But I see the influence nevertheless. A very unhinged, yet somewhat enjoyable record.

Wow! The album started out with a long annoying sound and managed to sustain that thru several tracks. Points of brilliance but nothing I will need to endure again

Holy shit this was awesome

yes

“My name is David Fucking Thomas… and I’m the lead singer of the best fucking rock and roll band in the world” RIP

A FAVORITE OF MINE! Been a huge Pere Ubu fan even before starting this, so was absolutely THRILLED to see their debut pop up here! One of my favorite underappreciated “weird” bands of all time, and their debut is still one of their best to this day. Noisy punk crossed with abstract experimentation all rolled up into an album of absolute perfection. Long live Pere Ubu!!

great punk sound

I love noise rock and dance punk so this album was basically made for me. First off, this is insane for 1978. I really like most of the songs on here, but there are a couple that fall flat. I am also not a huge fan of the singing, but overall this is a really great album. Also the wordle for today was "noisy" and I thought that was funny. High 4.

I liked this a lot. Much better than their other offering on here. Some nice grooves. I could hear Talking Heads vibes. A surprising 4

Another great Pere Ubu album. This one seemed a little more dialed back than Dub Housing, which I guess makes sense as this is their debut album. Real good stuff! 3.8/5

Can't imagine that this one is rated highly by the masses, but I enjoyed the unhinged punk shit in here. I think it's something about Ohio bands that I like. There's Devo and then there's this band. How did this band even get a record contract? I don't know but I'm feeling a direct connection to that Suicide record from a long time ago but this time I liked it. Idk probably because I was warned about this record beforehand. Weird shit 4/5

Still might give this a five (merdre, merdre). Its so far ahead of it's time (merdre, merdre). 1978?? (merdre, merdre). More like 2025! (merdre, merdre). This modern dance!

I almost want to give this album 5 stars, not because it *is* a 5-star album, but because it's so weird and unique that I don't want to forget it (hard as it is to imagine forgetting such a thing). It's like a wacky version of Television channeling future Mr. Bungle or something. I could've done without the tinnitus at the beginnig, or the glass breaking monotony towards the end, but otherwise this is a fun, challenging record.

Reading the reviews here, you’d think this was a Merzbow record or something. Sure, The Modern Dance is experimental and discordant art-punk, but it’s not so far removed from traditional rock music that you’re listening to blaring sheets of pink and white noise. It’s not a record I’ll find myself searching out often, but I’ll tell you this much: Albums like this one continue to be a welcome reprieve from the dozens of 90’s Britpop records on the list that all sound exactly the same. At least The Modern Dance offers a sense of unpredictability and individuality. That’s more than can be said for *a lot* of the records on the list.

I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed this album, but I really appreciate it that this project tuned me into the weird world of Pere Ubu and its avant-garage. (I'd rate this album up there with Laibach, Deerhunter, and John Martyn as a band and music-style that was completely unexpected and deceptively original.) It's hard to say that any of the tracks are favorites of mine, although "Laughing" and"Real world" kind of stuck in my brain for a while, and nearly all of the song titles are intriguing, even when the song itself didn't live up to its potential (here's looking at you "Sentimental journey"). David Thomas' voice is pretty distinctive, and the Allen Ravenstine's keyboard/synthesizer effects are equally odd and memorable (definitely contributing to the "avant" part of their garage). If nothing else, this album seems waaay ahead of its time musically, although I'm not sure there are many other bands or albums that ever really sounded like this, past or present. Thanks, 1001 Albums! (And thanks too for a nice review of the album, as Wikipedia's entry is abysmally terse and unhelpful.)

Once again, Pere Ubu shows up for me with another banger that I didn't know of. The Post-punk era has genuinely produced some of the best music of our time and The Modern Dance continues the trend. 4/5

I liked this more with each subsequent listen. Non-Alignment Pact, Modern Dance, and Street Waves are excellent. Recorder-sounding intro to Laughing takes me back to elementary school music class. Gang of Four, Joy Division, Pixies, Husker Du, Ween - I hear it all in Pere Ubu. This album is punk as fuck. *Added to library and shared with people who give a fuck about music.*

A weird and noisy rock album that often hits all the right chords. The opener; Non-Alignment Pact is simply an amazing song. Straight ahead rock that chugs alog with a fierce momentum that bores into your brain and stays there. But the fun doesn't stop there; the whole first half of the album is amazing. Things get a little noisier and experimental in the second half but no less compelling. Great album 4.5 stars

This is an absolute classic that should not be missing from any post-punk/wave collection. These are excellent musicians: wonderfully hectic music, avant-garde with lots of crazy sounds, distorted synths and sax, and hysterical vocals. You have to have strong nerves because otherwise, you won't make it to the end of this album.

I'd callt hem experimental punk. I didn't know about them, they are not great musician, but they know how to twist your mind.

Never heard of these guys before this project. Great stuff - the more I hear it the better it gets! Standouts: The Modern Dance, Real World, Humor Me, Non-Alignment Pact, Laughing, Life Stinks, Over My Head, Sentimental Journey. 4/5

There's a lot to digest here. Not the most listenable album, but definitely worth listening to for the ideas and imagery it spontaneously generates.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Modern dance

This has a post-apocalyptic feeling to it. Like any minute, there’s gonna be slow moving zombies staggering about. I don’t hate it! The song with the reed instruments bellowing like dying geese?I couldn’t help but chuckle. There was 2 straight minutes of that! Fully committed. There are moments where it’s right in the pocket and it cooks. And then it’ll abruptly pivot to some chaos, making you long for that pocket moment again. I guess that’s their trick. 2.8

This was rough if I'm honest. There were very rare, 30 second snippets that sounded nice. Then it would go back to being painful.

Weird, garage, meh. Top track: "Modern Dance"

This is completely new shit to me. I have no clue what this is, who this is or what it's going to be. Exciting! *listens to album* /Jay Sherman voice IT STINKS!

I wanted to like it. Some songs I did kind of enjoy. But I disliked it more than I liked it. 2.5 rounding down.

"warbly" singing over punk-ish instrumentation

No. 368/1001 Non-Alignment Pact 2/5 Modern Dance 3/5 Lauging 2/5 Street Waves 2/5 Chinese Radiation 3/5 Life Stinks 2/5 Real World 1/5 Over My Head 2/5 Sentimental Journey 1/5 Humor Me 2/5 Average: 2,0 Didn't get this at all. Not an enjoyable listen, way too out there for me.

oh. no

If I’m going to listen to this type of genre, I’d lean more Throbbing Gristle or Psychic TV. I did enjoy how irritated a friend got in my car as they finally asked about the glasses smashing in the background.

The hype around Pere Ubu among the punk/alternative community at the time was real, but I missed the point, whatever it was. I’ve just given the album about three spins & I can see a bit more clearly why it had the reputation it gained at the time. But it’s still not my bag. The first two trax sound like the same track to me & they set a chaotic course that rarely varies. Life Stinks may be amusing, but it reminds me too much of Captain Beefheart at his least accessible. Interestingly, there are so many times on the album that, to me, Thomas’s voice sounds very much like early David Byrne (Real World; Humour Me). I went online to see if this was a common belief & debate certainly rages about who influenced who. I’d say the difference between the bands was that Talking Heads had melodies & Pere Ubu generally did not. With another dozen listens I might get used to this album, but that ain’t gonna happen.

Couldn't finish for some reason

Wow, this band is so influential that they have only 33k monthly listeners on Spotify. AND THEY HAVE TWO ALBUMS ON THE LIST. I’m pretty sure this site is the main thing boosting those numbers because this is genuinely one of the worst albums I’ve had to date and I have a hard time believing anyone would willfully listen to this. The most insulting part about it is the two bands that didn’t make the list because we just HAD to include Pere Ubu from Cleveland, Ohio twice

I didn’t like this

Who's willingly doing this to themselves. Both singer and listener.

Band who thinks post-rock means playing as annoying as possible:

I guess there are more bots here than i thought

The Modern Dance was genuinely atrocious. It definitely isn't your typical kind of album with it trying to do all the things it does but i kinda wish it was since while that would have been a little boring, at least it would have been infinitely more palatable than this garbage. The two worst parts of this album are two of the most important parts of any album, those being music and vocals. The music barely has any cohesive structure which is already bad but combine that with sounds that feel like someone is drilling a hole into my brain as well as vocals that were incredibly whiney and grating and this becomes an album that made me want to rip my ears off. Best Song: Over My Head Worst Song: Sentimental Journey

Ugh, only made it through 2.5 songs

I guess I can see the beginnings of punk rock in this album, but it was mostly just random noise to me and I didn’t understand it.

WHY did it open like that?? i almost took out my right earbud. i can't listen to the rest of this album, that gave me the beginnings of a migraine.

So I was going to give this album a 2 because I enjoyed the drums and the bass. But then sentimental journey came on. I absolutely loathe “noise” songs. That immediately took away any love I had for this album. I’m convinced they were trying to add the most annoying awful sounds to piss people off and it worked. And don’t get me started on his voice. Truly an unpleasant listening experience.

I’m sure there is some hipster somewhere that thinks it’s great

I cannot stand the way this guy sings at all. Occasionally I might stumble on a part I like only for it to be broken by either the vocals or random noisy bullsh*t nuh-uh.

If I were to create an album with the specific intent of making it as annoying as possible, this may be what I would make. I have heard worse music, but maybe nothing quite so obnoxious. The first 5 seconds of the opener, Non-Alignment Pact, give a good feel for what went wrong throughout the album. Grating sound effects, specifically played through the right channel for some reason, distract from any music of merit that may be happening beneath and create a miserable listening experience that can’t be compensated for. In the case of some songs, there’s not much to worry about missing. For example, Life Stinks is a track full of shrieking and jabbering without much of interest. In fact, throughout most of the tracks, the vocals were the most notable downside next to the sound effects, often consisting of out of tune screeching. In other songs though, the underlying music has potential which is subsequently snuffed out by the sound effects or vocal style, making the impact all the more frustrating. I’m sure underlying the miseries inflicted upon the listener is a message about the horrors of life in some god-forsaken land. Some critics may find this expression of whatever the underlying message novel and profound. But there can be no ignoring the musical output here in favor of message. This was intended to be an assault on the ears, and it succeeded in that. I just don’t see why I should feel the need to endure it. Experimenting with sound effects and the avant garde are not disqualifying, but the artists who experiment successfully typically use these elements as a contrast to otherwise meaningful music. The approach taken here was tasteless, and I look forward to leaving this album behind.

# Album Name: The modern dance # Artist: Pere Ubu # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Honestly, this was an absolute shocker. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

I would give this album minus stars if I could.

What is that awful noise

Pre-listening thoughts: I've had the misfortune of already listening to another of their albums on this list - Dub Housing - which was awful. I wonder if this will be more of the same... Track 1: Wow, this is actually not bad. The vocals are grating, as I was expecting, which does take away something from the track, but musically it's quite good. Track 2: This sounds a lot like track 1, in fact, I'll just double-check it is actually a different track. Yes, it is. It's not as good as track 1 , but no need to turn it off. Track 3: What the fuck is this? Is that a chicken screaming? No, I don;t think it is, but it's clearly someone that doesn't know how to play whatever instrument that is. Ok, we're 2 mins in and it's finally got going.... oh shit, I'm beginning to miss the strangled chicken sound. This is bad! Track 4: Slightly better, at least we're back to being just about listenable. Track 5: Another track that takes an age to get going, and is utter tosh to boot! Track 6: Fuck me, this bloke doing the vocals is off his fucking nut. It also sounds like, somewhere in the backing vocals, the chicken from Track 3 has managed to get back into the studio. Track 7: It's gone tits up again. Really fucking bad track. Skipping to the next one. Track 8: I had to keep checking I hadn't clicked mute. Fuck all happens for the first minute, then it sounds like an orchestra in the theatre warming up, badly! Track 9: They're not even trying now. I can't believe people bought this album. The best piece of music in this track was the smashing of glass near the beginning. Track 10: Dismal. I made it all the way through, which by my own self-imposed rules means 2 stars. I skipped quite a few tracks though, and a lot of the time I continued to listen beyond my usual switching-off point, in a perverse "how bad can this get" way, so it's 1 star only.

The quirky, jagged and unrestrained side of postpunk. Not particularly engaging or impressive, and verges on the downright annoying. Vocals are shaky and incomprehensible, and rest of the instrumentation does not make up for that. Avant-garde sure, but not good. Best Tracks: - Humor Me Worst Tracks: - Sentimental Journey - Laughing Rating: 2/10

this guy sounds like his balls are being squeeze in a vise. there are some good riffs/musical moments on here, but they are few and far between. hard pass on ever listening to this again

Edit: Giving my first 1. ̷B̷a̷r̷e̷l̷y̷ ̷a̷ ̷2̷.̷ It’s noisy and awkward. It feels like it’s trying too hard to be weird. The sound is all over the place. Some parts (basslines and drums) hit, but most just feel unfinished (lyrics) or tossed in for the sake of sound.

OK I hated this. It's like everything terrible about "rock" music jammed into one album. Talented musicians aside, this audible dementia is garbage. Thank all that is holy that the entire absurd mess lasted less than 40 minutes.

I like post punk if it's done in a good manner. This really hurt my eardrum. Literally. I had tinnitus the whole day, and it's still going.

In the name of all that is holy, how did this end up on a list of 1001 albums that must be heard. Incoherent lyrics, random noises, and irritating vocals. I just don't get it...

I had to listen to this and drive like jehu back to back and robert wyatt oy 2 days before. Someone is messing with me. Give me my time back. Just cause it's different, doesn't make or good.

Good god, what the hell was that?

Ugh

Modern? Experimental? Art? Garbage? Yes to all

Ah, Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance. This is always a refreshing, wild ride of sorts. From Cleveland, OH, yet unlikely to ever be added to the city's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not that they would really care! What I've gathered from doing this challenge is that most listeners are not willing to leave their comfort zone of mainstream music and explore new ways of making music or writing songs. The Beatles and Bowie keep winning (even though their approach to songwriting was different), and the "freaks" and punks get sidelined, no matter how visionary they are. I guess what seems like noise and sloppiness to one person seems groundbreaking and revelatory to myself. To this day I've never heard anything like this album. It seems weird and off, but these are solid, tight compositions and the playing is out of this world! I first discovered it in college and found the mix of styles to amazingly refreshing and new. Garage and punk rock, free jazz, noise, musique concrète, and elements of pop, even? While David Thomas and his bandmates never again reached the same dizzying heights of this album (a statement he would have fully disagreed with), they continued to amaze and confuse people throughout their career. Like with the feedback on the opening track, or the weird sax call and response in "Laughing", or the fact that they would break bottles in a fieeplace on "Sentimental Journey" just because it was in the studio. These guys knew no boundaries. I gladly got to catch them years ago at a free jazz and experimental music festival and it was beyond cool. Anti-rock and post-genre, coated in dark humor. They are perhaps the ultimate hipster or art rock band in the American underground (maybe after Sun City Girls), but here they really used a great mix of everything they could work on to create a weird, f'd up, but often fun and silly evocation on everything mundane and disturbing about living in modern industrialized society (what Devo would continue to do later, also from Ohio). Actually, a lot of really weird bands hail from Ohio, especially starting in the 70s. What's up with that? I honestly love this album but I don't listen to it often. It's a lot to take in: like dada poetry if it were music, with engines and televisions and household appliances running in the background, with random prankster musicians joining either for fun or for whatever serious message they were trying to bring to the table. (Who's table, though? Not the one belonging to pop music.) It's funny, but often unsettling. It still has the ability to shock and confuse after all of these years as a result. Thomas was a bit of brilliant lunatic of sorts. You never knew if he was joking or being serious, but he was serious about his art. As he sings in the final track, "Humor Me": "It was a world, what a world! What a world? What a big world What a world to be drowned in It's just a joke, mon! It's just a joke, mon! It's just a joke, mon!" RIP David Thomas. Thanks for your odd singing timbre and surreal vision, and thanks for showing us the importance of having the balls to produce whatever music you wanted, not caring what people thought about it. This album influenced so many great bands in the underground and beyond, and happy that the book's editors also were brave enough to add this to the list. Two Pere Ubu albums certainly cancel out those two Stephen Stills albums. Ha!

Simultaneously, America’s answer to Roxy Music and the Midwest’s answer to the New York punk scene, and thus a sweatier, fatter musical concoction, propelling forward with a pinkish hue. Also in conversation with Jonathan Richman and his ironic incel lyrical content. Brilliant stuff.

This is fucking awesome, everything you would want in a great punk album! Fantastic energy, crazy vocals, great experimental elements, and (as evident in the reviews on here lol), actually provocative, even nearly 50 years on. This I (“post”)punk at its very best, absolute classic in my opinion, listened three times in a row 10/10