Reviews (page 7 of 8)
The saxophone on this album makes me feel like I’m in a dental waiting room. Cheesy with a side of new wave. At times, worthy of a terrible tropical oasis party held by Boomers. Would not revisit, though it’s not the worst I’ve heard on this project.
doesn't deserve to be on this list
Maybe not horrible, but definitely not good
For the first time every I have literally nothing to say about an album. It's fine, I guess. Not sure it needed to be included in this list, especially considering how many and much better 80's New Wave album are already on the list. Key tracks: Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) Surprise Me Again
soort van wham/duran duran light... verwaarloosbaar
Not sure that Haircut 100 is more important than Squeeze. There are a couple of good tracks otherwise this would be 1 star.
Heeft niet echt indruk gemaakt
Þarna voru mörg element sem mér þykja skemmtileg. Djassskotið 80s popp með hressum blásturshljóðfærum en mér fannst þetta samt aldrei ná nægilega vel saman. Allt varð eiginlega eins. Ekki leiðinlegt en heldur ekkert sem stóð upp úr. Mun gleyma þessari fljótt.
I have no real complaints, it just kind of got old.
picks: lemon fire brigade, love plus one, fantastic day
More British bias nonsense. Not the worst of the list but turned off at the start of song 6. Not needed on this list. 4.5/10 (2.25/5)
Very fun, and seems quite wholesome. It definitely has a strong 80s vibe, which is usually a turn off for me. All in all, I liked this, but not super much.
Nothing to note.
I admire some of the jazzy/funky elements but dear god this music has the edge of a butter knife. The lyrics are wet trash. I heard pieces of Duran Duran, Robert Smith on one occasion, and a sprinkle of Nile Rodgers on guitar. Generic British New Wave with some decent instrumentals. 2/5.
Just sounds like bog-standard new wave to me. I couldn't even get interested in it enough to get mad at it
This is Madness. Oh, wait, it's not. I don't really get this album. Music is fine, it's not actively offensive or anything. It's in a weird space where it's not really pub rock and it's not really college rock. I'd also not call it new wave. It's just soft rock/pop, I guess? I'd say this is the album that a crate digging DJ would find and end up using for a lot of samples and horn stabs. Fun for that, but not for much else. I won't be back to listen to this one again.
Play that funky music White Boys!!
i mean... it's fine
I am so sick of the mid Brit-pop crap that keeps popping up. This album was mid at best but I'm mad I even had to listen to it so it's getting a 2. Nothing about this album (or the band) is special. Stupid bubblegum pop music. Bleh.
This album is both really fun and really annoying. I think it's just the vocals that annoy me.
30/1001 I'm just about old enough to remember Nick Heyward being touted as the next big thing, a musical genius who was going to conquer the world. He did go on to enjoy brief solo success after Pelican West, but Haircut 100 faltered without him, managing just one further poorly-received long player, and it's fair to say neither really equalled the relative success of this debut album. Choppy, funky clean guitars, exotic percussion, way too much saxophone, cringe-worthy Brit-rap and a preoccupation with cliched early-80s themes are order of the day here - it was a strange time when skiing holidays, larking about on yachts and rolling around in autumn leaves wearing chunky, cable knit Aran sweaters seemed to be all anyone aspired to. Not as cutting as The Style Council, not as cool as Orange Juice, and not as unashamedly poppy as Wham!, Haircut's music seems to trickle into the cracks left by their contemporaries rather than claim it's own unique territory. It's all very lightweight stuff, the vocals tend to drift by rather than grab your attention, and the arrangements soon get repetitive. There's a surprising amount of subtle instrumentation on offer here, but variety of playing does not seem to translate to variety of end product, and sadly all you take away from the experience is the jazz-funk stabbing and and overload of brass. Which is a shame, because everyone else was doing that sound in 1982. That said, in Favourite Shirts, Love Plus One and Fantastic Day this album boasts three buoyant, if vaguely similar, hit singles which are very much of-their-time slices of enthusiastic pop fluff. I can't deny I've got a certain nostalgia-fuelled fondness for them - Nobody's Fool, included on later reissues, is a decent pop seven-inch too. The album tracks never threaten to match that same level of quality, but do improve a little on repeated listens, to be fair. I really shouldn't, but I'm going to give it two stars.
Felt very sorry for the rhythm guitarist in Haircut 100, the amount of muted off beat strumming required was immense. He probably has the biggest forearm imaginable, I'm sure he's sick of the jokes. It was sort of Talking Headsy on the face of it but it's missing all the quirkiness and most of the talent. The first couple of songs worked the best and then the quality just steadily decreased without changing the sound. It wasn't unlistenable but wouldn't come back, 2.5. but closer to a 2.
Gosh. Really boring 80s stuff. Not without merit, quite jaunty, but not for me this. It definitely spans New Wave and Pop, but doesn't really do either very well. I'm surprised this is on the list. Did remind me to go to the barbers, though.
Way too 80s for me. Not awful though
Like early U2 with no soul and only the cheesiest elements of Bowie. I most likely won’t remember their name.
Duran Duran meets Pet Shop Boys.
Haircut 100? The (barely) one-hit wonder from the early 80s? Essential album? I beg to differ, and I’m a fan of British New Wave. 2⭐️
Did not catch my attention
Kasarin torvi-innostus alkaa kyllästyttää, nopsaan käy vanhaksi tälläkin levyllä, kun eivät he alun jälkeen keksi oikein mitään uutta.
This dude is so hard to understand, like why we mumbling brother? Overall found the style kind of annoying.
When it's not leaning into "white dude funk", it's leaning into Steely Dan insipid yacht rock. With a voice à la new wave.
Today, this album is exactly 43 years old, and it's Just another British Pop album with some beeps, and bloops that gets old around the halfway mark. Favorite Track: "Favourite Shirts".
Love plus one is great. Not really my bag on the whole however.
Mediocre New Wave boring me enough not to think of what bored me.
yet another album that has had no major impression on me.
Some good bops but more filler
Generic but fun pop music clearly aimed at a teenage audience. Most tracks are fun on their own but suffer when listened to one after the other in an album context.
Again, an album that doesn’t do much for me. If I wanted the horns mixed with a new wave sound I’d go with some of that early UK ska sound like Madness or The (English) Beat. It felt like none of the big sounds they were trying to get fit together. It’d be interesting to hear later stuff to see if it blended any better in my eyes, but it seems like this is THE album unfortunately. Not offensive or anything, just felt like a big swing that mostly missed when there were better bands coming from the same era doing similar things.
This is the most generic album I think I’ve ever heard. Painfully so. “Love Plus One” is a decent song, but these dudes have zero direction and zero depth. I want to give them some credit for participation but this is just so booooooring. It’s a 1 for me dawg.
I kept imagining a bunch of suburban mums teaching their two-year olds the stiff dance moves they learnt in zumba class the previous week. The word 'groovy' is used a lot. Kind of cute in that context, but in all other contexts this is just a discount Talking Heads with some predictable horn sections.
This was just too much 80's-pop in one helping. Spotify only has the PLUS version with an additional 20+ minutes, and I really could have done without that today. It's not awful, just embarrassing and I have no idea what it's doing on this list.
Boring music and stupid band name. Next!
Seems like these guys' forte was a kind of jazzy disco-funk; when try their hand at straight-up indie pop instead the results, regrettably, aren't very memorable. Even more regrettably, I really don't much care for jazzy disco-funk. No matter how many sax solos they plaster over the top. Redeems some credit for the inclusion of the lyric 'Love Toblerones' on track 10.
Some fun moments, but it wasn't very remarkable or memorable.
Before this project, I thought I liked “new wave” music. Apparently, I don’t.
This is some smooth new wave.
blast from the past, the saxophone...so 80s. But not something I'd stick on now.
I get a "strong generic early 80s" vibe from this album. Not entirely certain why it's on this list. However, some of the more jazz and funk-inspired songs later on were pretty good, like "Ski Club" and "October is Orange".
Whatever
The soundtrack to any 80s movie with a cop
Completely forgettable and generic new wave album with like 2 good songs
80er-pop-gedudel .. muss man genau einmal gehört haben, dann ist aber auch gut.
New Wave und startet gut. Wird mir aber dann zu jazzig.
It’s okay - it’s a little too much after a while though. Not as strong as other bands such as Duran Duran. It’s like there are too many sounds/instruments going, where I would say that Duran Duran have perfected it and created really strong hooks with the same tools and genre
So... The instruments were cool, unfortunately the singer was not. Was this a group of friends all talented musicians, bar one, and they couldn't kick him off the band. They should have followed the lead of the B Sharps.
I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I do tend to like new wave music from this era, so I think there's a good chance that I'll enjoy this album. The user reviews do make me a little cautious, but I'm hopeful that these sweater clad gents will give me a new undiscovered favorite album! Well, fashion sensibilities aside, I didn't care for this album too much. There were some good rhythms on this album, and the percussion and horns gave it a little unique touch, but this was a bit of a chore to get through due to its repetitiveness. It wasn't terrible to listen to, but very little about this album jumped out to me. This album does have a couple of fun songs like "Love Plus One" and "Fantastic Day," but when you plug them into the whole album, they just fade away, like puzzle pieces where the picture is just a blue sky. I can see how this album may have influenced the likes of Culture Club or Talking Heads, but I definitely don't think this is required listening.
ça s'écoute, sans plus
Some good Some bad
#437. This is not an album you need to hear before you die. This is trash. This album would end up in the dollar or less bin at any record store, and then probably still fail to sell. 2/5: garbage
This did nothing for me. Generic 80s pop.
Ahh I dunno, maybe I’m being harsh. Simpsons: No
It's got more pulse than most other sophisti-pop with it's funk and new wave influences, but quite frankly I rather listen to other pop of this era, this one just came off as okay but generally just whatever
If AI made an 80s pop album
2.3 Im writing this review a week after I listened to the album and I cannot remember a single thing, even what type of music it is. Either I have serious issues or its not that great. Lets go with not that great for now.
Bit funky, bit shit.
Boring boring doo doo music
It's not bad at all, but I also don't see myself going back to it often.
As new wave goes, this is bottom shelf stuff. There is an orchestration to a lot of it that just doesn't seem to fit. Latin rhythms, lazy jazz, British sensibilities, and lots of horns. It's all a bit too much thrown into the blender. This just isn't for me.
I wasn't a fan of this style of New-Wave Jazz-Funk-Pop back in the day and I'm still not.
Not my style of music. I didn't like it in period and a re-listen isn't helping. If you like that sort of thing, it is well done. 2/5 'cos I "don't like it" rather than being "awful".
wanted to give this a 1, but I gotta be fair about that feeling being about new wave fatigue from this project, and not any fault of Haircut 100
I did not care for this British band.
Adding this to the list of albums I will never think about for the rest of my life and moving on. Just 50 more albums until the end. I better get some good shit tomorrow.
Too much 80’s Not interesting
Love this
Shit Day
Bet Greg loves this shite
This is so 80s. So so so 80s
First thought in my mind: Huzzah, more British new wave. Yeay. And this totally delivered on that expectation. Which means I'll never listen to this again.
An okay album, not really my style.
Just an 80s band. Sounds like stuff i'd hear while shopping at JC Penney with my mom.
Pure 80s. Love the Aran sweaters on the album cover.
I’m pretty sure it was the same song being played for the whole album…
2,5/5 I loved the first song so much that I believed this album was going to be one of the best albums I've ever listened to. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it was something else, I don't know, but I got bored so fast that listening to the album became a torture. I feel very sad that I couldn't love this album.
Meh
It feels like I've listened to this album many times already. I was bored to death by the songs. No highlights to be heard anywhere. At least it wasn't horrifically bad. The album was *slightly* better than "Headquarters" by the Monkees. 2 stars for "Pelican West".
Acceptable, not exceptional.
I don’t know how I feel about this one.
You know this isn’t an inherently bad album. I think I’m just fatigued with all the Brit pop stuff forced upon me lately. It comes in bunches here. This gives Duran Duran vibes but just very forgettable and safe. Genuinely sounds like 3 other albums I’ve heard on here.
2.5
Sounds like a failed copy of Talking Heads, with a pretty annoying vocalist. Couldn't get through two songs without a long break, and I gave up after 5. Not really interested in continuing.
I didn't think I knew this band until "Love Plus One" came on. I've definitely heard it somewhere before. Too bad there's all this other music on this record. Okay, it's not that bad. But it's not my thing. There isn't any kind of shared aesthetic concern here and there's way too much sax and steel drums (?) for some British boys. What don't I like: the lyrics, the instrumentation, the overall too-happy vibe. Unless it's jazz or a brass band, I'm a certified saxophone hater so... And that this streaming link isn't the original track listing but is "plus" I'm really not vibing with having more to listen to than the original tracks. It's very 80s. I'm not giving this band any extra time by editing my listening notes into a coherent review; they took the extra time all up with those bonus tracks.
Basic
Best Song: Kingsize (You're My Little Steam Whistle). Excellent solos and nearly entirely instrumental. Worst Song: Love's Got Me In Triangles. The instrumentals sadly sit as second fiddle to the man yelling "LOVE" and "TOBLERONES". Overall: Further evidence that most 80s bands would have been much better off being instrumental bands. It felt like with every track, what could have been some fun or interesting musical arrangement got torpedoed when Buffalo Bill got on the mic and the vibe instantly changed from "hot jazz club" to "afternoon cruise ship entertainment".
Dross but not unlistenable
Perfectly adequate in every way.
This is a pop album that fits well to the early 80s pop world. Catchy tunes, great percussion. Despite the songcraft, a lot of this album comes across as a bit twee, not helped by the band's image. Chief songwriter Nick Heywood left after the release of this album and soon after the band folded (bar some later reformations). So, I found this album better than I expected, but I don't see it as a great or influential record.
I thought a few songs were pretty fun but the majority of the songs were just too much
Surprised this was on the list, and then even more surprised that it actually sounded ok. It was Nick Hayward's unbearable grin that repulsed me 'back in the day'. I'm a more tolerant person now.
It was okay
Fairly generic 80s new wave. It's fun and inoffensive but isn't doing anything really novel or interesting to me. Good upbeat background music though.
Can appreciate that album and the beat they produced but just not my style music. Kinda reminded me of fast elevator music.
This was a really fun album, though I don't think I really know the genre well enough to understand why it's in this book. Probably won't revisit it, but a good time was had.
I needed to listen to this before I die?? Be so serious.
Another "Huh, why is this on the list?" moment, but it's British new wave, so I guess that's enough reason.
Growing up in the midst of 1980’s New Wave has left an indelible print on my musical psyche. This album was obviously on the forefront of British New Wave. For me, though, it feels like Nile Roger’s le Chec and Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark had a supergroup. Favorite Shirts and Baked Beans were stand out songs. Unfortunately I was curious to start, got lost in the sound about four tracks in, and was kinda’ wondering when it was going to end about 12 songs in. Then I found out I was listening to the extended double disc and cried…
What you get when you cross Talking Heads with Duran Duran and throw in some horns and sax?
Thought this was a fine listen really, but struggling to see why it's considered essential. Sounds very like the Human League (or dozens of others), but with some nice jazz instrumentation added. Pretty good musically, just not super memorable.
Reallly? Highly commercialised pop with admittedly some craft but little originality? It’s fun but that’s about it. Love plus one is an almost great single - rang and i rang and I rang and I… is a terrific hook. But you know, really?
I am clearly missing the point with this one. Is this soundtrack music/musical wallpaper/reprise/ or some kind of uber cool a micro genre that I am meant to "get"? I own sountracks to Hal Hartley movies. I have the patience and curiosity to sit through The Beast (2023) and Peter Greenaway movies. But I dont have patience for this. Its like Madness / The Smiths and Wham did a childrens show soundtrack and were told to use the "carols by candle light" orchestra to sound like the Wiggles.... the result like outro music for bad kids TV.
I have never heard this album before. I like the opening track - Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl). It opens with a frantic guitar break, which is great, but the next 3 songs on the album all begin with a very similar break, including Love Plus One, the only song by the band that I remember - it made #13 on the 2UE Top 40. This is better than I was expecting, but never earth-shattering.
Snazzy instrumentals, lots of brass, and an uplifting vibe weren’t enough to keep my interested. Felt quintessential of the time, but it did not resonate.
wheeeeeere's rick
Nooh.. Semmosta perudhumpuukia..
Sounds like 80's-90's tv show theme song music. There's definate talent here, it is surprisingly funky by times, but it's also so... White. Like a shittier Duran Duran. Super boring in large doses. Favourite songs: Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl), Calling Captain Autumn, Marine Boy, Milk Film, Kingsize (You're My Little Steam Whistle), Suprise Me Again Least favourite songs: Love's Got Me in Triangles 2/5
Painful plain 80s British New Wave band playing painfully plain music for the masses. The 80s was a dark time, you can't tell me otherwise...
it's funky duran duran. not complaining, but I easily could've died without listening to this.
All the songs sounded the same to me and I wasn’t into the general vibe. Another no for me.
This album is very 80’s and very much a cabana on the beach soundtrack. It’s like Culture Club minus the guy with the long hair who looks like a girl. This album is just happy song after happy song with Seinfeld bass playing in the background. It’s not for me. I need a splash of depression to brighten my day Choice cut: Milk Film…..I guess
Uninspiring new wave album. Nothing really stood out and wasnt interesting enough to warrant another listen.
A nice but kind of forgettable slice of 80s pop
Let's clear the air: anyone old enough to visit a record store in the early-mid 1980s has made fun of this band. Myself included. I even had a band with a song that mocked them. However, it turns out these guys can play their asses off. We are only discovering this now because it takes forty years to reverse an opinion. Unfortunately, the songwriting isn't there. I kept thinking that the world missed an opportunity for a great band if only they could have been the backing band for a creative visionary who needed help. I can't give you any examples because the visionaries I am referring to never made it. However, many can be found at the end of the bar or other similar locale.
Never heard of these guys before. These guys are interesting, lots of cool brass/reed work in the music, but it isn't my favorite. There seems to be obvious influences from The Talking Heads here, which is great, but these guys are nowhere near as good as them. 2/5
As far as new wave albums go, it's not bad - better than most I'd say. However, like all new wave albums, I'm not surprised it was their only one.
80s epitomized. I think I'd heard some of these songs before but I had never actually heard the name of the group.
Fine
This list loves a bit of new-wave, which is strange looking back as someone born just after that period ended. It's clearly not a good enough genre to stand the test of time, same as bubblegum pop, glam rock etc. etc. Pretty mediocre stuff.
just filler
Just not my era at all
Pelican West’s best attribute in my opinion is the clean and nuanced production and sonic presentation. Guitar voicings and synth linings add so much to the audible depth of this record even being tucked away into one channel or the other. The expertly performed Latin percussion is remarkable too. However, song-wise there just isn’t much here for me to return to. Decent new-wave approaches but not a ton of personality behind the gloss.
Meh. I'm not sure Haircut 100 deserve to be taken this seriously really. As background music this was OK, but I didn't even notice Fantastic Day was on the album until I read the article about it afterwards. Just all a bit anonymous and, I'm afraid, uninteresting. There were worse things produced in 1982 no doubt, but this is a poor man's alternative to Lexicon of Love, Rio or Rip It Up. My wife loves it, but it's really not my thing.
Sometimes it sounded like Orange Juice and I liked that. Other times the sounded like XTC and I liked that. Even sometimes they did the chucka-chucka-chucka guitar strumming like Chic and I really liked that. But unfortunately I didn’t like the rest. Perhaps I just couldn’t get over how bad the bands name is.
So I must hear Haircut 100 before I die? Fuck off.
This is what you would expect to hear from an early 80's British pop group. It is pretty much the same format as all the other groups. You will hear hints of Duran Duran with the sax...the catchy beats with the bongos and drum fills. Pretty much on script from 1982.
Not sure why this was included. Nothing stood out to me as exciting. It was okay, not great.
eh. good new wave, but kind of forgetablle. good music though.
It's fine. Entirely inessential sophistipop/jangle pop/new wave. I've heard worse, but I've also heard so much better. The net cultural impact of this thing appears to have been exactly zero, so I can't fathom what it's doing on this list.
Meh
The horns are the only thing that made this worth listening. They are also the only thing that made this a 2 and not a 1.
Never heard of them. Very poppy.
really bland, inoffensive easy listening type stuff
Alkuun jakso diggailla menoa. Levy on pitkä kuin Siperian talvi ja matkan aikana laulajan ääni alkoi vituttamaan.
Солидан 4/10
Posh pop disguised as art pop
Mostly throwaway songs - especially the ones that sound like XTC. This album would be totally uninteresting if not for what other groups did and continue to do with the sound.
Long and super annoying.
Great scratchy guitar sound and the well-known hits are strong, but overall the sound is a bit cheesy and I didn't feel like listening to it more than once.
This was..interesting. It sounded like music that might play during a daytime television game show. And that’s not necessarily a good thing. Vibes were weird. It wasn’t painful to listen to, but not really enjoyable either.
Very repetitive
laihat brittipojat kerskailee... osataan niitä ja näitä... musiikki akatemiasta opitut luettu läksyt kunnolla vai mitä... noh new waven tasolla tämä on ihan hyvää intrumentttaalia joskus.. laulaja voisi, hiljaa olla. ja kirjottaja laittaa kynän alas..perkussioni bongo huomattu. noh poisalta tämmöset hyvä yll'pito hyvä.... baked beans
Eh, I mean it's alright
Boring. Bland. Generic. Not my thing. I’m guessing the author has a strong emotional attachment to this album unrelated to its quality, possibly due to coming of age when this album was popular. A couple of songs came close to being catchy, but nothing ever crested that hill for me.
I remember the hit, but it seems a strangely insubstantial inclusion?
A truly terrible band who just were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Pretty replacement level
When this album came out, I remember disliking it. This album and anything else that resembled dance-able, new wave, synthy-white boy-Brit-pop. It reminds me of a lightweight Duran Duran or Tears For Fears, all bands I avoided with a passion. The music has it's place and it's enjoyable enough on the surface, but deep down (to me) it doesn't have soul or depth to deem it essential, by any means. I don't hate it, I just don't understand why this band or album has any relevance.
Some bangers but ultimately not my bag
This one wore on me quickly. Love Plus One is a great song from the era, but nearly everything else has the annoying fast strumming light guitars with some 80's funky beats that is not only dated but annoying. Snow Girl seemed to be the only song with some hope, but everything else is dreck.
Youch. Another 80s group of British people discovering some jazz/funk and making it milquetoast I feel embarrassed.
2.75
Cheerful and bouncy with trumpet. Fantastic Day is a banger, but not a lot of quality songwriting elsewhere. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: Fantastic Day Date listened: 20/07/23
Ugh. The 80's. So much junk and weird stuff happening. The music scene was all over the place. And thus we get this. Somewhat interesting or redeeming that they have heavy sax, brass, and congas alongside the regular instruments. But otherwise I didn't care for it. I didn't hate it and I didn't quite reach for the off button, but it was close. Feels like a coin flip between 2 and 3. It's been awhile since I gave a 2 so there you go.
Quitando la primera y su Love Plus One me he aburrido. Muy años 80 ñoños , mucho saxofón.
Meh. Mehr fällt mir dazu nicht ein.
Made me wish I was listening to Kid Créole a couple of times
3/10 brit poo. vraiment pas aimer grand chose.
Heard some nuggets that sounded familiar and funky, but overall didn't do anything for me as an album.
Eh….?
Haircut One Hundred is from London, England Genre: New wave I was a huge fan of the song Love Plus One when it came out. I was shocked that it wasn't a bigger hit in the USA. As much as I liked the song, I never heard anything else from them - ever. So this is the first listen of this album for me. I've been looking forward to hearing it. Standouts: Love Plus One Singles: -------------------------------------- Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) (#4 UK) Love Plus One (#3 UK, #37 USA) Fantastic Day (#9 UK) 2.5
An hour of generic British New Wave is too much generic British New Wave. About an hour too much, in fact. Nobody needed this. Not that these boys can't play because they can. And, if I'm being honest, the production is shockingly good. But that's all the positive commentary I have for this album, unfortunately. The lyrics are stupid, the vocals sound exactly like every other New Wave band ever, and (again) nobody needed this. It's a waste of time and effort. 2 stars because the production values are so high and the recording quality is pristine. While that has nothing to do with the band, it IS a check in the album's positive column.
Meer vergeetbare jarentachtigmeuk. Iets frissere sound dan de vorige plaat, en gelukkig ook minder lang. Maar om er nou meer sterren voor te geven, dat nou ook weer niet.
De eerste helft van de jaren '80 samengeperst op 1 album. Geweldig...
Zoveelste new wave groepje met typische Britse zeikstemmen. Toeters en blazers erbij, waar heb ik dit allemaal eerder gehoord? Huismerk van het huismerk van het huismerk. Het is niet per se slecht, want de basloopjes en de ritmes zijn best lekker vrolijk, maar we hebben dit allemaal al veel te veel gehoord. En dat vonden ze zelf ook, dus zijn ze er maar snel mee gekapt en we hebben nooit meer iets van ze vernomen.
It's like listening to The Cure doing an album of TV commercial jingles in the 80s.
Silly and dated.
I don't think I needed to hear this before I died.
A white suburban middle class British funk album that sounds like a shit Duran Duran. And what a terrible name. A few good songs but the rest is naff
Honestly, meh. I usually like the 80s New Wave stuff but nothing about this jumped out at me and I feel like it’s very forgettable… because I’ve forgotten everything about it.
Gay as Christmas, erg funky maar nogal eentonig
Unremarkable. Some neat production and listenable but no songs I'd ever play again or remember. Can't see how it deserves a place on 1001 best albums but not offensive.
I was kind of stoked for an 80s new wave band I'd never heard before. And then the sax started... and just. wouldn't. stop. Not the new wave that appeals to me.
Meh
I've only heard Love Plus One before so I was interested in hearing this album. However like the hit, It's vanilla New Wave, It's fine but nothing really exciting. 2.5 stars.
Interesting instrumentals, but too new-wave for my taste. The band name and the album name sounds like they were generated by an AI lol. Quite generic, overall.
I am confused as to why I should hear this one before I die. It is serviceable “New Wave” music, I wouldn’t say anything is particularly memorable. The worst part about this album, for me, is that any level of excitement I should get from the performance seems to be utterly muted in the mix. This music should be exciting but I don’t really get it from the sound and that is sad because it seems like they can play their instruments.
Some fun and funky parts, but the mediocrity.. lord the mediocrity. Won't be listening to this again. 2/5 horns 🎺🎷
I remember some of these songs from when I was young. I wasn't very interested then, and not much has changed. Just not my thing.
Candy flossy, and pretty much all that I hated about early 80s British music. Aged better than I thought. Now like the choppy guitars, not so much the bass (V. 80s). Songs diminish in quality as the album progresses. Heyward has a good voice. Gone up in my estimation. Effing dreadful name for a band.
I dont know what my guy’s deal with horny muzak is, but here is another album full of blaring soft jazz horns and jangly brit rock chords. It’s cheesy and dumb. Your band name is silly as well. Glad this music style got bagged and forgotten. If youre gonna do this type of thing, maybe the Cure, the Smiths, even a band I discovered here, called Teardrop Explodes, will do. Go listen to Dinosaur Jr. or Pavement. This is saccharine nonsense.
It's very pleasant. Twee almost. But that also makes it not very exciting
Struggled with this one. Couldn’t see the merit.
no
Fun but not my jam
It's just ok
Meh, probably never coming back to this one
Did nothing to change my mind that most 80's music is shite
This is just too 80’s for me, not to my taste.
Not my style.
Fuck those horns.
boat party, no vote party
This sounds so tired, it's like you've taken a Duran Duran album and sucked out all of the energy. It's super generic and really long, it's only 10 am, I've had a strong coffee, and I still feel like I'm struggling to stay awake during it (although tbf the heat probably doesn't help). Only the first 12 tracks are on the original release, and I have no desire to listen to any more of this than I absolutely have to. 2/5 - just. It is not actively repulsive, just dull as hell. Actually, that seems harsh on hell.
nice haircut
First two songs are nice and I suspect they're the only reasons why the album is in that book. The rest of the album is not that bad but most of it sounds really generic and surprisingly limp for a new wave album with so much percussions.
Not even 24 hours has passed and I already don't remember a single note from this album. The vibe was good, but nothing memorable and it certainly doesn't make me want to get myself a hundred haircuts.
Why is it in the book...why ?
Sometimes everything is there to make it work... Energy, variety of instruments, excellent musicians, etc. But, for some reason, there's absolutely nothing on this record that I found uplifting or that I want to listen to again.
Fun - couple of old familiars. Nothing amazing though
Unremarkable 80's New Wave. You can keep it. Best track: Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)
Never judge a record by its cover? You can with this one. Woollen cream sweaters and autumn leaves? This cover is as bland as the music therein. Bland New Wave. Weak tunes, weak vocals and weak ideas. You don't need to hear this before you die. If beige was a sound this is it. Best Tracks: Love Plus One; Marine Boy; Fantastic Day
average British new wave sound.
Continuing the streak of new wave albums I could have skipped. Sax was perfect, though!
Fun but forgettable new wave. The biggest takeaway I have from this album is “Why did they choose so many inconsequential 80’s rock/new wave bands for this list?”
Conhecido sem empolgar.
"Pelican West" is the British new wave band Haircut One Hundred's debut album. It performed very well in the UK, gaining the second top spot on the charts and being certified platinum for sales. The music was upbeat and positive, and the lyrics were easy to follow. It's not my usual jam, but I can appreciate any good music produced by an entire band.
Ágætis 80s vella.
I just didn't vibe with this at all... Maybe it was because I listened on a Sunday, maybe not. Nearly scraped a 3 at points but otherwise came across flat.
First album I didn’t listen to all the way through. It isn’t bad, it’s just determinedly undistinguished. Brings nothing new to the table. At best, an example of common-or-garden variety Synthpop circa 1982. Fungible to the nth degree.
Opening track has a Duran Duran meets Spandel Ballet vibe. It's very poppy in a way that I would have liked a lot more once. Kingsize (You're my little steamwhistle) is particularly Rio-esque, though the lyrics seem to say "You're the little fat one" which is great. The whole album has a sort of Club Tropicana feel and it loses charm really quickly. It is upbeat, but it's also just kind of dull and repetitive. The good - Kingsize.
Meh
Man kan säga mycket bra om 80-talet men det som producerades i musikväg tillhör inte den kategorin. Love Plus One, Fantastic Day och Surprise Me Again har ngt men resten får mig bara att vilja fly saxofon-tramset,stänga av och slå på Dexys Midnight Runners
Lot of new wave recently, and I still don't really understand what the genre is. This one's less interesting to me
It had its moments, but it was pretty long and it was a bit of a slog. I'll give it a 2.5, but since multiple albums I liked better got a 3, I'll round that down to a 2 for this site's star system. Favorite tracks were "Love Plus One" (naturally- the one hit that makes them a one-hit wonder, as well as Surprise Me Again and Nobody's Fool.
80's talking heads kind of a sound, but not as good.
Baked Bean is a nice song. All the rest is funky, but i don't like the style of singing
Didn't really jump out to me as anything special, but mostly competent.
Not memorable at all, as over the weekend I forgot just about what they sounded like
Saxofonigt. Festligt ändå, jag tycker om det. Passar väl till det roadtripsläge jag befann mig i under lyssningen. Lite sköna gitarr-riffs i högt tempo som spelar mot blåsinstrument och hela tiden en lagom pampig intrycksfull taktpinne i form av trummorna. Låtarna flyter ihop lite när jag inte har full koll på flödet när jag kör och det är heller ingen låt som sticker ut alldeles extra. Bäst:"Milk film"
Meh
Pretty random 80s pop. Totally fine but not something for a 1001 albums list in my opinion
Love the singles - the sound of (somebody's, not mine) youthful summers - happy, outdoor music to have in the background - but the three singles are head and shoulders above the rest, though I can't explain to myself why, given that all the songs sounded the same, especially the guitar sound - a sort of Nile Rodgers-type vibe going on - except not in the same league. The rest I can't remember. Why is this an important album? It clearly isn't, it's just pop music, good as singles but nothing else. What next - Boney M? Yes, all right, I loved them too, but I'm never going to sit and listen to any of their albums. Incidentally, I am still listening to Rush and getting worried that I may have contracted some sort of illness. Is there a support group? (no, not that sort, the psychological sort)
In a list of bands I wouldn't have expected to find on the list, Haircut 100 might be right at the top. How are they here? It's actually a quite pleasant album, airy and light, full of smiles and nostalgia. Not a terrible listen, nice background noise, but really, how are they here?
Does it get any more '80s than this?
OK, but nothing special.
I listened to this with Sue and the experience went through three phases. 1) we loved the horn hooks, funky beat and scratchy guitars 2) we were surprised that we recognized so many songs and accused the other of having owned the album 3) We grew tired of the lack of edge or diversity. Pop music isn’t meant to be consumed in album format, I guess. A solid 5 on the 10-point scale.
4.5
Booo
Some upbeat bops, fairly jazzy stuff but no staying power for me
eh. Not my style, but can see how this was a huge hit.
funky but quite irrelevant
Unremarkable 80s rock where all of the songs blend together and say nothing memorable.
Pretty good, sort of prototypical 80s new wave. I like the horns, but overall not super excited about this. 2.5 stars.
Totally fine, bit I've "heard" this before. Every pop band from the 80's sounds the same to me and they're all not that great. Bonus point awarded for the great sax play.
Very "polite" new wave band. Nothing special, just ok.
Helt ok
In a list of bands I wouldn't have expected to find on the list, Haircut 100 might be right at the top. How are they here? It's actually a quite pleasant album, airy and light, full of smiles and nostalgia. Not a terrible listen, nice background noise, but really, how are they here?
cool instrumentals but got bored
The opener's inclusion of funk is quite promising. Unfortunately (I speculate), that genre is very difficult to get onto vinyl alive. Combine that with a pop form which is highly dependent on tools for sound and you get a fusion which, while fun, contains too much clear artifice. The good cuts (make a list by adding Kingsize and Love's Got Me In Triangles (absolutely the title highlight of the album) to the song mentioned above) are very good, but not parts of "essential" album listening. I suspect Haircut One Hundred would have been a fun live show.
ugghhh this is going to suck, I'm guessing poppy new wave type stuff looking at the cover. It's quirky looking, the name is dumb.... aaand I'm not wrong, it's basically exactly what I had in my head lol. No idea why this needs to be bookmarked in history. 2/5.
funky and very boring in the long run
Another new wave band with a lead singer that sounds like every other new wave lead singer...if you told me this was Tears for Fears, I'd believe it. There is too much xylophone in this album already. This is horrible. Marine Boy is one of the worst songs I've ever heard. This list feels more like trolling every day because this album is absolutely awful. There are too many British New Wave bands on it. Every song is terrible.
Jazzy funk-pop optimism
This is some stupid bullshit and a waste of my time. What the fuck
80s pants
meh
When the first song started, I thought, 'Hey, that's groovy'. Little did I know that the rest of the album is just an uncreative repetition, and every song sounds the same. The rap part in one of the first songs is just as white as it gets, and so cringe.
What in the good hell is this? AND it’s over an hour?! Do I really have to sit through this????? 😩
Talking Heads if they were bad. & stuck in an 80s lobby...
Very much as I expected, lightweight fluff with horrible sax hooks and jangly guitars. I hated every minute of it. A tip for anyone listening to this, you can ditch the Spotify album 12 tracks in and spare yourself a further fifteen minutes of torture listening to "bonus" tracks. As I listened to this album, I soon realised I didn't care one jot about Haircut 100 or Nick Heyward. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't do a collab with Bananarama at some point, it's that bad. One star.
On the radio but not on my stereo in the 80's. Still feel the same way.
Wow, a whole album of effectively the same song. Not good.
Vomit inducing yacht rock
The vocals are classic new wave--goofy and mostly interolable. The music is a little more on the funk side. Then there is some goofy use of horns and flutes and such. Love Plus One sounds like something that Puff Daddy would have covered in the 90s. Lots of cheesy 80s white guy saxophone peppered throughout this. Jesus, this is a slog. Got to Captain Autumn and don't think I can do this. This song along takes this album from a loft 2 to a 1.
Felt like generic 80's music. Didn't really do anything for me.
So painfully unremarkable. So average.
Of all the bands from the 80s this is one of them. So very boring. This is what ChatGTP would give you if you asked it for an 80s sound.
no, just no...this deserves to be on a list of albums your corpse should 'listen' to when you're dead. How is this even on here?
I do my best to finish every album but I just could t do it.
Nein. Nein, nein, nein. So gar nicht.
Didn’t make it through. Not essential
I applaud it for being different but still not for me
NO shade on these lads but this list is so lacking in non-white music. Not a bad album, just a bit tired of the same stuff. Nope changed my mind after Love Plus One - crap.
Wow they are fucking kidding right? How in the holy hell did this lame ass shit make it onto this list. I am 655 albums in but it’s crap like this that makes me question continuing on.
Again, this is not an album I needed to listen to before I die.
PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PELICAN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN WEST PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN
All songs sound the same Typical 80s new wave sound. Feel free to skip it
Yeah, that was NOT needed to be listened to by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Another band that could be named the Hoovers. Because they really suck. 1
Stuck in eternal 80s hell. Bad hair. Bad shoes terrible music awful blues.
How is something this lame so long?
It's weird. These guys are about 85% of the way to being Squeeze, who I really like. But I didn't enjoy this at all. Hits some kind of stylistic allergy I have but will not bother trying to describe.
I didn’t think I had heard of this band before, but then I remembered I had heard Love Plus One years ago on a Billboard top hits album. This album seems a bit long with 17 songs. Most of the songs sounded the same. This album did not keep my interest.
Nope. Stop the Britpop. This is album #980 for me, and I can not do more British pop. This isn't even different Britpop. This is just more of the same, but less popular.
Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)
Yeah, pass on this one I'm afraid.
It was indeed not a fantastic day because the generator gave me this abomination to listen to today.
Some music captivates you; some music holds you captive. My rating will let you know what this album did to me. Also, was it mandatory to sing like *that* in the 80s?
Dorlig
p494. 1982. 1 star. The epitome of bland, crap UK early 80's pop. It's like punk never happened. Every track sounds the same, the lyrics are shite, and that chittering guitar gets annoying REALLL soon. WTF is this doing on the list? "Is it down to the lake I fear". What's so fucking scary about the lake, eh?
Haircut 100’s Pelican West has some postpunk DNA, but it’s ultimately drowned in unbearable production and bad songs. Garbage.
Perhaps it is not something that is targeted towards me but listening to the album made it seem like one song played for 70 minutes. A single break from the funk came with Surprise Me Again, which took things a little lower which would have been an appreciated thing more often.
When someone says 80s music this is exactly the sound I think of, even though I don’t think I’ve ever heard them before. It is definitely not a genre I gravitate towards, couldn’t even finish the album to be honest.
I was expecting to hate this just by the album cover alone. There were a few songs that I thought were interesting or otherwise of note, but in general it sounded like a weird cross of Kenny G / Gloria Estefan and Flock of Seagulls or Duran Duran......
What a great opportunity to listen to ‘Favourite Shirts’ again, and the rest of their poppy-jazzy-bongo-loveliness. Edit: 5 songs in. Enough already.
Why do these songs all sound the same? And why do they all suck? How did they stretch this album out to an entire hour? I only made it to Fantastic Day and that song sucked fantastically so I gave up
Mietin sitä aitoa heittäytymisen, jopa vakavoitumisen tunnetta, jota tämän tason hupsuttelu ja höpsöttely edellyttää. Hytisen.(Ekassa biisissä on muuten ideaa.) 1+
I question why this would have made the 1001 cut. There's no way this is an important album. I'm about the biggest 80s music fan around and this is just really awful, bland, boring. They never even had a single hit here.
Garbage.
why the hell is this on this list
Initial thought: wtf is this? This sounds like someone set out to make the most cookie cutter, fluffy haired, clean cut, white boy 80s pop template and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. I hate 80s pop. Also, it’s over an hour. Very few albums should be over an hour long and this is not one of them.
10 seconds into first song, PASS, sorry guys
A cocktail with no alc / Talking with no heads / Kid Creole without coconuts / NO