Before reading more about this album, I thought that it was just another new wave album from the 80s and the UK, as tons exist (and live in this list). But then it actually looks like it's one of the first, who helped define the genre. So let's take back my half-baked rant, and celebrate the fact that it's halfway between electronic music, experimentation and pop, catchy tunes. Is it an amazing album? To be honest, no, it's not. But I can recognize its historical value if it helped sparked the genre (with all its goods and bads).
The Human League (fun fact - named after a faction in a 70s sci-fi war game) were stalwarts of the early Sheffield avant garde electro scene. However, when half the original line up left to form Heaven 17 the future looked uncertain until front man Phil Oakey recruited two young women that he met in a club one night to act as backing singers and to bring a new dynamic to the band. The fact that they were still at school caused a few problems, when they had to be transported from recording sessions back to Sheffield to sit their exams! The 80s were a different time, but fortunately everything was above board in this case with no funny business.
The album showed a development from their earlier sound to a more pop sensibility, but they still retained a unique style in their songs. Apparently Oakey didn’t think that Don’t You Want Me was all that good, but he was overruled and it went on to be one of the defining hits of the 80s that still holds up today. There’s plenty of other good stuff here too with dance floor filler Sound of the Crowd, a cover of Roy Budd’s classic theme to Get Carter and a song about Judge Dredd.
Asymmetric-haircut-tastic!