5 STARS SIMPLY BECAUSE I CAN'T GO TO 10
Foot Artist | Houston, Texas United States | 05/19/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If someone asked me what my number one album in my collection is, I would choose REPRODUCTION with TRAVELOGUE right beneath it.I happened to be listening to the Human League back in 79 when if you listened to anything besides the BeeGees you were conisdered a weirdo.This band along with others like Nina Hagen, Kraftwerk, Frank Zappa and Kevin Ayers had a profound effect on me and my sense of individuality.You have to remember that when REPRODUCTION came out nobody was doing anything like the Human League's music. NOBODY!. Synth was brand new, and there were just a handful of people exploring it. When people heard EMPIRE STATE HUMAN they could not compare it to anything. Nothing like it existed and it went over most people's heads.ALMOST MEDIEVAL left people utterly confounded. It makes no sense to someone who is used to listening to the average tune. To say nothing of CIRCUS OF DEATH and AUSTERITY. These songs were so astray from the norm that people just didn't get them.If you want to explore the the pioneers of the synth niche listen to the early Human League. They made it possible, along with Kraftwerk and a few others, for a legion of pop bands in the 80's and 90's to be able to explore electronic music.People take synth for granted these days. But those of us who remember its infancy treasure and relish the work contained in this album.REPRODUCTION and TRAVELOGUE is where it all began."
Get this one and 'travelogue' -- or not ...
unicorn27 | 04/18/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"BUY THIS if you enjoy Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Eno-era Bowie. You will not be disappointed. The track 'flexi-disc' is admittedly bollocks but the rest of the extras are superb, and these discs are getting harder to find. Travelogue is a good companion to this.
DON'T BUY THIS if you are expecting something like 'Dare' or the later albums with that lineup, or Heaven 17 for that matter. This really is a good example of the synthesiser pop of the post-punk era and you can see it's influence on many contemporary electronic artists. These early Human League albums aren't 'new romantic' or anything of the sort."