Search - Information Society :: Don't Be Afraid

The most underrated Industrial album of all time.

George Samson | Denver | 03/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Information Society is the phrase "Pure Energy". This Minneapolis based electro-club-pop group hit the New York City club scene in 1985 with their single "Running". This eventually led to a wider distribution and radio play in 1986 as a remix single under the Tommy Boy label. Two years later, their first album included their most memorable and popular #3 chart single, "Whats On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" The band released two follow up albums, multiple radio and club singles and eventually split up in 1993.



Here is the most interesting and least known facts about Information Society: frontman Kurt Larson/Valequen/Harland was and still is a huge fan of Industrial Music. On touring with Club MTV Kurt says,"At the time I was listening to Front 242 and Foetus and Front Line Assembly, and I was posing for pictures with Paula Abdul and getting into tiffs with Milli Vanilli. The surreal factor was maxing my instrumetation. Or something."



The breakup of Information Society included Kurt buying out the other bands members' shares of Information Society so the next logical progression was for Kurt to release an album like he had wanted to for so long. An Industrial album



4 years worth of demo's, small jobs making video game music and a truckload of record label BS finally saw the release of Kurt's new vision for InSoc (a new abbreviated monicker for the band) on the Cleopatra label.



Information Society's first self titled release happens to be the first tape I ever bought, so my love of the band makes me a bit biased when I say this has to be the most underrated and unappreciated Industrial albums of all time



Darkly beautiful and sporting a very straightforward Industrial sound, this album is a trip into depression, paranoia, obsession and the futility of teen angst. The stand out tracks are Closing In: while the heaviest song on the album (heavy guitars), its also the most classic sounding Information Society on the album, bringing back Kurt's familar vocal style and classic club beats; On the Outside: an industrial rock anthem for the lost teenage mall culture of the 90's; SEEK300 is a 148 bpm energized sequal to SEEK200 from Hack and it plays with you as the beats trot along at a maddening sort of pace interspliced with guitar samples and a quick distorted vocal chorus screaming,"Insanity! My Commodity!"



The album finishes up with two tracks; the inspiring Ozar Midrashim, a pounding thematic cacophony of classical inspired syth that tells the story of some epic battle and The Ridge; a slowly violent cooker of a song that explodes as the listener feels the helplessness of losing a friend to drug addiction.



Fans of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver will recognise the track Ozar Midrashim as the main theme of that game.



If you are looking for something to buy or just something you havent heard before; find this cd new or used, you won't be disappointed"

This IS a MASTERPIECE...

molesman | Southern Germany | 04/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...but beware - if youre just willing to listen to it one time - forget it. We all know those songs creeping into your ears slowly makeing you fancy them more and more. This album is filled with such tunes. When I bought it - i hated it - i wanted some more standard Insoc stuff, the sound i was used. But after listening to it again and again i started to find it ... interesting. Few times later i liked it. I read all about the album, about the work and efforts the remaining and sole insoc member kurt invested in it. I liked the freaky storeis about songs beein recorded in the car and so on. After about 50 times of full rotation this album became one of my most beloved discs. I bought the german edit with another cover, the brazilian where the web track was included and some remixes. But i liked the US edition the most - containing those wacky sounds in between the tracks - gosh - what energy is included there. It sounds liek the last fight of a sinking ship stayin above the sealevel - i dunno the english word for that but you can feel the energy, the creativity and the one-man-show-power kurt put in here. Its dark and sometimes depressing, its strange and chaotic sometimes, the audio quality lacks sometimes which was made as effect not by mistake - and it all works perfectly together. Did I read someone said this is by far the most underrated industrial disc for long - i agree. I never heard anything like this - its like the blue Mauritius stamp - you wont meet another cd like this.



So - if youre willing to listen, spending some time on all that - this cd may become a true friend for life. And hey - there are few discs one cann really state that. Did I say I love it :o)?



Sorry for my bad english - hope i could make my point somehow clear. Thanks for staying with me till here! :o)"

A nice change, but no follow-up???

Eric Andrew | 01/27/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"So Information Society ended up after their third Tommy Boy album in the early 1990s with the same personality problems and record company blues that most New Wave bands found themselves dealing with. After a hiatus of five years, Kurt resurrected the Insoc name with a new album, 1997's darkwave "Don't Be Afraid". On this album are a few very, very strong songs rounded out by some that seem, well, a bit like filler.The first track, "Empty", is a great introduction to the new InSoc sound. Within a perfect meld of 1990s darkwave and InSoc's very recognizable synth sequences, Kurt's voice sounds familiar but with much more intensity and emotion than we had last heard on "Peace And Love, Inc".In my opinion, the 2nd track, "Closing In", is the best InSoc song that I have heard. The epic song has a *gulp* nearly 3-minute intro that morphs itself into one of the best "Metropolis Records"-style goth-industrial-dance tunes that I've ever heard. The darkness of the industrial atmosphere combined with an eerily-catchy minor-chord variation on InSoc's successful late-80s formula make this the stand-out track. This, especially in combination with "Empty", make the album worth the price.The following 4 songs are a bit of filler, as well as the ending tracks, though "Ending World" has a great vocal line. Remaining is Kurt's rendition of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?", which I think blows away any other cover that I've heard of the same song. It's interesting to note that I hear inferior covers of this song on Numan tribute albums and have never seen the InSoc version on any of them. If InSoc had still been on a big label, this would've most assuredly been a successful single.My biggest criticism of InSoc in the "Don't Be Afraid" world is that this, in a sense, is Kurt's debut solo album, and it was never followed up. At least, not yet, and it has been well over 6 years since this was released. I can understand throwing the towel in after not receiving much commercial success, but it seems like this work was a great step in the right direction. A fifth InSoc album would've assuredly been even better."