Roddus Album of the Day.
I was listening to some random songs on the Ipod while out in the garden over the weekend when a cover of a song I knew from way back came on from some nameless contempory indie band. "I Ran" was the big hit from the fabulous named A Flock of Seagulls back in 82' and I remember being turned onto the song when I saw the video on TV one night. This, their debut album, found its way into my collection soon after and although I had sold my vinyl many years back and had forgotten of it's existence, hearing the cover version brought back fond recollections of a pretty good album. Listening to this again now is still an enjoyable experience and one of the first things I notice is the clear quality of the recording. This synth and guitar driven new wave music doesn't have quite the same impact as it did hearing it for the first time 28 years ago and though it does sound slightly dated, the strength of the record means it has held up pretty well overall. Pretty commercial and well polished, the LP starts of with a trio of very good uptempo numbers, including the aforementioned "I ran". "Space Age Love Song" has more of a ballad feel to it although it still is driven along by a moderate beat and I like the treated guitar. A touch of U2 I can hear. "You Can Run" is a weaker track and I loose interest in it's vocals."Telecommunication" was their first single released before the album and is another strong track. The next track starts of a bit differently from the previous lot, which all have a sameness about them, "Standing in the Doorway" has a slow bassy start before it kicks into a real fine new wave guitar riff which is the best on the album. The vocal melodies of the chorus is the songs weak point."Don't ask Me" flies along smartly and is very commercial with nice vocal melody. More U2 riffing on the nice instrumental "D.N.A" followed by the weaker "Tokyo". The album closes with a slow tempo more atmospheric, mostly instrumental, number in "Man Made" to sort of wind us down from the rest of this joyride. As I said, still an enjoyable listen after all these years and given a Roddus rating of 3.5/5.
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