Post by stefancrosscoe on Apr 10, 2018 10:26:44 GMT
Artist: Art of Noise
Album: Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
Genre: Synthpop, Experimental and New Wave
Year: 1984
Standout tracks: A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid), Beatbox (Diversion One), Close (To The Edit) and Moments in Love
Following the success with The Buggles, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes ended up getting the once in a lifetime opportunity to join forces with their idols and try to help the fallen prog rock giant that was Yes into finding their sound or the right direction which might suit them better for the 1980s and also maybe reaching out to a whole new audience.
However the record Drama (1980), while not a bad relese, it still seemed to divide a large portion of the fanbase of the 1970s line-up and it was to be a rather shortlived experience for Horn and Downes who both soon departed along with original Yes member Steve Howe, and where Horn turned into becoming one of the most famous music producers of the first half of 1980s, Howe and Geoff Downes ended up as part of the superband known as Asia together with former prog heroes such as John Wetton and Carl Parlmer. When Yes got back again with a new lineup including the talented Trevor Rabin, they brought Horn back as an producer and it resulted with the success of 90125 (1983) and where the two Trevor's was to be a big influence on the new and more synthpop dominated sound the band was heading for, and it worked incredibly well for a while.
During the recording of several classic albums and singles during the early 80s, acts such as Dollar, Yes, ABC and others benefited heavily from having Trevor Horn making the very best out of his "own" studio band which included the very gifted session musicians Anne Dudley and J. J. Jeczalik.
The trio would soon expand when music journalist Paul Morley and engineer Gary Langang were brought onboard as part of the faceless british "anti-group" known only as The Art of Noise.
The first taste of this experimental unit would arrive in 1983 with the EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise but it was not until almost a year later on that they released their debut album which was Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?.
01. A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid) - Opens up in a very chilling manner along with what I think is the voice of Fidel Castro, and before you known it is all suddenly ripped open by a very heavy and tight "war machine" sound, constantly backed with loud samples and industrial noise. Not a lot of time or space for anything resembling a "melody" but it sure is one that sounds fantastic for a piece which was done over 35 years ago.
There is however a little "time out" in there as well, but then all hell is set loose upon the listener by throwing everything at you and again it never once get "tiredsome" or boring, instead it keeps on dishing out little surprises and details throughout the run.
An incredible album opener and while maybe not something that I would call "easy" listening, it sure do sets a very high standard and hopefully the rest of the album might not be that far off either.
02. Beat Box (Diversion One) - "Bum, bu-bum" Damn, this is solid gold. I know of course of this classic but it have been a long while since the last time I heard it, or this version (not the shorter one). So tight and catchy and it is not hard to hear how this stunning piece would go onto have a strong influence on the rising Hip-hop and rap music genres, as well as with many pop and music acts in the 1980s.
While almost 9 minutes might be a little "long", however this extremely fun filled and catchy monster tune never lets me down and keeps my interest up all the way through. Again, I am very impressed at how good this sounds compared to a lot of (not only Art of Noise later material) but many of the similar synthpop and music acts of the 1980s. The icing on the cake is the beautiful and soulful piano outro that begins at around 07:14 and which I would have gladly wanted to last for another 8-9 minutes.
03. Snapshot - Is a very short instrumental piece that last less than a minute but still contains many rich "classic" 80s sounds along the way, however it is one that moves a little too fast for my liking and if it had lasted a little longer. Like a minute or two more, then it might have worked out better. Instead it is mostly a nice but not very memorable number.
04. Close (To the Edit) - Yes, I do remember the video and I think I ended up there in the first place because I had just read that The Prodigy or Liam Howlett mentioned that he had sampled a part of the song and was a big fan of it. Anyway, I loved that music video, very funny and original and in a way it was my introduction to Art of Noise as I soon "stumbled" upon more of their work, and it is one of my few but very positive impulse "accidents".
Anyway, "HEY!" Close (To the Edit) is one hell of a funky number, and the bassline by Trevor Horn is something special and I was very surprised at how well he played this piece live, as it was as tight and powerful as the studio version.
Again, another very catchy and fun instrumental piece, filled up with one neat surprise after another.
05. Who's Afraid (of the Art of Noise?) - The title cut is not that far off the opening act in sound and while maybe not the most melodic piece, it sure do makes it up by delivering lots of hard hitting beats and industrial noises along with some spectacular use of samples.
06. Moments in Love - Then next up we have one of the finest and surely most romantic synthpop pieces ever made. It first appeared on their 1983 EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise and have been sampled and "borrowed" tons of times during the last three decades or more.
The lush and haunting sounds is extremely calming and I have no trouble understanding this is one those all time classic late night jams that is perfect for that special hour between two lovers and feels at times like the perfect soundtrack for dreaming. Beautiful but still do contains some more "quirky" moments in there as well.
Anyway, I have already mentioned it twice (I think) but it is very heard to believe that this was made around 1982-83.
07. Memento - Is another short piece that I guess is meant to work out like a mini picture/movie for the ears and mind, but for me this sounds very much like those hearing test where you are supposed to pick out certain sounds and noises and write it down afterwards.
For me, this one is just "background" noise, it give me nothing and yeah "great church bells" and all but this is one that I rarely bother with and I think even some of the member of the band later on spoke out that these more experimental cuts was very much a big hit and miss, but different strokes for different folks and all that.
08. How To Kill - Continues in a way with lots of samples and weird noises but is somehow more "melodic" than Memento.
There is more of a melody to be found here and it do have potential of something bigger but instead only ends up having me thinking that it kind of sounds a little like Boards of Canada at times or well the other way around I guess.
09. Realisation - Is yet another cut short instrumental piece lasting less than 1 minute and 40 seconds an while it is surely a little more upbeat than the one above, it is still not much less than another forgettable yet somehow atmospheric moment which sadly ends up closing this album off with.
It is without doubt a influential record which still sounds very good but is it a great album? No, but there are some damn close to perfection greats included and not even the "annoying" short pieces could spoil the fun.
Worth hearing and owning for the classic numbers but as a whole it is a little too uneven to go any further up the rating scale than a solid but could have been so much better:
7/10