| The Age Of Plastic | 1980 |
| Adventures In Modern Recording | 1982 |
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Living In The Plastic Age, Video Killed The Radio Star, Johnny On The Monorail. LOW POINTS: None.
Although everyone seems to know The Buggles name due to "Video Killed The Radio Star" being the first video played on MTV (who at this point seem to have forgotten the whole concept of videos), not very many people have dug deeper into the other tracks on their debut album, and that's a darn shame. Yeah, I'm not going to deny their lone hit is a classic song - it's one of the best and grooviest singles of the 80's, with its' unforgettable prophetic chorus, unabashedly fun over-the-top cheesy keyboards and female backing singers, and neat vocal effects, but... but... there's so much more to this album! I realize The Age Of Plastic can get overly 80's-ish in the synth sounds and sometimes dumb hooks, but on the other hand, it remains a shining example of 80's production done well (can't beat Trevor Horn), with well-written, imaginative arrangements and catchy as hell melodies. As a result, it's probably one of the greatest albums from a 'one-hit wonder' band ever recorded, and a true overlooked gem of the decade. You heard right.
Plus, even if Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes had never written anything else but the sort-of title track ("Living In The Plastic Age") that opens things, I'd still say they would deserve at least a little acclaim. Seriously, I can't imagine anyone who isn't completely biased against 80's synth-pop not liking this dramatically building, futuristic mini-epic, with tasteful use of piano and sweeping keyboards, plus a wonderfully soaring refrain to top it all off. Definitely a should-have-been hit. Plus, as more proof of their talent, who else in the early 80's could make a song centering around a love affair with a robot (the appropriately titled "I Love You (Miss Robot)") that features prominent use of a repetitive 'cheesy' vocoder actually work, and really really well at that? Plus, it's even got a haunting bass-driven atmosphere with a somewhat creepy melody and more of those understated keyboards and harmonies. Actually, it brings strong images of walking through the city at night as well as any song I know of.
Moving on, there are a couple of upbeat rockers in "Kid Dynamo" and "Clean Clean", both of them somewhat similar in style but also incredibly entertaining . Personally, I get the most kick out of the latter, with its' dorky Easterny chorus chanting, hilarious low-register 'pick it up' chanting, and out-of-nowhere marching section - so defiantly goofy, that it's damn near great. As for the former, much like the 'title track', it pulls off a fast-paced epic feeling really well, and the near spoken word bridge adds a haunting darkness almost impossible to imagine The Buggles pulling off for people only familiar with their hit single. And the closing "Johnny On The Monorail"? It actually has a countryish feel in its' chorus amongst its' really neat keyboard lines, and the acoustic guitar buildup (yes, acoustic guitar) that leads into its' ending fadeout is extremely well done. And it even gets pretty bombastic at points! Maybe their involvement with Yes on Drama isn't as strange as it may seem.
As for the only slight letdowns on here, those would be the remaining two songs in the middle of the second half. "Elstree" feels like a bit of a rewrite of "Video Killed The Radio Star" in its' piano work and overall feel, but its' BBC-inspired chorus and clever 'action!' intro does ensure the song gains its' own identity, and the moody "Astroboy (And The Proles On Parade)" is slightly dull and aimless, but still quite pleasant and melodic enough to be enjoyable. If those two were more substantial, and the album were a little longer than 36 minutes, I might have even given this a 9 (gasp!). It's still not far off, though. Very recommended, especially for New Wave fans and Drama supporters (the vibe of something like "Machine Messiah" - minus the metal influenced sections, anyway - is very representative of this album's spirit). Pity they only recorded one more album after this before dissolving.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Adventures In Modern Recording, I Am A Camera. LOW POINTS: Rainbow Warrior, On TV.
Now this sounds more like a typical album from the discography of a mediocre 'one hit wonder' band, especially one from the 80's. Although in this case, the 'band' part of that isn't entirely accurate - Adventures In Modern Recording is pretty much a Trevor Horn solo album all the way through, with little involvement from Geoff Downes (only in three songs, I believe). It's also even more Yes-influenced than before in that Horn is starting to sound more and more like Jon Anderson vocally, a comparison I didn't really take seriously until I heard this album - the portion where he goes high in "Lenny" is the best example - and the production is even more dated in an obnoxiously early 80's way (and not to the benefit of the music like Age Of Plastic). And worst of all, there are so few melodies or arrangements that actually seem inspired or entertaining. Disappointing.
Actually, though, I thought I could possibly be in for another underrated gem when I first heard the opening title track, an unbelievably addictive synth pop anthem that I've probably played more times by itself than any song in the last year or so - the melodies here are bouncy and upliftingly charismatic enough to make me unable to resist repeated listenings (the line where Horn yells out 'THIS BOY HAS GOT IT MADE!!!!!' gets to me in particular) even with all the booming electronic drums, 80's 'bang!' noise synths and gimmicks like crowd cheering that would ordinarily make things cheesy. For me, it actually beats out anything on Plastic, and that's no small accomplishment right there. Another song that could have easily fallen hugely flat on its' face that actually works is The Buggles' remake of "Into The Lens", the weakest song on Yes' Drama, done as "I Am A Camera". I guess I really dig this version of the song so much more because there's a tinge of moody sadness in the spare keyboard-laden atmosphere, as well as funky groove power in the bassline, that the much more technically accomplished but also much more awkward Yes version never even remotely approached, and that's something.
Sadly, those two songs are pretty much all Adventures seriously has going for it, though the rest can more accurately be described as 'faceless' than actually bad. Outside of the totally out-of-nowhere big band swing ending of the somewhat moody and actually pretty nice electric piano epic "Vermillion Sands", there's not anything else really creative going on. Stuff like "On TV" is so naggingly bouncy in a laughably dorky and generic way that it becomes actively irritating, much like the way the 'I was a beatnik... I was a beatnik...' chorus of the otherwise decent "Beatnik" is sung (the fact that it rips off the bassline of "The Soft Parade" for its' main instrumental melody doesn't help either, and the song itself is just too cartoonish for my liking).
There's not much to say about the other three songs (four if you count the brief reprise of the title track that at least ends the album on a good note, and makes me want to play that song yet again). "Inner City" and the aforementioned "Lenny" are okay and pleasant but instantly forgettable slower social commentary ballads of sorts, and then there's "Rainbow Warrior". Ugh, it's a tall order for any song called freaking "Rainbow Warrior" to actually be good at all, and this one is an incredibly generic and dull one that sounds exactly like you'd expect a generic crappy synth pop power ballad from 1982 to sound based on that title. And that's The Buggles' underwhelming and unfortunate swan song - I guess the brilliant title track and "I Am A Camera" are enough for me to shoot the rating of this album up at least a point (maybe even more) to a solid 6, but regardless, this is not an album anyone needs. I think it's only available as an out-of-print rare import anyway, so just try and find the title track on Soulseek or something, and pretend it was a post Age Of Plastic single.
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