Dare (1981)
One of the more interesting historical tidbits about The Human League is that band leader Philip Oakey thought 'Don't You Want Me' was a very poor choice for a single, argued against it, and thought it would be ruinous for their reputation. Well so much for that! Just goes to show you about musicians and their respective judgement of their own material. Personally I think it's a brilliant 2 minute song, and represents perfectly the era in which it was released. Except... at 4 minutes it's about twice as long as it needs to be. Seems they should have added one or two more ideas there? So maybe Oakey was right - it was a throwaway after all.
Beyond the big hit, much of the album is pleasant, with some very nice fat synthesizer textures. Nothing is as catchy of course, and there's not much experimentation either. Yet another "high school soundtrack" album for me. A nice harmless way to spend 40 minutes.
Former ownership: 1981 A&M (LP). Gatefold
3/21/19 (review / new entry); 5/6/25
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