Couldn’t get on with this . Too 80’s funk for me. The concept is great though. Like American Pyscho . But it doesn’t do it. A sit on the fence 5/10

Banging album. It has aged but it's still brilliant. For it's time it was pushing boundaries.

Deffo essential.

A handful of good songs does not essential make. I have a couple of these in playlists, that's enough for me.

4 days later

Gave this a few listens. A lot of good intent even if the finished product missing the mark. I'll give them credit for trying something different. And this was 1981. You can hear some good influences, but the results don't do it for me.
The first song sums that up for me. I know what they wanted it to be. But it's not what it could be.
There's some Nile Rodgers guitar in there. 'Slap' bass. Synth stabs. The chant that's the hook. Plenty of stuff to like. But the sum isn't as good as the parts.
D-Train, Cheryl Lynn, Cameo were all making great records in 1981. 'Computer World' came out. Bambaataa would release 'Planet Rock' 12 months or so later. Whodini's debut would follow that in 1983. 'Dance' music was changing with more and more 'electronics'. When you listen to this in that context, you see its failings but also how far ahead of a lot of music in the UK it was.
A lot of my criticism probably comes from me listening to after I've heard so much other stuff since its release. I didn't play this back in '81. I reckon it would have had more impact if I had. Imagine playing something like Song With No Name looking at Park Hill in the rain.
I can see why it's an important album. It just isn't quite there for me. If they'd made it 5 years later, with everything that happened in that period, I reckon it could have been a classic. But they deserve recognition for doing this when they did. Good choice. 59/100.
Can still hear that lad at school....'we're going to live for a very long time.....'

17 days later

ok and quite enjoyable but a bit sterile in places, you can certainly see what Neil Tennant was listing to before he formed the PSB

10 days later

Love it, still play it all the time and have played Play to Win out and it always gets good reactions. I was listening to the live version only last week.

"Sex in Fairyland!"

    Carol Kenyon was the first black lass I fancied, her belting out Temptation still gets my motor running.