The first A Flock Of Seagulls record I bought was the single "Wishing" which I thought was terrific. It wasn't included on their album, but I bought anyway, having previously heard "I Ran", which had been a huge hit in the US thanks to MTV latching onto it. It was a shame they didn't follow it up with "I Raq" !
A Flock Of Seagulls were often considered to the a synth band, probably due to the memorable synth refrain on "Wishing" but for the most part it's the guitar playing of Paul Reynolds that dominates their sound.
They are now mostly remembered for the silly haircuts, dodgy fashion and an example of all things naff in the early 1980s, but the quality of their songs and musicianship is frequently overlooked. Instead, they should be remembered for giving the world uptempo new wave/synth pop songs, with catchy tunes, great guitar, propulsive bass and swirling synths.
My memory of this album is that the best songs were the first 4, and looking now at Side Two I can remember "Telecommunications" and that "D.N.A" was an instrumental but I couldn't quite recall how it went. The rest were a blank though.
"Modern Love Is Automatic" starts with chilly wind effects, like something from early Hawkwind or when Captain Kirk and his crew get stuck on an icy, alien planet. Once the drums come in the song launches into some great guitar with a sing-a-long chant. It's a great song and it's surprising it failed to chart in the UK.
"Messages" has a similar urgent beat to "Modern Love Is Automatic" but reminds me more of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. It has a good bass line and another sing-along chant.
The intro of " I Ran" made me think of Hawkwind's "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" LP before morphing into mainstream new wave. There are two tremendous guitar solos.
"Space Age Love Song" is my favourite track on the album. A beautiful, dreamy song and the title should give a picture of how it sounds. "I saw your eyes and you made me smile, for a little while I was falling in love".
After the strong start to the album, it starts to go downhill a little. The bass on "You Can Run" reminds me of Duran Duran's "Careless Memories" but unfortunately the song isn't as good and it's a little dull.
Side Two opens with "Telecommunications". On a first listen you would think it was OMD, especially the vocal, but the song has a strong choppy guitar riff rather than OMD's synths. It's a decent track.
"Standing In The Doorway" starts with a long plodding instrumental, but an explosion leads to a change of pace and the vocal comes in after 2 minutes, and then covers similar ground to "I Ran". For some reason I kept thinking of Devo when it was playing. It's not bad.
"Don't Ask Me" is pleasant enough with the trademark guitar and bass to drive the track, although it's fairly unmemorable but "D.N.A" is a banger of an instrumental, with the recurring guitar line sounding like something that would keep being played between the rounds of a radio or TV quiz programme !
Excluded from the version released in the US, "Tokyo" is a slower tempo, fairly light-weight but innocuous pop song.
The album closing number "Man Made" is very different to anything else on the album, being very slow, and nearly six minutes long. It is probably best filed under the category "experimental". Personally, I found it to be a bit boring, and my least favourite track on the album but it is listenable.
In conclusion, "A Flock Of Seagulls" is a good album with some outstanding songs and a great instrumental, and whilst it doesn't manage to maintain these levels consistently over the 11 tracks, there isn't a bad song here, and the band's reputation needs to be revised.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Modern Love Is Automatic
2. Messages
3. I Ran ( So Far Away )
4. Space Age Love Song
5. You Can Run
2. Standing In The Doorway
3. Don't Ask Me
4. D.N.A
5. Tokyo
6. Man Made
Released 1982
UK Chart Position :32
Telecommunications ( - 1981 )
Modern Love Is Automatic ( - 1982 )
I Ran ( So Far Away ) ( No 43 - 1982 )
Space Age Love ( No 34 - 1982 )
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