I never file albums into the main
collection until I’ve given them a good three listens, and consequently one
section of my CD shelf is entirely populated with new music. Imagine my
excitement when I rolled that section! As luck would have it, though, one of
only two albums that Sheila has recently purchased got rolled. It could have been
a lot worse though; her other album was Duran Duran.
Disc 892 is….Human’s Lib
Artist: Howard
Jones
Year of Release: 1984
What’s up with the Cover? Howard is on the left, and the
rest of these portraits are of people with some sort of malediction or facial
deformity. The poor woman in the middle appears to have one and a half faces,
and the man to her left appears to be caught in a windstorm so severe it is
blowing his nose sideways.
How I Came To Know It: While I grew up with the hits “What is Love?” and “New Song” (and in my foolish youth, hated them) I didn’t really
know anything about Howard Jones. This is Sheila’s album, and she only recently
bought it in a fit of nostalgia.
How It Stacks Up: We only have this one Howard Jones album.
Sheila advises she will at some point purchase the follow up “Dream Into
Action” but that “Human’s Lib” is the better record. Let’s take her word for
it.
Fun
fact, though: while Jones hasn’t had a charting hit since 1992, he’s made 12
albums including one released in 2015. Somewhere out there is a fan that has stuck
with Howard Jones the whole way. I raise a glass to that fan in celebration.
Ratings: 3 stars
Eighties
pop music seemed obsessed with sounding like “the future” and the result is a
lot of bad records. It is a minor miracle that “Human’s Lib” is able to
overcome all of these shortcomings and end up being a decent (if not
overwhelming) bit of Brit Pop.
The
album is the worst mix of what the eighties have to offer. Saxophone solos,
drum machines, banging and clanging are everywhere. While Jones’ voice is OK,
it isn’t strong enough to overcome the production and arrangement on many of
these songs.
The album
has two identifiable hits, both of which are good. The first is “What Is Love?” which is probably the
song that people associated most strongly with Howard Jones. I’m certain it was
a key reason I hated him as a 14 year old metal-head.
I was
wrong, though. Despite the painful drum machine, “What Is Love?” has one of the most identifiable and enjoyable hooks
in pop music; two if you count Jones’ singing the chorus alongside the synth-organ
riff. It is a little disappointing that the song is a bloated 6:32 in length.
That extra two and a half minutes adds nothing to the experience except
impatience.
After “What Is Love?” the record takes a bit of
a nosedive, with aimless pop melodies buried in computer sounds that sound like
they were engineered on a Commodore 64 (and probably were). “Pearl in The Shell” is almost good,
except for all the electronica flourishes that make it feel like it is being
played by that Poindexter character from “Revenge of the Nerds.” If you got
that last reference then congratulations: like me, you’re old enough to
remember “Human’s Lib” the year it was released.
“New Song” is another organ-driven pop
ditty, which is a strange combination of painfully dated and enjoyably retro.
The song is completely drenched in proto-techno and I should hate it, but damn
it if it didn’t work for me after all these years. This song is due for a
comeback and some Soulless Record Exec should re-release it on radio and make a
bundle.
Near the
end of the record we are gifted with the alpha and omega of the album. The
title track is a great combination of creepy Gothic piano and New Wave edge. It
is followed by “China Dance” which
sounds like a junior high school band concert about what China might be like,
as imagined by people who had never been there.
Thematically
the record has a strong focus around not judging others and loving yourself.
You can’t always understand what the hell Howard is singing, but when you can
that’s the gist of it.
The lyrics
aren’t great, and the message feels a bit dated but remember in 1984 not
judging people was a pretty foreign concept. I’d like to think it was just me
living in the hinterland of B.C., but go throw on any John Hughes’ movie from
the eighties and you’ll quickly note the carefree prejudice and homophobia that
permeated even our revered pop culture icons only thirty years ago.
So while
Howard Jones may seem dated, he was pretty topical for the time and frankly,
until we are all taken as we are without a second thought, his message will
never go out of style.
I
struggled with the rating on this record. Objectively it is a two. Because of
the production values I can’t see myself ever playing this album, despite it
having some good tracks. I’m still going to give it a three though, because I’m
a sucker for a little love and understanding in my art.
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