Customer Reviews

Don't Be Afraid

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

...but beware - if youre just willing to listen to it one time - forget it. We all know those songs creeping into your ears slowly makeing you fancy them more and more. This album is filled with such tunes. When I bought it - i hated it - i wanted some more standard Insoc stuff, the sound i was used. But after listening to it again and again i started to find it ... interesting. Few times later i liked it. I read all about the album, about the work and efforts the remaining and sole insoc member kurt invested in it. I liked the freaky storeis about songs beein recorded in the car and so on. After about 50 times of full rotation this album became one of my most beloved discs. I bought the german edit with another cover, the brazilian where the web track was included and some remixes. But i liked the US edition the most - containing those wacky sounds in between the tracks - gosh - what energy is included there. It sounds liek the last fight of a sinking ship stayin above the sealevel - i dunno the english word for that but you can feel the energy, the creativity and the one-man-show-power kurt put in here. Its dark and sometimes depressing, its strange and chaotic sometimes, the audio quality lacks sometimes which was made as effect not by mistake - and it all works perfectly together. Did I read someone said this is by far the most underrated industrial disc for long - i agree. I never heard anything like this - its like the blue Mauritius stamp - you wont meet another cd like this.

So - if youre willing to listen, spending some time on all that - this cd may become a true friend for life. And hey - there are few discs one cann really state that. Did I say I love it :o)?

Sorry for my bad english - hope i could make my point somehow clear. Thanks for staying with me till here! :o)

I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Information Society is the phrase "Pure Energy". This Minneapolis based electro-club-pop group hit the New York City club scene in 1985 with their single "Running". This eventually led to a wider distribution and radio play in 1986 as a remix single under the Tommy Boy label. Two years later, their first album included their most memorable and popular #3 chart single, "Whats On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" The band released two follow up albums, multiple radio and club singles and eventually split up in 1993.

Here is the most interesting and least known facts about Information Society: frontman Kurt Larson/Valequen/Harland was and still is a huge fan of Industrial Music. On touring with Club MTV Kurt says,"At the time I was listening to Front 242 and Foetus and Front Line Assembly, and I was posing for pictures with Paula Abdul and getting into tiffs with Milli Vanilli. The surreal factor was maxing my instrumetation. Or something."

The breakup of Information Society included Kurt buying out the other bands members' shares of Information Society so the next logical progression was for Kurt to release an album like he had wanted to for so long. An Industrial album

4 years worth of demo's, small jobs making video game music and a truckload of record label BS finally saw the release of Kurt's new vision for InSoc (a new abbreviated monicker for the band) on the Cleopatra label.

Information Society's first self titled release happens to be the first tape I ever bought, so my love of the band makes me a bit biased when I say this has to be the most underrated and unappreciated Industrial albums of all time

Darkly beautiful and sporting a very straightforward Industrial sound, this album is a trip into depression, paranoia, obsession and the futility of teen angst. The stand out tracks are Closing In: while the heaviest song on the album (heavy guitars), its also the most classic sounding Information Society on the album, bringing back Kurt's familar vocal style and classic club beats; On the Outside: an industrial rock anthem for the lost teenage mall culture of the 90's; SEEK300 is a 148 bpm energized sequal to SEEK200 from Hack and it plays with you as the beats trot along at a maddening sort of pace interspliced with guitar samples and a quick distorted vocal chorus screaming,"Insanity! My Commodity!"

The album finishes up with two tracks; the inspiring Ozar Midrashim, a pounding thematic cacophony of classical inspired syth that tells the story of some epic battle and The Ridge; a slowly violent cooker of a song that explodes as the listener feels the helplessness of losing a friend to drug addiction.

Fans of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver will recognise the track Ozar Midrashim as the main theme of that game.

If you are looking for something to buy or just something you havent heard before; find this cd new or used, you won't be disappointed

So Information Society ended up after their third Tommy Boy album in the early 1990s with the same personality problems and record company blues that most New Wave bands found themselves dealing with. After a hiatus of five years, Kurt resurrected the Insoc name with a new album, 1997's darkwave "Don't Be Afraid". On this album are a few very, very strong songs rounded out by some that seem, well, a bit like filler.

The first track, "Empty", is a great introduction to the new InSoc sound. Within a perfect meld of 1990s darkwave and InSoc's very recognizable synth sequences, Kurt's voice sounds familiar but with much more intensity and emotion than we had last heard on "Peace And Love, Inc".

In my opinion, the 2nd track, "Closing In", is the best InSoc song that I have heard. The epic song has a *gulp* nearly 3-minute intro that morphs itself into one of the best "Metropolis Records"-style goth-industrial-dance tunes that I've ever heard. The darkness of the industrial atmosphere combined with an eerily-catchy minor-chord variation on InSoc's successful late-80s formula make this the stand-out track. This, especially in combination with "Empty", make the album worth the price.

The following 4 songs are a bit of filler, as well as the ending tracks, though "Ending World" has a great vocal line.

Remaining is Kurt's rendition of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?", which I think blows away any other cover that I've heard of the same song. It's interesting to note that I hear inferior covers of this song on Numan tribute albums and have never seen the InSoc version on any of them. If InSoc had still been on a big label, this would've most assuredly been a successful single.

My biggest criticism of InSoc in the "Don't Be Afraid" world is that this, in a sense, is Kurt's debut solo album, and it was never followed up. At least, not yet, and it has been well over 6 years since this was released. I can understand throwing the towel in after not receiving much commercial success, but it seems like this work was a great step in the right direction. A fifth InSoc album would've assuredly been even better.

I eat,sleep,drink InSoc.I have had the great fortune of chatting with Kurt Harland on ICQ and his thoughts and philosophies really come through on this cd.Yeah it's darker than the others but hey notice how the previous three (four if you count the white & black album) had dark lyrics but upbeat music?Now there are dark lyrics and dark music but hey this is the real world cowboy.This cd pulls no punches in it's view of a world gone dysfunctional my fave tracks are "Closing In" the kick butt song of all kick butt songs,"Empty" we've all felt this way sometimes,"On The Outside" a good view of our society and "White Roses" whihc i posted the lyrics to on Excite forums when asked what song really got onto our emotions (after that i had people asking for copies).Good job Kurt you never fail to impress.

I've always been a fan of the synth-pop INSOC albums and major hit we all know, but when I heard this album for the first time a week ago (yeah, I know...it's been a while, but I've rediscovered much of my fave 80's/90's music), I was blown away! Radically different than his/their earlier works, I can't stop listening to it! Probably my first foray into dark/goth (sorry, but that's the truth), it blends together real well and stands on it's own as a major achievement for Kurt, whether he would agree or not. As another reviewer writes, if he would only release more, perhaps some of this stuff would be big! I'm left wanting MORE of this version of INSOC. Kurt, PLEEZE consider giving us more of your creativeness, INSOC or solo, it doesn't matter. Get yourself a website and/or get the INSOC.org site back up and give us an update as to what your current projects are! GREAT STUFF, dude! I'm definitely a fan regardless of what you release.

Upon first hearing Kurt's strange opening rant, I had wondered what exactly it was I was about to listen to. It seemed at this point it wasn't what I was looking for. But pushing farther on, I had discovered one of the most important CDs I've ever had in my life.

In places the sound seemed a bit like it was masquerading as industrial, with traces of the old Information Society still hidden deep within. Kurt's vocals did not lend entirely too well to the sound of the genre this CD will be grouped into. He sounded too innocent, without the angry edge of other industrial artists such as Al Jorgensen of Ministry. It has occurred to me that this album will not be treated fairly when stacked against these other genre acts, nor with InSoc's older sound.

The lyrics were quite dark and unfriendly. A lot of emotion was poured into these songs, and while some of it may seem trite, I could honestly identify with these songs. They dealt with rejection, the complete lack of inner peace, self-abuse, and feeling completely disconnected and alienated with the outside world (The latter was discussed in the quite amazing cover of Gary Numan's Are Friends Electric?.)

Unfortunately, the most haunting song, White Roses, was not on this CD. In it's place was a 500 baud modem signal that when decoded lead you to where you could compete in a scavenger hunt for all sixteen chunks of it hidden on the web. However, the song was declared free to distribute, so feel free to search for it on the web as many fan sites have it for download. I must note, however, that this song is not the best reflection of the album, as it's rather minimal in sound, although its feel is much the same (One of the reasons it was removed from the album like this.)

One unique inclusion was the second disc, a data CD with a lot of goodies on it. The video encode of Peace and Love Inc. was rather lacking, but for a bonus inclusion that isn't boosting the disc's price, I wasn't going to complain about it.

In conclusion, this album, despite some of it's rough edges and flaws, was worth purchasing. The sound was rather unique despite some industrial cliches as it still felt like synthpop in places, almost a like a strange hybrid. The album reminds me heavily of Nine Inch Nails' Broken, although that album is much angrier and harsher sounding.

This was what happened to an innocent guy like Kurt, the one with the silly hair who used to want to know what was on your mind, was dragged into the dark recesses of human existence. It's been a very cathartic album for me, and has helped me a great deal with my own life.

I personally find the album to be one of the best ones to date. Even though I like the pop nature of the band, this seems a little more intimate than the last albums. If you aren't into music with a dark, heavy tinge, this probably isnt for you. I like the fact that the synths and guitars got a little dirty and ran with it. The albums has a lot to offer as far as diversity goes, yet while holding a sort of angst theme. This is truly my favorite INSOC album so far and I am waiting for the next with anticipation.

Perhaps "pleasant" is an ironic choice of words for this album, but the album is quite enjoyable. Makes for great driving music as well, with the pounding rhythyms and electro-industrial sound. Kurt also does the best version of "Are 'friends' electric?" that I have ever heard-- and as a Gary Numan fan, I have heard many.

The album has a great dark feel to it, and one that holds throughout. Kurt also summarizes the American school system quite well in one verse of 'On the Outside'.

"So now they've grown up in these

Brilliantly beautiful sterile communities

Flowing like the sleepers through the

Flowers and emptiness, the boring futility

So now they're educated

Twelve years of chains and lost opportunities

What they have learned is how to

Jump when the bell rings and fear the breakdown"

Very enjoyable. I love this album.

Some of this album is stereotypically Goth, yet the music is generally creative and consistently high quality. Don't expect Beethoven, mind you. This is, in my opinion, the best InSoc album. It contains a sparse narrative thread with motives I have not yet deciphered yet it manages to add a sense of depth the work. For those who enjoy a good puzzle the album contains a 300bps track similar to Peace and Love Incorporated. I think this is definitely one of the best albums released in '97 however it is too eccentric for most listeners; there are no pop songs.

i got this cd a few months ago, and i love it. its amazing to me that kurt harland had this much real songwriting in him when he was doing pop music with info society in the 80s and early 90s. this cd really got me into the whole genre.

in fact, i love this cd so much that i hate all of my old cds. thanks for ruining my life, kurt harland.