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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still my favorite Icehouse album ... now remastered!, November 5, 2002
Icehouse -- the vehicle for Australian singer/songwriter Iva Davies -- changed lineups numerous times and even enjoyed some Stateside chart success in the late 80's with songs like "Crazy", "Electric Blue" and "No Promises". PRIMITIVE MAN was the 2nd album and, surprisingly enough, all of the instruments (including the drum machine) herein are played by Davies, after he disbanded his original lineup. Still, this album contains some of Davies' most stellar songwriting despite the somewhat sparse -- and now dated -- sound. "Hey Little Girl", "Street Cafe" and "Great Southern Land" (a homage to the land down under) are bonafide classics that I could listen to a million times over. I suppose this album was Iva Davies' stab at new romanticism and synthpop, since it is his most synthesizer-laden album, but the melodies are infectious even if they are a bit on the melancholy side.This remastered edition is a real treat because it includes the version of "Love in Motion" that was included on the U.S. release, although the sequencing is different on this Australian release. You also get the songs "Break These Chains" and "Over the Line" which were released on a separate EP -- FRESCO -- in the States, as well as additional 12" mixes and live cuts.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Than a Synth-Pop Record, August 24, 2005
At first listen, the typical genre labels are usually thrown at this work: "Synth-Pop", "New-Wave" and inappropriately "New Romantic". While it does scale these genres, Primitive Man possesses a good amount of aural atmospherics, musical backbone and a sufficient amount of guitar to it to give it rock credibility. A lost classic and an excellent album in its time, it only peaked at #129 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart in 1982
Most of the bonuses and add-ons to this remastered and repackaged version are welcome additions but I still prefer the original ten tracks in their original order. In fact, when I finally replaced my old 1982 cassette copy with the CD remaster this year; I burned a CD-R with the original running order, sans the bonus tracks. I guess I am indeed a stick in the mud. The track order when Primitive Man was originally released in 1982 ran this way:
1 Uniform
2 Street Cafe
3 Hey Little Girl
4 Glam
5 Great Southern Land
6 Trojan Blue
7 Love in Motion
8 Mysterious Thing
9 One by One
10 Goodnight, Mr. Matthews
Quality cuts are abundant on Primitive Man . "Uniform" has a martial-sounding bridge and excellent and chilling synth riffs. "Street Café" is an airy and atmosphere track that shifts between ballad verses and a mid-tempo chorus, and the bonus version in the remaster does the original version justice. " Hey Little Girl" a pensive track, strangely was the only song from the album to score rock radio airplay, peaking at #31 on Billboard's Album Rock Track Chart in 1982. "Great Southern Land" a band and fan classic, shows Icehouse leader Iva Davies providing a deeper and more substantial portrayal of his native Australia, much better than fellow Aussies Men At Work's picture postcard portrayal "Down Under" which ironically was released the same year to much more commercial success than Davies' epic.
"Trojan Blue" is one of the Primitive Man's best tracks, an epic but yet subtle and ethereal song that has a slow but effective guitar riff to it. "One By One" is the most dated and unapologetically 1980's song in this set, right down to the droning vocals, quirky guitars and eerie synths. It sounds like it could have wound up on a Depeche Mode or Smiths record. The original album closes on a very high note with the anthemic "Good Night, Mr. Matthews".
More Roxy Music and Ultravox than Human League, Primitive Man is a great album and that possesses the finer points of New Wave, Art-Rock, timeless Pop elements and of course, some fine guitar work.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genuine New Wave., September 3, 2004
When I originally bought "Primitive man" on record in 1986, I fell in love with all but one of the songs on it. I never cared much for "Hey little girl" which was the one song from the record that you would hear on the radio from time to time. For myself, It was simply to generic to deal with.
Like most of the the music in the early to mid eighties, it was very synth based but MUCH cooler than most of the radio fare garbage. If you're a Ultravox, Gary Newman or O.M.D. fan from the eighties, then you will probably enjoy this one.
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