Customer Reviews

Pure Energy: The Very Best of

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Anyone who has any affection for Information Society will avoid this abomination at all costs. This is not Information Society; this is a sleazy record company (Cleopatra) using Kurt's ill-advised and poorly executed re-recordings of the vocal parts of our old songs, and then getting local DJ's and a few small-time industrial luminaries to recreate the music tracks.

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against Kurt's post-Insoc work, even though it's not really my thing. But this wretched mess is nothing but a cheap attempt to sell a few thousand records, and dupe the remaining fans into buying something that is NOT AN INFORMATION SOCIETY RECORD, and as such, it's an insult to both the band and the fans.

Post-breakup Kurt fans take note: Kurt Harland Larson had nothing to do with this record. If I had known something like this was possible, I never would have agreed to let Kurt have the group name.

Anyway, please don't reward the scoundrels at Cleopatra by buying this record.

And, oh my God! Check out that dreadful cover art.

-Paul Robb

The thing to keep in mind about this disc is that the songs from the earlier albums are not re-creations made by me, they are "remixes" made by random DJ's/whomever that people at Cleopatra knew. All I did was record vocals for an earlier (also not-so-good) "remix" album called Recombinant. JUST vocals, not even any effects. Everything after that was done by people I never met or spoke with.

Then AFTER Recombinant, THIS came out. No one told me it was being made; I never knew about it until it was for sale. Needless to say, I was "like WTF", as the kids say these days.

The Don't Be Afraid tracks are the original versions (I think?) at least.

- Kurt

This CD is simply terrible. For pretty much all of the classic InSoc that got radio play, check out the Tommy Boy released Greatest Hits album, which includes a decent newer remix of Running on it as well. If you're interested in more of Kurt's InSoc after Don't Be Afraid, there's pretty much nothing. If you're desperate, there's two good tracks on InSoc: Recombinant (the Rosetta Stone mix of Closing In and the Astralasia mix of Empty), but the rest is just bad mixes of DBA and of kurt's sub-par re-recordings of early InSoc.

When I saw this CD in a store (No cover art yet on Amazon), I was immediately thrilled and surprised.. It looks cool and hip and very invovled. You can only imagine my disappointment when I listened to it. This is not Information Society. This is Kurt Harland doing one-man dinner theater somewhere outside the Catskills. The tracks you know are re-done (embarrassingly poorly) and the tracks you don't know, the newer stuff that this label has access to, are so dark and dreadful, they will push you even further away from this disc, if the dreadful karaoke attempts at the Tommy Boy classics haven't already caused you to eject this CD and boil your player in an attempt to sanitize it. I have been a follower of Insoc since 88, and Kurt should just let go of the Insoc name after all this. Insoc is OVER, and until he accepts that, he will never be considered the talent he deserves to be.. He now officially sounds like your creepy goth older brother trying to sing along with your Ashlee Simpson CD.

The elements that made Information Society a successful GROUP are GONE.. One man is not Insoc.

This is no "Strange Haircuts.."

...It's just strange.

This sounds like an attempt to record the greatest hits, rather than the greatest hits themselves (as Tommy Boy released in 2001). As such, it has potential, but so much of the lyrics seem SO VERY out of sync to the music, it's really a grave disappointment! I found the first couple of tracks to be completely unlistenable....
I honestly have to wonder if the recording or remix equipment got out of sync with itself. I'd really recommend the Tommy Boy release instead, for fans of InSoc.

Don't buy anything off this CD. I made the mistake of buying the What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) track and instead I get some terrible karaoke version of it. Is he singing in the shower? It's completely out of sync with the music. Where's the Leonard Nimoy voice clip? Where's the awesome 1980s synth track? Absolutely dreadful, I couldn't even listen through it. If I could return this song, I would. Screw you, Cleopatra Records.

Im not sure what this album is yet.Ive had to listen to it twice to understand and here is my diagnosis...The album title should be Dont Be Afraid 2 basically NOT..(PURE ENERGY)considering most of the songs on here are remixes of Dont Be Afraid and this does not even pay tribute to all there hard work and where insoc came from.Why not put remixes from all albums and put them on a 2 disc set and give the fans a tribute album instead of this.The only track on here i liked was the remix of walking away that's where my 2 stars come in everything else im sorry but i was disappointed i hope cleopatra can put together another compilation that doesn't focus on just 1 album.

If I could rate a "0" star...I would. Stay away from this CD. Listen to Paul Robb's review. He was one of the members of INSOC. and the true sound of the band.

This is Kurt Hurlands solo project and some horrible remixes of the older sutff put into one CD just to sell by the label to make a few bucks.

Kurt should have never ruined the name of INSOC by using it is such vein to put out his solo project and to allow this awful label (Cleapatra) to market and tarnish it.

its a shame.

BTW.....to the person whom reviewd this album that said this is "for die hard fans only" obviously has no clue whom INSOC is or works for the label.

Hearing the short clips and reading what others,including Insoc member,Paul had to say,I will definitely NOT buy this CD. It's a shame that these tracks were not better presented.

This review was originally written by my husband, Daniel Aeschliman, and he has given me permission to post it here:

In 2001, Information Society released Strange Haircuts // Cardboard Guitars // And Computer Samples: Information Society's Greatest Hits, which gathered up all the singles the band released on Tommy Boy from 1985's "Running" through 1993's "Going, Going, Gone." This new hits package, released on Cleopatra Records, focuses on the post-Tommy Boy material. After 1993's Peace & Love, Inc., the band broke up, and lead singer Kurt Harland retained the name. While I really liked 1997's Don't Be Afraid, 1999's Insoc Recombinant left me wanting. It didn't help that Kurt re-recorded all the vocals for Recombinant's collection of remixes (mostly done by Cleopatra acts such as Biokraft, Spahn Ranch, Leaether Strip, and the Electric Hellfire Club), which were rather lifeless. Pure Energy: The Very Best Of focuses on these two discs extensively, rounding out with two new versions of "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)", the band's signature song, both of which are somewhat sloppy and unfocused efforts, an alternate mix of yet another Don't Be Afraid song (a cover of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric" featuring Gary Numan on some guest vocals, and only really serving to undermine Kurt's strong effort on the track), and finally a cover of Madonna's "Express Yourself." Unless a die-hard fan of Information Society, this disc really should only be purchased if extremely cheap to get an overview of the Kurt Harland solo era for the band.