Reproduction

Human League | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B0000070ZI
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,802,120 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

1987 reissue of the English new wave act's 1979 debut album with eight unmarked bonus tracks added, 'Introducing', 'The Dignity Of Labour' (Part 1), 'The Dignity Of Labour' (Part 2), 'The Dignity Of Labour' (Part 3), 'Flexi Disc', 'Being Boiled' (Fast Version) and 'Circus Of Death' (Fast Version). 17 tracks total. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 STARS SIMPLY BECAUSE I CAN'T GO TO 10, May 18, 2000

By 

Foot Artist (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reproduction (Audio CD)

If someone asked me what my number one album in my collection is, I would choose REPRODUCTION with TRAVELOGUE right beneath it.

I happened to be listening to the Human League back in 79 when if you listened to anything besides the BeeGees you were conisdered a weirdo.

This band along with others like Nina Hagen, Kraftwerk, Frank Zappa and Kevin Ayers had a profound effect on me and my sense of individuality.

You have to remember that when REPRODUCTION came out nobody was doing anything like the Human League's music. NOBODY!. Synth was brand new, and there were just a handful of people exploring it. When people heard EMPIRE STATE HUMAN they could not compare it to anything. Nothing like it existed and it went over most people's heads.

ALMOST MEDIEVAL left people utterly confounded. It makes no sense to someone who is used to listening to the average tune. To say nothing of CIRCUS OF DEATH and AUSTERITY. These songs were so astray from the norm that people just didn't get them.

If you want to explore the the pioneers of the synth niche listen to the early Human League. They made it possible, along with Kraftwerk and a few others, for a legion of pop bands in the 80's and 90's to be able to explore electronic music.

People take synth for granted these days. But those of us who remember its infancy treasure and relish the work contained in this album.

REPRODUCTION and TRAVELOGUE is where it all began.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The League's Debut, May 22, 1999

By 

unicorn27 (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reproduction (Audio CD)

Reproduction was the debut album of The Human League. The talents of Phil Oakey, Ian Marsh and Martin Ware combined to produce an album of amazing originality. The songs are powerful and at times disturbingly dark. As well as up-tempo songs such as the album opener "Almost Medieval" and the single "Empire State Human", there are a few numbers that are almost hypnotic such as "The Word Before Last" and their excellent, if minimalist version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". A basic sound using nothing more than synths and voices and a few tape effects. They sing like they have something to say. The play with much depth. At times this is quite an emotional album. These could be the sons of Pink Floyd.

Though this was their debut album on Virgin. They had released a single on Fast Records. That single, "Being Boiled" and it's b-side "Circus of Death" are both included here as bonus tracks. However, both tracks were rerecorded and vastly improved, "Circus" on this album, whereas "Being Boiled" had to wait for The League's second album, "Travelogue". "Introducing" which was the b-side of "Empire State Human" also appears here as a bonus. As well as the four track 12-inch single "The Dignity of Labour" and it's "Flexi Disc" which came with "Dignity" and has the band and management discussing whether or not to include a flexi-disc with the single, and if so - what to put on it!

Fans of The Human League who know the band through their more recent music will find nothing familiar here. This album is by a very different band to the one who produced "Don't You Want Me?". "Travelogue" was similar to this album, if more polished. But following their second album, Marsh and Ware left and formed Heaven 17 with Glenn Gregory. With a tour coming up and desperate to find someone who could sing higher than he could, Oakey roped in two unsuspecting schoolgirls from a nightclub and a new Human League were formed.

You're left wondering where the talent went from this band. After producing two excellent albums, showing much promise, of the two bands that came out of this one neither of them showed the talent and the originality present here.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars get this one and 'travelogue' -- or not ..., April 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Reproduction (Audio CD)

BUY THIS if you enjoy Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Eno-era Bowie. You will not be disappointed. The track 'flexi-disc' is admittedly bollocks but the rest of the extras are superb, and these discs are getting harder to find. Travelogue is a good companion to this.
DON'T BUY THIS if you are expecting something like 'Dare' or the later albums with that lineup, or Heaven 17 for that matter. This really is a good example of the synthesiser pop of the post-punk era and you can see it's influence on many contemporary electronic artists. These early Human League albums aren't 'new romantic' or anything of the sort.