Customer Reviews

Rhythm of Youth

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1. Ban the Game (0:49)
2. The Safety Dance (4:36)
3. Living In China (3:05)
4. The Great Ones Remember (4:44)
5. I Got the Message (4:45)
6. I Like (4:21)
7. Ideas For Walls (3:00)
8. Things In My Life (4:59)
9. Cocoricci (Le Tango Des Vpleurs) (3:26)
10. The Great Ones Remember (Reprise) (2:00)
11. Antarctica (3:25)
Bonus Tracks
12. Ban the Game (Full Version) (3:49)
13. I Got The Message (Long Version) (5:57)
14. The Safety Dance (Video Version) (2:45)
15. The Safety Dance (Club Mix) (5:50)

It was 1983 when I first bought Rhythm of Youth. I was 12 and in middle school at the time. A friend of mine sold me his cassette version for $2. I handed over my lunch money and was happy I did. Rhythm of Youth is a new wave classic, that still sounds as great today as it did nearly three decades ago. It has now been released on CD for the third time. The first time was from Statik Records in the UK. That CD is a rare one which I purchased on Ebay a decade ago. The Statik version is a jewel case cd and comes with lyrics and has the bonus tracks "Modern Dancing", "Utter Space", and "Security". The Statik version is hard to find. I paid nearly $100 for it ten years ago. The last copy I saw for sale on Ebay was $499. The second version of Rhythm of Youth I purchased is also a jewel case version and was released on Oglio Records. That version is two cds on one disc, as it also includes Folk of the 80's (Part III). It's not as rare as the Statik version, but it to has long been out of print and can be hard to find, and chances are when you do it will come at a hefty price tag.

The CD for sale here is from Bulldog Brothers and is an import for Canada. It is a digipak CD, that seems to be well made. The best part however for me is the sound quality. It doesn't say it has been remastered, but all I know is it has a louder sound than both the Statik and Oglio versions. It lacks lyrics or a booklette of any kind, but it sounds great, and that alone is worth the price. This version also resembles the cassette version I had as a child. It has all the songs on the cassette including the longer version of The Safety Dance, that was called The Extended Dance Version. For those who may have bought it on LP it also includes the single/video version of the The Safety Dance. I recommend all collectors by this latest version of Rhythm of Youth on CD before it goes out of print, and it to cost $100 to purchase. It's worth the price for the sound quality alone.

I'm the first, and probably going to be the only reviewer for this little gem. I first got this in high school, for like a doller at a truck stop, and it has held a place in my heart ever since. The Men FINALLY put this out on CD, with the bonus of Folk of the 80's Part 3 for good measure. I defenately recommend getting this in whatever form you like. (I still have my tape and listen to it every so often to take me back to not-so-technologically-advanced times, when the world was a pearl)

I purchased this disc more or less on a whim, thinking back to how much I loved the cassette version some 20+ years ago, one of the few tapes I had which I wore down effecting the sound quality. WOW! Am I glad I did!! As another reviewer here says, the sound quality is incredible, particularly for a barely remembered band on an independent label. The music itself just brings back so many memories of long car trips and ranting on and on to my friends and family about how much I loved this band. Essential and very under rated synth-pop. Highest possible recommendation.

The remastered sound on this re-release is outstanding. Comparing the songs on this CD to the same songs on the Oglio greatest hits collection you realize how thin and brittle sounding the Oglio CD is. There is a depth to the sound of the keyboards in this music that I never appreciated before. It gives you the sense that you are listening to this album for the first time. The packaging is the only drawback, a digipack with no notes whatsoever. Nothing to even indicate that this has been remastered. Definitely get this if you appreciate early 80's synth music.

I have experienced similar challenges, as other reviewers have noted, in acquiring this great CD. It seems to go out of print as soon as it is released. And it appears to be that way again with this 2010 reissue, which Amazon currently states as "Temporarily Out of Stock". I search for this CD perhaps once every two years and must have just missed this offering when it was released two years ago. Drats! So out of frustration I did a web search and discovered this CD is now available as a digital download on iTunes. I'm not sure why Amazon isn't offering the album in MP3 format. As much as I prefer to own the jewel case & booklet (although one reviewer states the CD no longer contains a booklet), it is just so wonderful to have all the music, finally! I have listened to the album many times in just three days and it is on my iPod.

The sound is outstanding and the songs, well, they're as great as they've always been. Everyone knows "The Safety Dance", but this band's debut album also contains these other gems: "Living In China" (released as a single), "I Got the Message" (also released as a single - and this CD contains the far superior longer, dance mix version, as a bonus track), "Antarctica" (also released as a single), "I Like" (another single that charted to No. 84), "Ideas For Walls" - which could be the best track on the entire CD, and "Things In My Life" a terrific ballad a la "Messiahs Die Young".

There's really not a dud on this CD, and that's hard to say these days about any album. Hopefully, Amazon will offer this CD in MP3 format for their faithful customers to obtain. It really is a wonderful techno-rock classic and contains the most single releases from one album the band ever had (5 total). This one is a real winner!

As the other reviewers noted, I too bought this in 1982 as a cassette. I was in my mid 20's and I liked the Safety Dance video and song that was airing on MTV. When I bought this and popped it in the player, I immediately knew this was a much better group than what I had heard on TV. First off, The Game is a very nice opening for the rest of the album. Safety Dance in its entirety lets you know how good of a song it is. The rest of the songs are great as well, Antartica, Ideas for Walls, all of them I just love. Of course you have to go through another version of Safety Dance but this was a time when this was done.

I had the cassette for years, alot of the time on the floor of my pickup getting stepped on and only discovered again when I finally decided to clean my ride out when picking up a choice date to take out. I played it here and there but then got into copying old analog stuff to CD and this was one that I did put to CD. Actually it turned out very good but have always desired this on CD by the manufacturer.

I havent got my copy yet, just ordered it today. If it is half of what I already have I will be happy. These guys are good and this album is great and hope many more find out how good the whole package is.