Customer Reviews

Romantic?

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

 

 

I'm a Human League fanatic. When this album was released in 1990, I was one of the first to own it. And one of the first to love it and play it over and over. Unlike it's predecessor "Crash", which sent the League on a musical departure to the left (due to the Terry Lewis/Jimmy Jam Production), "Romantic?" gets back to the Human League style and sound(s). Although at times, the album sounds a bit under produced, it's a keeper. My favorite tracks include: "A Doorway?", "Rebound", and "The Stars are Going Out". There is a CD single out there somewhere with an amazing remix of "Soundtrack to a Generation". If you should see it, buy it. It's worth getting, as is "Romantic?".

After seeing Human League live in Harrisburg,PA in the summer of 2003, I became more interested in their post-Crash catalog. Subsequently, I bought a used copy of Romantic? at a cheap price. In retrospect, I wouldn't regret having paid the full list price. Romantic? is an overlooked gem. It has the songwriting flair of Dare, combined with the dance/pop sensibility of Crash. A previous reviewer wishes the album would've had more male/female duets, but the vocals are fairly interactive on several tracks, such as "Heart Like a Wheel" and "Men Are Dreamers". Romantic? does space out a bit around the second half of the album, but the track sequence flows cohesively as a full-fledged body of work. "Get It Right This Time" provides the perfect upbeat closing track. Overall, Romantic? is a very solid album that showcases The Human League's trademark sound in an early 90's context.

Personally I feel that this album's title is loaded with irony. It's not that this album doesn't have it's share of bright lyrics but without the production of Jam/Lewis as on Crash there's just a little something missing. Now I realize especially this close to the 80's a lot of humanity had been drained out of dance/pop music. And that had a lot more to do with performance spirit than with electronic instrumentation. From the aloof,mopey image presented on album cover art one wonders if Phil Oakey and company were turning more from androgynous electronic post-disco towards some type of goth-dance style ala The Cure or something. But image sometimes says something different than what it seems to because,actually this album contained many of the same type of bright melodics hooks as the previous one. Rhythmically however,it's altogether different.

"Kiss The Future","Heart Like A Wheel","Mister Moon And Mister Sun","Soundtrack To A Generation" and "Get It Right This Time" are all sprightly sounding synthesized dance pop with a pronounded late 80's flavor (it's only 1990 remember) but while the melodies and harmonic ideas are as rich as ever the music and vocal arrangements all have a rather stiff quality for music so heavily crafted. But neither do they have the same kind of magical sounding synth washes of earlier Human League either so the effect is a bit remote sometimes. That's especially true on tunes such as "Rebound" which has a chilly,repetitous vocal chant and a somewhat monotonous structure anyway. In the end they retain the dance edge but it's far more of an late 80's/early 90's pop/disco feel overall than the tighter and more elegantly produced funk of the previous time out.

Never much on recording consistantly from the early 80's on The Human League were always looking to reinvent their established sound in a manner similar to David Bowie,always searching for the perfect groove and beat to go along with their strong melodies,traded vocals and and longing lyrics. Of course the one thing that makes this a good Human League album as opposed to a great one is that with all the effort put into bringing strong songs together with strong grooves on the previous albums they decided to flatten everything out on the rhythmic end as opposed to toughening it up even further than it had been before. But it's happened before: sometimes an artist finds a new direction that works and doesn't really know how to grow from there. All the same this isn't by any means their worst album but just maybe not the appropriate follow up to the previous release.

I think this is an excellent CD to have if your a fan of the band all the songs are cool and they sound great also,it's a great CD to own if your a music collector,this is a an out of print and very hard to find CD.

This review is for those of you curious about "Romantic?" but who aren't sure if you should get it. GET IT. I am a huge Human League fan, and for the life of me, I can not figure out why so many people are indifferent to or do not like Romantic?. In my opinion, it is their best CD, and I listen to it more than any other piece of music they have done.

The CD also marks the (brief) return of Jo Callis, one of the band's main songwriters until his departure after "Crash," and whose musical contributions to the band (according to Phil Oakey) were notable and memorable. Callis co-wrote "Heart Like A Wheel" and "Get It Right This Time," and one of these is A+ material (see below).

Romantic? only gets stronger as it goes on, with only two tracks that can be properly classified as "filler." The CD opens with "Kiss The Future," an in-your-face dance track that is beyond catchy, and then segues into "A Doorway," sung by Suzanne Sulley, which is also excellent. I've never been a big fan of "Heart Like A Wheel," although I know that it is a favorite song for many. "Men Are Dreamers" is pleasant filler, with some fabulously out-of-tune singing by Phil and the girls, but it's not A-level material. And then we come to "Mr. Moon and Mr. Sun," which is one of the best songs the Human League has ever done. Hugely catchy and irresistably dance-able, it is an unqualified success in every way.

If I had to pick the three greatest songs that the Human League have ever written, they would be (in no particular order): "Fascination," "The Lebanon," and "Soundtrack To A Generation," which is the very next track on Romantic?. Seriously, the League has outdone themselves with this great, great song. It is insanely catchy with very pointed lyrics--The Human League at their arty, dance-able best. You could (and should) purchase Romantic? just to get "Soundtrack To A Generation" alone, and it would be worth whatever you paid for the CD.

More A-level music is to come, however, with the excellent "Rebound" and the even better "The Stars Are Going Out." Interestingly, "The Stars Are Going Out" didn't make a strong impression on me for the longest time, and then one day, I just connected with it in a major way, and ever since have always regarded it as one of the stronger tracks on an exceptionally strong CD. "Let's Get Together Again" is a B-level track, but it does smile at you in its own way.

And then the finish: "Get It Right This Time." This song could be a first-cousin to "Fascination," and what they share in common is that they were both co-written by Jo Callis. It has a bouncy, charming quality to it, and the song both blooms and smiles at you in every way. It's a great finish to a very strong CD.

I'm not sure why many hardcore Human League fans are less embracing of Romantic? than some of the rest of us are, but regardless, I REALLY enjoy this CD, and since it has came out, I've never gone more than six months without listening to it again. I certainly like most of what The Human League has done, and was thrilled to have new music from them recently in the form of "Credo," which is a solid 4-star effort, but for me, Romantic? is the high-water mark of The Human League's great career.

This is a good album that the Human League put out in 1990. I got to hear it in early 1992. Heart Like A Wheel sounded good with its adventurous rhythms. Rebound is another good song--which brings me up to this. Most of this album is a little too repetitive, monotonous and formulaic, as the male and female lead singers repeat the choruses over and over as if in a rote manner. Such as On the Rebound sung some 50 to 60 times or so in Rebound. They're not feeling the songs as they sing them. It's a pattern and formula that continues in 8 of the 10 songs. Given that they went against some very heavy music competition in 1990, they did what they could on this album. But Dare from '81, the '83 album and the '95 album are far better albums to hear than this one.

I bought this when it was originally released back in 1990, being the fan of the League that I am (and after hearing the single on a radio show) When they are good, they are really good, but when they are bad..well, they are never really bad, just sometimes a little unremarkable. That is how I feel about this album, a great single "Heart Like a Wheel", but the rest seems like filler material. Just a little uninspired. Hey guys, if you read this DO SOME MORE DUET/BALLAD material, it really worked for two of the most successful songs, "Don't You Want Me" and "Human"

"Heart Like a Wheel"

You need to know nothing more about this record.