Customer Reviews

Synthesizer

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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Fans of Information Society's first three releases (and 80's synthpop in general--think Erasure, OMD, Human League, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys) will not be disappointed. A natural progression from their earlier efforts (and you might even hear some hints of the darker industrial sound of the 1997 release Don't Be Afraid).

While all of the tracks have InSoc's distinctive style, none of the songs sound the same or get repetitive. Female vocals are present to a greater degree than any of their previous releases--and are a nice touch especially the duet on "Run Away"--and suggest a direction the band might have gone if Amanda Kramer had not left after the first album was released.

Samples are used to good effect, though not nearly as extensively as previous releases (And none from Star Trek, how can that be??? Even on the darker DBA, Kurt manged to include a Spock sample!) No secret messages encoded in modem tones, no scavenger hunts for bonus tracks, none of the (what some considered) "instrumental"/"filler" tracks like on Hack--just an hour of beat-pounding, danceable, sing-alongable synth pop goodness!

And don't forget to grab "Great Big Disco World" from the Oscillator EP, the only new Information Society track that is not on Synthesizer!

I have thought everything INSOC has come up with has been great. Even the much "hacked" on CD by Kurt DBA. This CD is for all the fans that hated DBA and wanted the INSOC of old. However, I don't know what some of the other reviewers have been smoking but Kurt only sings on 1 song on this whole CD. SEEDS of PAIN. Read the liner!! The new singer (at last I checked Kurt is back singing full time) sounds great and there is not much of vocal style difference between the two. I would say this is one of the best CDs of the year so far. Taking the best of the old and fusing it with some new elements to create something wonderful!!!

This is an excellent return by Information Society. It's the same instrumentation we had heard on their earlier albums, the same samples, etc. In other words, it has that same familiar sound -- warm analog style synths, odd samples, and great beats. Kurt's vocals are just as good as they were 10 years ago; his voice is clear, on-key, and the tone and timbre are a great contrast to the synths -- his voice helps add some organic feel to the music. The combination of male and female vocals on some tracks brings back memories of that first Information Society album, while it also reminds me of Human League. The lyrics, which sound simplistic at times, are quite interesting, about love and life, while taking a different perspective on those topics. They tell a story and they're easy to sing along with. There are some very very VERY catchy choruses, and I find myself singing along after only a couple of days -- simple but catchy, they hook you in.

Most of the songs follow a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/break/chorus construction, which is predicatble but also has been part of the InfoSoc formula going back to the 80's. This album has the catchiness and "danceability" of their debut album, with the grittiness of later albums, where Kurt worked mostly alone. There are some tracks that remind me of BT. I believe these tracks will be worked-up by many DJs, but they are already excellent as they are.

Best tracks: Baby Just Wants, Back in the Day, I Like the Way You Werk It, Can't Get Enough

The only problem -- the song titles on the album sleeve for tracks 12 and 13 are switched. Otherwise, the production is excellent. A good outing by InfoSoc.

I love Information Society. I have loved them since their 1987 debut and followed their career every step of the way. When Kurt Harland took over the reigns in 1997 to eventually create "Don't Be Afraid," I confess that I felt that the music that InSoc had previously represented to me was lost forever, eaten up by the nouveau cool synth music of the day - synth music that had been usurped completely by Goth and Industrial and whose original form could only be enjoyed in retrospect.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I woke up one morning to discover "Synthesizer," an album so utterly faithful to the InSoc legacy that it literally wouldn't sound like it should exist if it weren't for the clearly upgraded production values. I could scarcely imagine that such an album could be made in the year 2007. It's a slice of pop life straight out of 1992 - but updated with bigger synths, brassier attitude and unbelievably slick production. It's as if Paul Robb took everything that was great about InSoc and cranked it up to 11 for our modern age.

Make no mistake, we are hearing quintessential Paul Robb here. The album evokes "Hack," as well as "Peace and Love, Inc" - only better, as there is not a single track that isn't outstanding (save the single obvious Kurt Harland track "The Seeds of Pain," which hearkens back to DBA and is too morose to exist on this disc). "Synthesizer" also evokes the best of the Austin synthpop movement of the late 80's early 90's - one cannot help but think of such acts as Anything Box, T42 (another Paul Robb project) and Machine in Motion when listening to this disc, but it outshines all of those performances by leaps and bounds.

This is not to say it has no flaws. The guy tasked with most of the vocals on this album is not Kurt Harland as with the previous four albums. The new guy is Christopher Anton, and while he is a competent vocalist, he's definitely not as good as Kurt, chops-wise. Lyrically, the album (sadly) suffers from the same triteness as nearly all previous InSoc releases. While the lyrics are catchy and well-sung, they are simplistic at best and just plain dumb at worst ("life is like a velvet hammer/knocking on my head/don't you wish that just one time/you could knock on life instead") - but you know what? I don't care! When the guy says "You are my synthesizer/and you make my skin," somehow he says it so convincingly that I can look at it as a singularity anthem and just enjoy the sheer awesomeness of the sweep of the song. Same goes with the whole album. Lyrics have never been InSoc's strong suit. While Anton is merely competent in his performance, Leila Mack - credited with the female vocals - is absolutely outstanding. She evokes the band's best moments with Amanda Kramer, only better.

As much as I laud Christopher Anton for being competent, I am pleased to hear that Kurt is touring with InSoc. I could imagine hearing him singing these songs and enjoying them even more. If there is a lesson to be learned in this whole thing, it's that when Paul Robb is in charge of something, it ends up being awesome beyond words. In short, thank you, Paul, for this incredible synthpop gem, smack dab in the middle of the double-nots. I never saw it coming, and it makes me happy beyond words with every repeated listen. And I listen to it over and over and over again.

I've been a fan of Insoc since the first album. Hack is my favorite. After the third album "Peace and Love, INC", the next album was very dark in my opinion. I kinda lost track of INSOC after the group broke up. Several of the songs on Synthesizer are sung by Chris Anton and his voice is great. I do miss Kurt's voice though. The sound of the songs are very familiar but modern sounding.

Favorite tracks: Back Just Wants, I Like The Way You Werk It, Move to This, This Way Tonight, The Seeds of Pain

I just saw INSOC in concert in Philly (1/2008) with the original 3 (Kurt, Paul, and James) and it was fantastic. Kurt still sounds great after all these years!

Like many other InSoc fans, I hesitated purchasing this album because I although I like Kurt Harland as a vocalist, I was offended by the dark, depressing, Marilyn Manson-esque style of "Don't Be Afraid."

Let this be known: with the exception of "The Seeds of Pain," Kurt Harland DOES NOT perform any of the vocals on this album. Chris Anton takes over for vocals here, although I understand that Kurt has resumed vocals and is now touring with the band again.

Anton is good, and I admit that at times, he does sounds a bit like Kurt, but that's the problem. Every time I listen to this album, I expect to hear Kurt. Due to that, the album loses a little bit of appeal.

In short, Synthesizer mostly returns to what InSoc was best known for in the late 80's and 90's. It does retain a little darkness, especially with "The Seeds of Pain," but it's a substantial improvement over DBA.

Both "Baby Just Wants" and "I Like The Way You Werk It" are quite catchy, while others, such as " Back in the Day" sound a bit too much like Aqua at times and "More to This" sounds like an Ace of Base ripoff to me. Overall, it's a good blend that I'm impressed with. Most fans of InSoc will not regret purchasing this album, provided they understand that Kurt isn't really a part of it.

As a huge fan of Information Society I was elated to see Synthesizer released, and after several listens, I heartily recommend this album to any InSoc fan, but there are a couple of things you should know - Kurt Harland Larson, the enigmatic lead of InSoc, only sings on the track entitled "The Seeds of Pain" and otherwise, Paul Robb and the rest of the group are back together with a new lead, Christopher Anton. Anton sings fairly well, and in the style of Larson, but a close listen and you can hear the difference - not that Anton is a poor singer, but just not quite Larson. Obviously the 'creative differences' that originally broke up the group and lead to a practically solo Larson effort 'Don't Be Afraid' still haunt them, as the group is not truly back together in this effort. Still, this is a solid album, and a must have for any InSoc fan with smatterings of 'Peace and Love, Inc.' and 'Hack' and a couple of new, more dance-driven, Moby-esque tracks. (Note: The MP3 samples here on Amazon do not do this album justice)

Well Information Society reunited and they played a 4 city tour. The last city on that tour was right here in Austin, TX at the Gothic hangout Elysium. I remembered the band when I was a kid from MTV and thought they were cool so when I found out they were comming I bought their self titled album and thought it was really cool so decided to buy a ticket. when I saw the show I thought it was incredible. They played a good setlist including many songs from this album. I liked the new songs so much I decided to buy the album at the show. This is my thoughts on the album. First of all this is a great return to form. It sounds like Information Society and the songs here are very upbeat and danceable. Anyone a fan of their previous albums should like this album quite a bit. Only thing about it though is that it's not a true reunion album since Kurt only sings on one song but the new singer Christopher Anton does a great job on these songs as he himself is a great singer. The albums starts off with Baby Just Wants which starts with a lush keyboard sound then gets into an upbeat grove. Very danceable song which will make you want to get in the the music. Back In The Day is another great song with cool lyrics. Very traditional Insoc song. I Like The Way You Werk It is a song which wil make you want to do the robot while hearing it and this is one of the singles on the album. Run Away is a beutiful love song with a female singer dueting with Christopher. Free is a very electronic sounding dance song which is perfect for any dark club. I Love It When.. is the weakest song on here as it has a driving drum machine beat with Christopher listing things that goes on in a night club. In my opinion it's a little boring but More To This makes up for it with a vocal edit intro and is very poppy and has a nice synthesized drum beat. Somnambulistic has a heavy drum sound with great synth parts and good lyrics. Another club hit. Burning Bridges has an amazing synthesizer sound and catchy vocal lines with odd sound effects in the song. Can't Get Enough sound a little reminicent of Nine Inch nails with the synth parts and thats not a bad thing at all. very cool song. This Way Tonight starts off with synthesized sounds which sounds like they came off of an Atrari game. Ok song but not one of my favorites. It's just not very upbeat or danceable for me. Synthesizer starts with a nice futurist sound with computerized vocals repeating the lines synthesizer/sound. It's a very laid back song which is a good one for listning to with your mate whoever that may be. Very beautiful. And the album closes with Seeds Of Pain which as I said is the only song Kurt Larson sings on and in my opinion the very best song on the album. It's somewhat industrial sounding and has lush synthesized sounds and really cool lyrics. This should please all Insoc fans. So in my opinion this is an excellent album from Information Society and is very essential to all fans. Of course as some reviewers have pointed out the track listing for the last two songs are wrong. They have switched the order and I'm wondering if that was a mistake or if that was done on purpose to mess with us since for us fans Insoc is know for their humor. Definetly purchase this if you were a fan of the Information Society albums like Information Society or Hack. In my opinion this is probably my favorite album of theirs. A great masterpiece of 2007.

I'm a long time fan of InSoc, and came across this album quite by mistake (it doesn't come up on Amazon if you search for just Information Society) I was a little disappointed at first when I found out that Kurt hadn't returned with his band mates, however, once I heard the album, my fears instantly changed to elation. What a fantastic album!!! It's rare that I get an album that I have to listen to continuously once I get it, and each time I do, it gets better and better. I really liked their self titled first effort, and then Hack even more still; but Peace and Love. Inc. is just OK in my opinion, and thereafter was mostly disappointing. So now where did this come from after so many years??? This album is amazing, it's original, catchy and infectious. A definite must own for any fan of synthpop, or new new-wave music.

I've been a fan since their first album and was excited to see them release something new. They did not disappoint!! The disc is great from start to finish.