Customer Reviews

The Flat Earth

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Boy, am I glad I hung on to my original CD from 1985. Along with "The Golden Age Of Wireless," these two Thomas Dolby titles were among the very first CD's I ever purchased. At the time of the first listen to the vinyl album of "The Flat Earth," I was a tad disappointed that Dolby's professed love of Joni Mitchell (whom he soon would produce - see "Dog Eat Dog") had led to an album loaded with extremely moody and low key songs. There were a lot more traditional instruments involved with the making of "The Flat Earth," which wasn't really what I was expecting. With the exception of "Hyperactive," which sounded like a "Wireless" leftover, "The Flat Earth" barely sounded like the quirky kid we'd fallen in love with on the first album.

Still, the album had a certain jazzy depth that I kept coming back to. Maybe I didn't love it on the first listen. Or the second, or for that matter, the third. But by the end of the first week, I was hooked. I think side one of the original album became glued to my turntable for the remainder of the summer of 1984, as the intrigue of "Dissidents," the sensitivity of the title track and the lonely alienation of "Screen Kiss" kept me enthralled. I was fortunate to win a CD player in a radio contest a year later and found this disc in the racks....and it's not left my library since.

I have since become enamored of Dolby's interpretation of Dan Hick's "I Scare Myself" to the point that I prefer it over the original. I also still can find myself bouncing along to "The White City," which took some flack at the time for what many perceived as a drug reference. What actually stops me from a full-on five star recommendation was the reason I originally purchased the LP..."Hyperactive" actually sounds so out of place here that it robs "The Flat Earth" of that elusive fifth star for me. But don't let that stop you. If you're a fan of "Avalon" by Roxy Music or "Hats" by the Blue Nile, you'll probably be glad you paid a few extra bucks to get a copy of "The Flat Earth" from across the rounded edge of the ocean.

This CD is a brilliant work, both musically, as well as conceptually. Certainly, my other two favorite Dolby albums - "Wireless" and "Aliens" - are collections of a lot of great, fun, intelligent music, complete with bouncing beats and ecclectic lyrics. This CD, however, is very different.

"The Flat Earth" is a short album in many respects. There really are 6 songs in this collection. (I do not count "Hyperactive!" as part of this album. It never quite fit on this album, although it is a great song. It seemed like it belonged somewhere else... I sometimes simply skip the song when I put the CD on.) Of the other 6 songs, there is something haunting, dark and brilliant about the music. It is somber, sometimes depressing, and always moving. In the song "Dissidents," his lyrics are threatening... "...at the hands of the press, and in the eyes of the government, I fell from grace..."

"Mulu the Rainforest" is a musical masterpiece for its time. The lyrics are haunting, the music a mix of piano keyboards, sounds from the rainforest, and techno backdrops.

This CD is certainly not a happy one. Even Dolby's version of D. Hick's "I Scare Myself" helps set the somber mood of the compilation. I never thought love lyrics could sound so bitter... or make obsession seem so promising... "I scare myself just thinking about you. I scare myself when I'm without you..."

This is not the Thomas Dolby that most people remember. But that's fine. While most people think of or dismiss Dolby's earliest hit "She Blinded me with Science," I feel like I am one of the select few who knows about the Flat Earth.... This is a very special and precious CD to me... as precious as that gold Thomas is looking for on the cover...

There is a refined classiness about this album that hangs well together, except the last track. Personally, I dont like the song Hyperactive very much. I dont think that it's mechanical robotic nerd-wave sound fits the luscious glamour of the rest of the album. The White City is similar but its song structure still fits the album. It serves as an upbeat contrast that still fits. If Hyperactive were replaced with Airwaves from The Golden Age of Wireless (which fits this album much more than that one), then this would be a 5 star masterpiece every bit as good as XTC's Skylarking.

I would love to see The Flat Earth on SACD or even 96/48 DVD. It definitely deserves it since the recording quality is fantastic. I kick myself for having not bought it on vinyl when I could have. Now its only available as an import.

It's a pity that Dolby is best known for his "She Blinded Me With Science" single - catchy perhaps, but in no way representative of the depth and breadth of his talent. Dolby's unique vision is echoed in today's more creative samplers but he did it the hard way. Take a little time and listen to this album from start to finish and you will experience modern music in its most evocative and colourful form - not to mention layered and tactile. I still get butterflies every time I play it, and I've had the album since it came out - an accidental purchase! When I try to describe it, I always resort to images, feelings and sensations: "Pitcure Hollywood at dawn as seen by a foreigner..." In time, you will associate each track with images and recollections that are so vivid and clear that the experience goes beyond music and becomes part of your most vivid memories, like a toy you loved in childhood, your first experience in a new country or realising for the first time that you are an adult. This album is as relevant today as it was when it first came out - indeed when I play it for those who don't know it, they assume it's a recent release, This may not be meaningful in all cases, but for an album with a distinctly experimental and futuristic pedigree, it proves the worth and integrity of the effort. Final tip: don't go for remixes or extended versions - they miss the point entirely. If you are serious about modern music, you must OWN THIS.

It's a shame that so many people think of Thomas Dolby as a quirky one-hit-wonder or (even worse!) as some sort of novelty songwriter. It pains me to hear such things. This album has lain unseen and unheard by the unwashed masses because it is simply too far over their heads. The songwriting is impeccable and the production is years ahead of its time (considering this album was recorded in 1983).

For the most part, the textures of this album are lush and dreamlike, with the exception of the song "Hyperactive!" (the last song on the album and, frankly, one it could have done without). The other songs are introspective, wistful, melancholy, and more than anything else, wonderful. This is my favorite of all Dolby albums.

This album has to be one of the ten best from the 80s.

When I got it in 1984 I expected more songs like those off The Golden Age of Wireless. I was disappointed at first until I'd listened to it a few times. If you give this album a chance, it will blow you away--not because every song is consistent or perfect--but because there are some immortal, timeless songs that will never be duplicated. Compare this with a lot of 80s acts who have lost any charm they had, and they now sound dated and dull.

The standout songs are "The Flat Earth" and "Screen Kiss" and to a lesser extent "I Scare Myself." "Dissidents" and "Hyperactive" are OK, and I usually skip "White City" and "Mulu the Rain Forest."

The standout songs are moody, layered, evocative, luminous, and gorgeous. I would pay the price of this entire album for a mere single of "The Flat Earth" or "Screen Kiss." These songs are really that good--about as flawless as any great song ever written. They're truly inspired.

I suppose you could buy these songs on Retrospectacle and then program your CD player to play them in an appropriate order--but this album does a good job of sustaining the mood, so it's worth having in its own right.

I'm not sure why this album didn't get more attention. Perhaps it wasn't as radio-friendly as his first and a departure in style, and so people didn't know what to think. Still, some similarly un-radio-friendly albums such as The Blue Nile's A Walk Across the Rooftops got quite a bit of (deserved) critical attention.

In any case, buy this album. You'll be happy you did.

I'm only 19 so I don't remember this disc when it first hit in February 1984. All I've really known Thomas Dolby for were his 2 pop hits "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive". I was expecting more of the same...

I was shocked when my friend played this disc! Not to say the afformentioned 2 songs are bad, but I wouldn't want a whole disc of them. Every single track is breathtaking, blessed with incredible production values for the time they was recorded in. The way Dolby blends the cutting egde synths with incredibly sharp bass and piano is irrestible. I got an aural orgasm the first time I heard the title track, he has one hell of a voice and vocal style, and very intelligent/touching lyrics.

Best tracks: Dissidents, The Flat Earth, The (Magical) White City and I Scare Myself... but really every track is at least 4 and a half stars out of 5. The only track that needed a second listen was Mulu The Rain Forest, only because of its SLOW pace, still a really good song. Highly recommended disc, and I look forward to buying more of Dolbys stuff.

Though the other reviews of this album are good, none of them do it justice. Like few other albums of the era, it's a complete work. I first found this gem back in the 80's and was completly blown away. To this day I continue to give it as a gift and EVERYONE who has received it has loved it. There's something for everyone in this album. Techno minded folks who loved She Blinded me with Science, love Hyperactive. I Scare Myself is such a good cover I tossed out my copy of the original version. Dissident has the funk grooves Dolby would later explore in "Aliens" and Mulu is a lovely piece of moody expiramentia. How can I say YOU CAN"T GO WRONG WITH THIS ALBUM!! Yeah, the import is expensive, but if you buy a compilation for a few of these songs, you won't get the full impact the complete album gives - and that would be a great loss for you. Thomas Dolby created some fantastic music (and put on a good show too) in the 80's. All of his albums are worth a listen, but this one is a must have.

I remember hearing this one for the first time, 1984. The songs melt into each other, they take me to a fantastic place. The atmospherics are amazing, forming into something so complete and wonderful, things I thought could only be experienced internally. They are revealing and familiar, deep reflective insights. This CD is the benchmark from which I have measured everything else. I am amazed that it wasn't much more heralded and think that it has somehow gotten lost in the volume of creativity ever since. I'm no pitch man for great music and the popularity does not bother me; I am only happy that I found it. It is the most thorough, melodic, and satisfying CD/Album I own. My highest recommendation.

Thomas Dolby's follow up to "the golden age of wireless" take a turn to the jazzier side of the musician leaving his pure pop roots behind. Dolby only graces us with only 7 cuts here but their all top-notch songs. Walking a wire between slow piano-bar crooners and lite jazz all the songs are complete and satisfying with Dolby playing it low key on most of the cuts. The most memorable track here is a re-working of Dan Hick's classic "I scare myself" delivered here with a more smoothed-out soulful sound than Hick's edgy opus. An album than came out of left field when it was released in the mid-eighties it earned a place in my permanent rotation and has stayed there ever since. A top ten album of the 80's in my book of lists.