The Buggles: Adventures in Modern Recording

The Buggles: Adventures in Modern Recording

1981

Carrere Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Adventures in Modern Recording  2. Beatnik  3. Vermillion Sands  4. I Am a Camera  5. On TV  6. Inner City  7. Lenny  8. Rainbow Warrior  9. Adventures in Modern Recording (reprise)


The front cover is cool and all, but this is all about the back cover...Flip this thing over and BOOM!

 BAD-ASS TRAPPER KEEPER ARTWORK!!

Here are some other cool Trapper Keepers...

Think about everything that was great about "The Age of Plastic." The  catchy songs, the exciting production, the cool space-age concept...and then take all that away and you have "Adventures in Modern Recording."  Not that the album is bad or anything...I enjoy it alright, but listening to this directly after "The Age of Plastic" might make your head explode...However, if you listen to Yes' "Drama" first then you should be able to ease right into this...On the other  hand, listening to "Drama" directly after "The Age of Plastic" would also probably make your head explode, so...either way...



But yea, this a good companion to "Drama." Sort of a slick, adult prog-pop and it even shares a song with that album...They even do a more chilled-out version of "Into the Lens" which is titled "I am a Camera"...



I want to fully enjoy this song, but goddammit, Mr. Show ruined it for me...Whenever I hear Trevor Horn sing "I AM A CAMERA..." I can't help but sing...

"A CAMERA AM IIIIIII......"  It's impossible not to...It's sung in the exact same melody and everything...Oh well...

The album starts out incredibly strong with the bombastic title track, which does its best to ease us into this new sound...Very much in line with their first album, but ditches all the sci-fi elements and drops us into the here and now...Some real drums might have helped the album somewhat (the entire thing is done with drum machines, as far as I can tell...) but you get used it...It's fun, glossy and catchy and a good way to kick things off...Love it!

Once that song's done you're greeted to the acapella lines: "All will be revealed before the next move..."  And holy cow, it couldn't be more Yes-like...Eventually "Beatnik" reveals itself to be jivey, funky synthpop, but man...Am I alone in wishing that Yes would have continued in the "Drama" line-up a couple more albums instead of the "90125" route?  



There's definitely some cool songs here..."Lenny" is atmospheric and moody but resolves into a beauty of a chorus, "Vermillion Sands" is also a  highlight...very grown-up and spongy...I could probably do without the few minutes of digital foxtrot at the end, but...whatever...The only song I out-and-out don't like at all is "Rainbow Warrior." Drawn out, melodramatic and cheesy..I like the "Time...Is All...Your Measuring..." break though....But in the end, it's such a relief when the reprise of the title track comes in at the end...It does a pretty good job of reminding me why I liked the album in the first place...



Honestly, when I first played this record I didn't especially care for it, but once I got over my expectations (I really really like"Age of Plastic") it's not such a bad little album...I think you'd have to be in head-over-heels in love with 80's production to be into it, honestly, but if drum machines and Fairlights are your thing, then jump right in....

This was the Buggles final record...Hell, Geoff Downes is barely even on it..The duo moved onto other projects...Trevor played with Art of Noise and became a big-time producer, virtually defining the sound of the 80's and Geoff Downes moved onto Asia who had some cool album covers...

 

But the Buggles are where it's at...So let's check out "Adventures in Modern Recording"...Enjoy...

The Buggles: The Age of Plastic

The Buggles: The Age of Plastic

 1980

Island Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The Age of Plastic  2. Video Killed the Radio Star  3. Kid Dynamo  4. I Love You (Miss Robot)  5. Clean, Clean  6. Elstree  7. Astroboy (And the Proles on Parade)  8. Johnny on the Monorail


 This record is better than a lot of people would probably expect...The Buggles are usually remembered as one-hit wonders or a historical curiosity for being the first video played on MTV...

 I think that's what drew me into it initially, to be honest..."Video Killed the Radio Star" was a no-brainer to kick off the station, but as I kept hearing it, it struck me what a bizarre song it was...It sounded sad-yet-celebratory...And as catchy as the songwriting was, I think the production itself provided most of the hooks...Was there really an entire record of this stuff?

So I eventually picked up a used vinyl copy and found that "Age of Plastic" is indeed fantastic, futuristic early 80's synthpop, but not of the usual Human League or Thompson Twins variety...It has a lot of interesting prog touches...Listening to Trevor Horn's vocals on the chorus of the title track, I'm not  surprised that he later became the singer for Yes...



(Both of the Buggles joined Yes for the "Drama" album, actually...I'll get to this record in about 10 years at the rate I'm going...Holy shit! It never struck me I'd have to do this blog for that long, but yea...That's how the math works out...Hope you guys aren't doing anything for awhile...)

All hard, shiny surfaces and immaculate production, listening to the "The Age of Plastic" is like living in a sci-fi world of robots and monorails for 36 minutes...And I never want to leave! I want to live in this record so bad...

We're greeted with pinched-nose vocals that set the scene:

"Every day my metal friend
Shakes my bed at 6am
Then the shiny serving clones
Run in with my telephones..."

 Although for a record that immerses itself so fully into technology, they sure seem weary of it...Cameras are everywhere, radio towers crumble into dust, and the Heart Police place you under cardiac arrest...I mean, I still want to live here, but I'll probably stick to the suburbs...

Oh yea, forgot "Video Killed the Radio Star"...It's nowhere near the best song here...I'm giving that honor to the chugging new-wave rocker "Clean, Clean" and "Elstree."



"Elstree" is nothing less than a perfect piece of pop...I have no idea why this wasn't a huge hit...Those "Oh woah woah" backing vocals are a thing of wonder....They actually kind of remind me of Billy Joel circa-"Glass House" now that I think about it...



 If you're into 80's synth-based pop then you should own at least  10 copies of this record, if you don't already...I can see how it might seem a bit emotionally hollow for some people, but how nourishing should plastic be, really?

So put on your best pair of futuristic shades...

 ...and your shiniest silver jumpsuit...

...and let's check out "Clean, Clean" by the Buggles...