The Human League Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Remington Steele, Jan 2, 2019.

  1. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Anyone else like me have many of the Human League's albums? Many, like me agree that Dare is a great LP but I find Crash and Octupus to be great underrated efforts.
    Also fascinating how the two female members of the band turned out to be recruited almost randomly but turned out to be such an integral part of the band.
     
    Dan C, negative1, bluedemon25 and 6 others like this.
  2. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    An interesting documentary.
     
  3. dsky

    dsky Little Blue Light

    Location:
    Fukuoka
  4. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    You mean you were feeling...Fascination?
     
  5. Davidmk5

    Davidmk5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marlboro , ma. usa
    I love Crash and Octopus as well ~ Even Credo has some good moments on it , always enjoyed their live shows as well .
     
  6. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    I saw The Human League last summer on Huntington Beach, fortunate to be watching from the front of the stage. They gave a terrific performance although I was struck by how awkward Joanne's moves were in contrast with the sultry smoothness of Susanne. Yes, I noticed because it really was a contrast.

    At any rate, Dare is a stone cold classic, pun fully intended. The Fascination EP was pretty great as well and although I like Hysteria a lot, it is admittedly a step down and it doesn't get any better from there. I have all the albums but there are some seriously diminishing returns as you root around their catalogue. Still, I'm glad they keep on carrying on and will always give any new Human League music a chance to be added to my collection.
     
  7. realkilroy

    realkilroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
  8. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Have Reproduction Travelogue and Dare. Hysteria was a massive let down. Wasn't impressed with Crash. Still to check out Octopus Credo and Secrets. The post Dare /pre Hysteria singles were also fantastic.
     
    Jarleboy, scobb, negative1 and 4 others like this.
  9. Sound of the Suburbs

    Sound of the Suburbs Forum Resident

    I agree that Dare is fantastic and one of the best albums of the 80s. I like the first two albums as well which are quite different to Dare although you can hear them gradually moving towards that more commercial sound. The Boys and Girls single is the bridge between them. After Dare I really only like the singles. The 1988 Greatest Hits album is the best compilation and includes their amazing first single Being Boiled...
     
  10. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    For the record, I find Reproduction and Travelogue to be outstanding as well but in the context of Dare and everything after, those are essentially by a completely different band. Those first two can be called proto-Heaven 17 just as much as proto-Human League whether you are looking at them from an instrumental versus vocal point of view.
     
    qwerty, scobb, Man at C&A and 5 others like this.
  11. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Too bad they couldn't have kept the original line up -but then we wouldn't have Dare. Fascinating though to imagine what the third album would have sounded like
     
    scobb, Man at C&A and Jarleboy like this.
  12. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    We ended up with twice the music given that Heaven 17 charted a very similar style trajectory as Human League.

    From a strength of album standpoint, I think Heaven 17 is the winner. More of their albums are satisfying start to finish when compared with Human League.
     
  13. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    My favorite pre-Dare single:
     
  14. RevolutionDoctor

    RevolutionDoctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gent, Belgium
    I saw them about two months ago and I totally agree with you.
     
  15. Terry

    Terry Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee
    Saw them in Amsterdam. Fantastic.
     
  16. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Overall perhaps but Heaven 17 never made an album as great or as important as Dare. In 1981 Dare / "Don't You Want Me" were game changers.
     
    Man at C&A, pwhytey, Jarleboy and 2 others like this.
  17. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I'm a big fan. I remember when the video for Mirror Man came out. Good times.

     
  18. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    Looking at the songs from the first three Heaven 17 albums, I'd say it is darned close. Granted Dare must have sold a bunch more records but there are at least as many important Heaven 17 singles spread across their first three albums...perhaps more, than we saw out of Dare/Fascination/Hysteria.

    If I had to choose one three-pack of albums or the other, I'd be hard pressed not to select Heaven 17.
     
  19. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    Penthouse and Pavement is just as good as Dare, if less “poppy”.
     
  20. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    Agree. I’d rate Penthouse a 10, Luxury Gap a 9 and How Men Are an 8.5.

    Dare gets a 10 as well with Fascination falling to an 8 (only an EP with two great songs and some filler). I really like some moments on Hysteria but as an album it drops to a generous 7.5, the last Human League album to rate that high. Significant diminishing returns since while Heaven 17 continued with very decent albums until the generally lousy Before and After.
     
  21. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    An alternative lineup of the Human League might have had an interesting version of this tune.
     
    negative1 likes this.
  22. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Dare / "Don't You Want Me" were the blueprint for 80's Synth pop. Heaven 17 had some very good singles / albums but none that come close in terms of influence. I've listened to a fair bit of Heaven 17 and nothing much has really grabbed me with the exception of "Temptation" which is a killer track and up there with the best of the Human League.

    Well I'd disagree but it's all subjective
     
  23. SJP

    SJP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anaheim
    Playing Dare and Penthouse back to back is one heck of an innovative synth-pop 1-2 punch.

    It is hard to argue influence when it comes to an album such as Dare but as much as I love The Human League, I'd be hard to turn down the career that Heaven 17 has put together.

    At the end of the day, the epic split led to two different camps producing some pretty great music. I'd say it is a win-win for us fans.
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  24. LesMcQueen

    LesMcQueen Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Hard Times ?
     
  25. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Good times! :cool:
     

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