Avtor: Peter Podbrežnik
Izvajalec: Buggles, The
Založba: Polydor Records
Izid: 1981
Trajanje: 34:29
Ocena: 3.5/5
»Adventures in Modern Recording« was the second and last album from the British synthpop/new wave duo The Buggles, made up of singer/bassist/producer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. The Buggles earned worldwide fame with their cult debut »The Age of Plastic« (1980), which plenty of critics at the time recognized as one of the first synthpop albums, while Horn and Downes, with the mega hit »Video Killed The Radio Star«, heralded the birth of the so-called MTV generation (that classic, which foretold numerous new sound trends, was in fact the opening track of the newborn MTV in the early eighties).
The ambitious duo’s phenomenal success didn’t go unnoticed in professional music circles either, and Horn and Downes got a special honor when they were invited to join the legendary progressive rock band Yes, where they replaced the ‘irreplaceable’ Jon Anderson and the hugely popular Rick Wakeman. The only Yes album with Horn in the lineup was called »Drama« (1980), and although it exceeded most expectations, plenty of people weren’t thrilled about the new vocalist, even though Trevor and Jon had pretty similar voices. After a botched tour in 1981, Horn and Downes decided to say goodbye to Yes and revive The Buggles. Together they started writing material for a new album, titled »Adventures in Modern Recording«, which gradually turned into something of a Horn solo project.
Downes, you see, only helped his Buggles partner on a handful of tracks. Once he figured out that ‘this isn’t it anymore’, he decided to leave and instead joined the newly formed supergroup Asia, which also featured former Yes guitarist Steve Howe. Horn had no choice but to rope in as many guest musicians as he could and finish the album with them, which wasn’t hard for him, since besides being an excellent singer he was by then making a name for himself as a highly respected producer. Helping out with sound effects, alongside keyboardist John Sinclair (ex-Heavy Metal Kids, Uriah Heep, Ozzy Osbourne), was Yes bassist Chris Squire, with whom he’s still in touch to this day, as Horn, who produced the worldwide smash »90125« (1983), still keeps friendly contact with the members of that legendary band.
The title track, which doesn’t hide its flirtation with reggae on top of the synthpop/new wave elements, opens the album in spectacular fashion. »Beatnik« with its fun chorus also turns out well, as does the somewhat more experimental and nostalgic »Vermilion Sands« The best-known and best song on the album, the one Horn pinned all his hopes on in the search for the next big hit, was, ironically, »I am a Camera«, which had already come out as »Into The Lens« on the aforementioned Yes album »Drama«. This version of one of the better compositions from the Horn/Downes songwriting duo, which got a pretty decent commercial response, had somewhat simpler arrangements and slightly altered lyrics.
The electronics-laced »On TV« is the album’s most anachronistic (and quickly forgotten) moment. Much better are the romantic »Inner City« and especially the artpop treat »Lenny«, where Horn pulls off the best possible vocal imitation of Jon Anderson (the resemblance is genuinely astonishing for a moment), even though that surely wasn’t his main goal. The melancholic »Rainbow Warrior« serves up a solid finish to the album. Several demos from »The Adventures in Modern Recording«, led by the tracks »Fly From Here« and »Riding a Tide«, which were also used as bonus tracks, later went through an unusual sonic evolution on the controversial Yes album »Fly From Here« (2011), where Horn also handled the production.
»Adventures in Modern Recording«, which bizarrely charted better in the US than at home, where it was a pretty hefty commercial flop, was a somewhat less interesting achievement than the cult debut, but it still had plenty of quality ideas, with Horn in the best vocal form of his life. It’s a shame he didn’t try to keep The Buggles going, though after Downes left the whole thing really didn’t make much sense anymore. Plenty of people also value Horn’s later work with the synthpop/avant-garde group Art of Noise, but his heart will always belong to The Buggles, who once had the potential to become one of the biggest synthpop bands of the eighties. Who knows what else might have happened if it hadn’t been for the short-lived Yes episode and if Horn hadn’t then dived headfirst into producer waters.
Zasedba
Trevor Horn – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, drum programming
Geoff Downes – keyboards, drum programming
Simon Darlow – keyboards, guitar
Bruce Woolley – backing vocals
John Sinclair – drum programming, cymbals, backing vocals, guitar
Chris Squire – sound effects
Anne Dudley – keyboards
Luis Jardim – percussion
Danny Schogger – keyboards
Rod Thompson – keyboards
Produkcija
Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and John Sinclair
Seznam skladb
1. Adventures in Modern Recording (3:46)
2. Beatnik (3:38)
3. Vermillion Sands (6:48)
4. I Am a Camera (4:56)
5. On TV (2:48)
6. Inner City (3:22)
7. Lenny (3:12)
8. Rainbow Warrior (5:22)
9. Adventures in Modern Recording (reprise) (0:51)
