Travelogue

Travelogue runs the gamut of emotional lyricism; steeped in comedy (Black Hit of Space), love (The Touchables) & paranoia (Life Kills, Dreams Of Leaving, WXJL Tonight) - more so than what you'd expect from other electronic outfits of the time. And if that's not enough the music is still fresh now; The Black Hit of Space and the re-vamped Being Boiled are laden with rhythms that today would be classed as Hip-Hop and Electro/Techno respectively.

Dreams of Leaving is Oakey as a businessman/politician living in fear at his place of work - trying to escape to a new life to the sound of possibly 4-5 early instrumentals sequenced together. What you get is the most breathtaking track on the album.

The album finishes (on the vinyl version) with WXJL Tonight -where Oakey is the last human DJ in a future society of automatic radio stations. Towards the end as Oakey starts shouting, pleading with the audience not to leave him, you'll feel a chill run down your spine. Listen to the voice of Buddha...


Reissue of classic electronic album.   March 9, 2003
 19 out of 28 found this review helpful

Following the issue of 'The Golden Hour of The Future' & the deluxe reissue of 'Dare/Love&Dancing' comes this, the second album from The Human League. The original ten-track album from 1980 comes replete with seven great bonus tracks- which along with the 17-track edition of 1979's 'Reproduction' captures pretty much the whole output of the Oakey-Ware-Marsh(& Wright) incarnation of the League, prior to Oakey's pop re-branding & Ware/Marsh's forays into the BEF and Heaven 17.

This is a much more hardcore Human League, steeped in bleak Ballard-SF and having a sound more in common with Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide & Throbbing Gristle. The music is minimal & littered with lyrics more akin to Joy Division than Chic; 'Life Kills' is a particular joy, a definite influence on the early releases from Soft Cell & more of a protest against an automated sytsem of work than Kraftwerk's teutonic approval of men machine. Toyota City and Gordon's Gin are great instrumentals, which along with the bonus cuts of DanceVision, Tom Baker & Cruel explore this side of the League...

'Dreams of Living' is a little dull, a bit of a non-event with the bagpipe noise Heaven 17 would use on the 83 re-recording of 'Let's all Make a Bomb'. 'Crow & a Baby' is much better, "the result was a dare" pointing to the future of the League (think of songs like Darkness & Seconds). Not sure what Oakey's going on about, but I'd rather have that than 'The Lebanon'...'The Black Hit of Space' is almost hip-hop- SF textures like Eric B & Rakim meeting the European world of stuff like Wire's 'The Other Window' or Associates 'Message/Speech'.

'The Touchables' sounds a little more pop, making movements towards a more perfect sound- reminding me a little of 'Empires&Dance'-Simple Minds. The version of 'Being Boiled' (recently used on the Richard-Liberty X single 'Being Nobody') is not the original 'Fast Records'-version found on 'Reproduction' or 88s 'Greatest Hits' (which got to #6 in 1982)- but a rerecorded version assisted by producer John Leckie (Simple Minds, Stone Roses, Radiohead). It's good fun, even if a bit obscure (the horrors of sericulture- a bit of a minor target in the post Khmer Rouge backdrop of 1979/80!)- I prefer the 1978 version; note that Midge Ure & co owe this a debt for Visage's 'Fade to Grey'. The album proper ends on 'WXJL Tonight' , which ties in with Bowie's 'DJ' from 79's 'Lodger' - apocalyptic stuff, this version of the League about to hit a brick wall...

The extra tracks see the League move towards a vision that is more pop-inflected, the 'Holiday 80' ep saw them appear on Top of the Pops (performing a cover of Gary Glitter's 'Rock&Roll', which is here in a medley with 'The Idiot's 'NightClubbing'- which was also covered by Grace Jones). Cover versions were a specialty for the League- see their version of The 4 Tops 'Reach Out' on The Future release, their 'Reproduction'-take on 'You've Lost That Lovin Feelin' or the cover of Mick Ronson's 'Only After Dark' on 'Travelogue' .From this ep 'Marianne' has more in common with the earlier material, while 'Dancevision' is another 'Low'-styled instrumental.

Another single included here is Tom Baker/Boys & Girls- the former more SF instrumental fun, the latter seeing Oakey write with Phillip Adrian Wright- though sounding little like the results evident on the later Dare. The best single & major rarity here is The Men's I Don't Depend on You/Cruel- the League experimenting under another moniker with 'Reproduction'/'Secondhand Daylight'-producer Colin Thurston. A Chic influence is most evident, a blend of electronic & funk with soulful backing vocals that look towards both Dare & Penthouse and Pavement. A great song, even if it hasn't got much of a chorus!

Travelogue sits up there with the best electronic albums of the late 70s, early 80s: Penthouse & Pavement, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Affectionate Punch, Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, the 2nd Suicide album, Sons & Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, Speak& Spell or Moroder's 'E=MC2'. It's a joy in this edition, at a budget price & with these extra tracks; though be warned: the League post-Dare and H17 post 83 are pretty much a waste of time!(exceptions: the 2nd BEF album & the most recent League album- where they really tried for the first time in years!).