#51
March 9 1984
Howard Jones
Human’s Lib
4.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Conditioning
Hunt the Self
New Song
Equality
Everything Thomas Dolby gets wrong Howard Jones seems to have gotten right.
Maybe it’s that I decided to take this one out for a spin on a beautiful California day, 71 degrees and sunny, on the bike path to the ocean but every track, even the ballads, seemed to hit all the right notes. The technology works in service of the songs but the songs wouldn’t be worth their salt without the technology.
Often calling to mind Jean Michel Jarre’s better work (I’m a big fan of Magnetic Fields, even more so than Oxygene), but with lyrics, Jones manages to do something that so many of techno-synthpop bands couldn’t: make a truly great album, top to bottom. So much so that the big hit, “What is Love” is one of the weakest entries on it.
I take it as a badge of honor that Christgau lists this as one of 1984’s “Must to Avoid” records. Dean, my ass. This album is great.
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