#140
April 1985
Stephen Duffy
The Ups and Downs
Genre: SynthPop
2.5 out of 5
Highlights:
But Is It Art?
I have really been looking forward to this one. Stephen Duffy is an artist who I have never heard but whose name I have known for 2 decades now. Not because he was the original vocalist for Duran Duran but left before they recorded anything. Nope. Because in the late 80s Stephen Page started a correspondence with him and the two began working together and a bunch of Page/Duffy songs ended up on Barenaked Ladies albums. “Jane”. “I’ll Be That Girl”. “Call and Answer”. And others.
Naturally, I assumed that Duffy’s solo stuff must be terrific.
It’s not.
This album is Soft Cell-ian Synth-Pop. I also bet that Adam Ant was listening to a LOT of this record when he recorded Manners & Physique cuz this sounds JUST like it.
A lot of this project is trying to split the difference of “Would I have liked it then?” vs. “Do I like it now?”.
This is neither.
It says a lot to me that Duffy thinks this album is garbage.
He’s not wrong. It’s a handful of ideas, recorded at different times, with no cohesion. And it’s not like it’s a bunch of red hot singles. It’s just a bunch of castoffs.
Next.
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