Adventures in Modern Recording

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Adventures in Modern Recording
Studio album by
The Buggles
Released11 November 1981
Recorded1981
StudioSarm East Studios, London, UK[1]
GenreProgressive pop, synthpop[2]
Length34:29
LabelCarrere Polydor (Distributed in the United States by CBS Records)
ProducerTrevor Horn, Geoff Downes, John Sinclair
The Buggles chronology
The Age of Plastic
(1980) 		Adventures in Modern Recording
(1981)
Singles from Adventures in Modern Recording
  1. "I Am a Camera"
    Released: October 1981
  2. "Adventures in Modern Recording"
    Released: January 1982
  3. "On TV"
    Released: 1982
  4. "Lenny"
    Released: 1982
  5. "Beatnik"
    Released: 1982

Adventures in Modern Recording is the second and final studio album by English new wave duo The Buggles, released on 11 November 1981 by Carrere Records. Made one year after their stint as members of Yes, the album contains nine tracks, including a stripped-down version of Yes's "Into the Lens", here entitled, "I Am a Camera". The album as released was mostly a Trevor Horn solo effort, Geoffrey Downes having joined Asia before recording began. Bruce Woolley assisted in completing the tracks.

Adventures in Modern Recording was one of the earliest to use the Fairlight CMI, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers.

Although Adventures was a commercial failure in the United Kingdom, it performed better in the United States, reaching number 161 on the Billboard 200. Like The Age of Plastic it was positively received by critics. Both "We Can Fly from Here" and "Riding a Tide" (appearing as demos on the 2010 reissue) were re-recorded by Yes (with Horn as producer and Downes on keyboards) for their 2011 studio album Fly from Here.

Background and production planning

The Buggles line-up for Adventures in Modern Recording: Trevor Horn (third to the left) in a tuxedo surrounded by similarly-dressed, Auton-esque dummies.

On 10 January 1980, The Buggles, a duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, released their debut album The Age of Plastic.[3] Labeled by writers as the first electropop landmark,[4][5] the album, lyrically both promoting and concerning modern technology,[6] included musical influences and elements of disco, punk, progressive rock and pop music from the 1960s.[7][8] Four singles were released from the album, one of them including "Video Killed the Radio Star" which topped sixteen international record charts.[5] Reportedly, the album was very difficult to follow up to, but Horn was wanting to see how it would follow.[5][8]

According to Trevor Horn, Adventures in Modern Recording was planned to be more "left-field" than The Age of Plastic: "We had some pretty weird material. Things like ‘Vermillion Sands’ and some weird little things that we’d done. The best we had was ‘I Am A Camera’ which had been one of the things that was a demo we’d done on a Sunday afternoon and was one of the best things Geoffrey [Downes] and I ever did I thought."[5]

As Adventures was about to be recorded, Downes left to form the band Asia, and the Buggles were dropped from Island Records. Jill Sinclair made a deal with French label Carrere Records, with DJ Claude Carrere helping fund the album.[5] The departure of Downes also mean a visual aesthetic change. From the start, the Buggles' image was, in Ian Peel's words, "two guys in silver suits, one with mullet, the other with funny glasses," but this changed after Downes' departure; for Adventures in Modern Recording the group was now a four-piece led by Horn and backed by three male dummies a la the Autons and members of Kraftwerk, a take on the house band on "Vermillion Sands."[5]

Production

While Adventures in Modern Recording was mostly a Trevor Horn solo project, Downes was still involved in the writing and production of "Vermillion Sands", "I Am a Camera" and "Lenny" (where he also handled the drum programming) and played keyboards on "Beatnik". Australian producer Julian Mendelsohn and Gary Langan, who also handled the mixing and recording for The Age of Plastic were engineers on the album. Langan, Horn, and Anne Dudley, who is credited as keyboardist on "Beatnik", would later form The Art of Noise. Other note-worthy contributors including Horn's long-time collaborator Luis Jardim (percussion on "Beatnik") and Yes bassist Chris Squire ("sound effects" for the title track).[5]

Horn described producing Adventures in Modern Recording as an training of his production craft, with a process of "just messing around with gear" and "having a silly idea."[5] Adventures in Modern Recording was one of the first commercially available albums to feature sounds from the Fairlight CMI, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers.[9] It also marks one of Horn's earliest times working with sampling, and Horn would later incorporate techniques he built from the experience for records like Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones, Art of Noise's The Seduction of Claude Debussy and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome.[5] Horn admitted to being disinterested in the project near the end of production "because I didn’t think there was a single there..."[5]

Composition

Vermillion Sands
Adventure in Modern Recording is a sonically and stylistically diverse album, as illustrated by "Vermillion Sands" alone; this part involves the track quickly going from an upbeat jazz song to a dramatic piece of music.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Adventures in Modern Recording is a progressive electronic album[2][10][11] containing both dance cuts and "epic ballads."[10] It is stylistically and sonically diverse,[12][11][2] going from "pompous sampled dramatics to wonderfully impish mock-jazz sections," wrote Chris Roberts.[13] The variety is prevalent on some of the songs themselves, such as "Vermillion Sands" "which makes Bohemian Rhapsody resemble T.V. Eye," summarized Roberts.[13] Mojo's David Buckley analyzed the track being filled with "electro-pop, harmony vocals, key signature changes, incongruous blasts of synthetic trumpet and boogie woogie piano and swing."[11]

Release

The album was issued on CD in 1993 by Japanese label Jimco Records.[14] In 1997 it was reissued with three bonus tracks, this time on the Japanese Flavour of Sound label.[15] A new reissue was released by Salvo Records/ZTT on 15 February 2010, which included 10 bonus tracks.[16]

Adventures in Modern Recording first charted in Sweden, appearing briefly at the number 50 spot on the second week of 1982.[17] Unlike The Age of Plastic, Adventures in Modern Recording did not appear on the UK Albums chart, but it was able to chart in the United States; In February 1982, it was number seven on Billboard's Bubbling Under the Top 50 Rock Albums.[18] By March, it bubbled under the Billboard 200 chart,[19] before entering the chart at number 161 in April.[20] Also that same month, it debuted on the Dutch Albums Chart at number 26, where it lasted there for three weeks.[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[22]
BBC Music(favourable)[13]
The Bolton News(favourable)[24]
Mojo(favourable)[11]
Music Week(favourable)[25]
pennyblackmusic.co.uk(mixed to positive)[12]
Musician, Player and Listener(mixed)[28]
The Quietus(favourable)[23]
The Scotsman(favourable)[26]
Smash Hits5.5/10[27]

Reviews upon release were mixed.[28] It was one of Billboard's "recommended LPs" on 20 February 1982.[10] A mixed review from Smash Hits praised Horn's production and the first five tracks for having "enough strong tunes, witty ideas and funky noises," "but the whole is much less than the sum of the parts, and Side Two deteriorates into tedious Yes-style pomposity."[27] Opined Mike Gardner in Record Mirror, "Instead of an invigorating glimpse into their world of hi-sci techno wizardry, we get a weedy piece of whimsy."[29]

AllMusic's Jeri Montesano, who gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, considered the album's quality to equal The Age of Plastic, and compared the two to pop music in the 1990s that he found "unimaginative".[22] An Amazon.com editorial review described Adventures in Modern Recording as "something of a lost classic, with great vocals by Trevor Horn and a sparkling electronic sound that is completely in-step with the prevailing electro mood of the pop charts in 2010."[30] BBC Music highlighted Trevor Horn's production abilities of the album, and he also garnered interest in the bonus tracks of the 2010 reissue.[13] The Bolton News writer Martin Hutchinson called it "a true glimpse at the history of the band that kicked off MTV."[24]

Track listing

Original LP release[1]
Side one
  1. "Adventures in Modern Recording" (Simon Darlow, Trevor Horn, Bruce Woolley) – 3:46
  2. "Beatnik" (Horn) – 3:38
  3. "Vermillion Sands" (Geoff Downes, Horn) – 6:48
  4. "I Am a Camera" (Downes, Horn) – 4:56
Side two
  1. "On TV" (Horn, Wooley, Rodney Thompson) – 2:48
  2. "Inner City" (Darlow, Horn) – 3:22
  3. "Lenny" (Downes, Horn) – 3:12
  4. "Rainbow Warrior" (Darlow, Horn, John Sinclair) – 5:22
  5. "Adventures in Modern Recording (reprise)" (Darlow, Horn, Woolley) – 0:51
Bonus tracks on 1997 CD re-release[31]
  2. "Fade Away" – 2:36
    Original B-side of the "I Am a Camera" and "On TV" 7-inch singles
  3. "Blue Nylon" – 2:25
    Original B-side of the "Adventures in Modern Recording" 7-inch single
  4. "I Am a Camera" – 4:13
    Original 12-inch single mix
Bonus tracks on 2010 CD re-release[32]
  2. "Fade Away"
  3. "Blue Nylon"
  4. "I Am a Camera" (12-inch mix)
  5. "We Can Fly from Here – Part 1"
  6. "Dion"
  7. "Videotheque"
  8. "On TV"
  9. "Walking on Glass" (Original version of "Lenny")
  10. "Riding a Tide"
  11. "We Can Fly from Here – Part 2"

Personnel

The Buggles

Additional personnel

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ^ a b Buggles, The – Adventures In Modern Recording (1980 release). Discogs.com. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Grant, Patrick (15 August 2009). "By the Wayside Vol. 1: Adventures In Modern Recording". Steel Bananas. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Buggles Sound in the New Decade". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 December 1979. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Buggles Rehearsal – Sarm West – Geoff Downes". sonicstate.com. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Peel, Ian (1 January 2010). From the Art of Plastic to the Age of Noise Archived 11 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Sleeve notes for the deluxe reissue of Adventures In Modern Recording, posted on trevorhorn.com. Accessed from 19 May 2013.
  6. ^ Buskin, Richard (December 2011). "The Buggles 'Video Killed The Radio Star'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  7. ^ Smith, Ryan (7 December 2012). "Into the Lens: Spotlight on Trevor Horn, Part I". Wave Maker Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  8. ^ a b "The Buggles". ZTT.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  9. ^ "History (and future)". Peter Vogel Instruments. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  10. ^ a b c Billboard. 20 February 1982. p. 70. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d Buckley, David. Mojo. Review adapted by salvo-music.co.uk. Accessed from 15 July 2013.
  12. ^ a b Gunnarrson, Tommy. "Review of: Buggles : Adventures in Modern Recording". pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d Roberts, Chris (16 April 2010). The Buggles Adventures in Modern Recording – Deluxe Edition Review. BBC Music. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  14. ^ The Buggles – Adventures In Modern Recording. Discogs.com. Accessed from 30 April 2013.
  15. ^ The Buggles – Adventures In Modern Recording. Discogs.com. Accessed from 30 April 2013.
  16. ^ Buggles - Adventure in Modern Recording (2010 Re-release). Discogs.com. Accessed from 30 April 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Swedishcharts.com – Buggles – Adventures in Modern Recording". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  18. ^ a b Billboard. 20 February 1982. p. 30. Accessed from 9 July 2013.
  19. ^ Billboard. 20 March 1982. p. 70. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  20. ^ a b Billboard. 24 April 1982. p. 77.
  21. ^ a b "Dutchcharts.nl – Buggles – Adventures in Modern Recording" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  22. ^ a b Montesano, Jeri. Adventures in Modern Recording. Allmusic.
  23. ^ Stannard, Joe (6 April 2010). Reviews: The Buggles - Adventures In Modern Recording. Quietus. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  24. ^ a b Hutchinson, Martin (4 March 2010). CD Review: Buggles - Adventures In Modern Recording. The Bolton News. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  25. ^ KEY RELEASES - 03.04.10: CATALOGUE REVIEWS. Music Week. 3 April 2010. Accessed from 13 July 2013.
  26. ^ Fiona Shepherd, Kenneth Walton & Jim Gilchrist (19 April 2010). CD Reviews: Pop, Classical & Folk. The Scotsman. Accessed from 13 July 2013.
  27. ^ a b Smash Hits. 1 April 1982. p. 19.
  28. ^ a b "Reviews". Musician, Player and Listener (39–50): 84. 1982. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  29. ^ Gardner, Mike (6 March 1982). "Adventures in Modern Recording". Record Mirror. pp. 14–15.
  30. ^ "Adventures in Modern Recording: Music". Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  31. ^ Buggles – Adventures In Modern Recording (2000 release). Discogs.com. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  32. ^ Buggles – Adventures In Modern Recording (2010 release). Discogs.com. Accessed from 28 April 2013.
  33. ^ "Bubbling Under Singles 101-150" (PDF). Record Business. 1 February 1982. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  34. ^ "Airplay Guide" (PDF). Record Business. 18 January 1982. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  35. ^ "Airplay Guide" (PDF). Record Business. 10 May 1982. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Buggles – Lenny". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  37. ^ "Buggles – I Am a Camera". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  38. ^ "Discografie Buggles". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  39. ^ Buggles certification search results. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. musiccanada.com. Accessed on 8 July 2013.
  40. ^ Beatnik (Single). Buggles. Carrere. 1982. 49.990.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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