The album art is corny and distinctively 80s, which gives you the gist of the album at a glance. Two details that I particularly like are the Macintosh-esque framing of each section on the J-card and the faux-dot-matrix typography used throughout. Another interesting thing about the J-card is that it includes an ad and mail-in order form for two videos in your choice of VHS or Betamax. Part of me wants to see what'll happen if I try to mail in an order, but I'm not about to send $30 to a random guy in New Jersey for a bit.
Before we begin, a note on corn. I had trouble deciding whether I wanted to use the word "corny" or "cheesy" to describe my impression of this album. I'm not quite sure how else to put into words how... endearingly cringe it is? Like, cringe in a kinda good way? I dunno, you just have to listen to it to see what I mean.
If we're calling it corny, then everyone's going to have a different corn tolerance, which is fine. If your corn threshold is low, maybe skip this album. For me, it's not a problem. In fact, some of this stuff is pretty catchy in a way that it definitely wouldn't be if it were more... serious? Down to earth? Stoic? Something like that.
Side A starts off with the highlights of the album. Your favourite track on this album will probably be here, with your pick depending on your personal corn tolerance. My favourites on the album are Play This Game, Style, and Zen Machine, but you could give me a totally different top three and I wouldn't be shocked unless they were all from the B side.
I originally thought Style was the best track on this tape, but Zen Machine has won me over after further listening. In general, the A side is quite strong, with no tracks worth skipping.
While the top dogs live on the A side, the B side doesn't lag far behind. The quality remains high, and there aren't any tracks that I'd recommend skipping here either. However, the corn factor climbs a few notches on the B side, especially when you get to Wildlife and Mystified. My highlight for the B side of this album is Man of Action, but an honourable mention goes to Mimi Gets Mad for being so catchy.
This album's sound is a solid rock foundation bathed in 80s synths and effects. It's distinctly electronic in a retro-futuristic way. At times, it can be cheesy, but it's endearing retro cheese. We're talking imported parmigiano reggiano. Good cheese, for sure. Above all, this album is fun. When the lead guitar gets a chance to shine through, like on Style and Monument, it's sharp, well-articulated, and a joy to listen to.
Yes. As I hinted above, I've listened to this thing close to half a dozen times from front to back over the last couple of weeks, since it's easy to listen to and strikes a nice balance between coherence and variety. Crucially, there aren't any definite skips on here, so it's very well-suited to listening to from front to back. Because of that consistent listenability (?), I think it's totally worth owning on physical media.
I paid five bucks for this thing in brand new, sealed condition from a record store across the street from my apartment building. Considering the fact that it's packing some serious jock jams and is in mint condition at about 40 years old, I'm more than happy with my purchase.