Adventures In Modern Recording
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''Adventures in Modern Recording'' is the second and final studio album by English new wave group
the Buggles The Buggles are an English New wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK ...
, released in November 1981 by Carrere Records. Although the Buggles began as a duo of Trevor Horn and
Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to Lond ...
, the album ended up as mostly Horn's solo effort, as Downes left to join the English rock band
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on the day recording was originally scheduled to begin. It contains nine tracks, including a version of a track from the
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...
album ''
Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
'' (1980), recorded during Horn and Downes' short initial tenure with the band. Originally named " Into the Lens", the Buggles rendition is titled "I Am a Camera". A stylistically and sonically varied progressive electronic album, ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' depicts Horn perfecting his skill as producer and was described by journalists as a document for how he would produce his later works. It was one of the earliest albums to use the
Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...
, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers. Upon its release, ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' faced mixed reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
and performed poorly commercially in the United Kingdom, failing to make it on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. The album did well in other territories, such as in North America and mainland Europe, reaching number 161 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Additionally, retrospective reviews praised how comparable in quality its sound was to music released in later years. Five singles were released from ''Adventures in Modern Recording'': "I Am a Camera", the title track, "On TV", "Lenny", and "Beatnik". Except for "Beatnik", the singles were minor hits in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, "Lenny" being a top-20 hit in the latter country. 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 twentieth studio album '' Fly from Here'' (2011).


Background

On the day studio sessions for ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' were to begin,
the Buggles The Buggles are an English New wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK ...
' keyboardist
Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to Lond ...
left to form the English rock band
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. Although
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
' publisher renegotiated with Downes, his departure gave the publisher a false impression that Buggles singer and bassist Trevor Horn's career ended, resulting in Island dropping the duo; this in turn led to Horn's other industry acquaintances having a similar viewpoint. Horn recalled feeling "astounded" and "fucking angry ..I hadn't even got started yet..." Shortly afterwards, Horn's wife Jill Sinclair made a deal with French label Carrere Records to fund, promote and release the album. While ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' was mostly a 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". Other collaboraters included Julian Mendelsohn and
Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography Langan's career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons ...
as engineers; Anne Dudley, who would later form The Art of Noise with Langan and Horn, as keyboardist on "Beatnik"; Horn's long-time collaborator
Luis Jardim Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
as percussion on "Beatnik"; and
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...
bassist Chris Squire as providing "sound effects" for the title track. One of the tracks, " I Am a Camera," started as a Buggles demo that turned into a "slightly more overblown" track for their
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...
collaboration album ''
Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
'' (1980), named " Into the Lens"; although Horn appreciated the Yes version's "unadulterated" melody and complex arrangement, he liked the Buggles' recording more.


Concept and sound

A more left-field record than the Buggles' previous album '' The Age of Plastic'' (1980) as Horn planned it to be, ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' is a progressive electronic album containing both
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
cuts and big-sounding tracks. It is stylistically and sonically diverse, as heard in "Vermillion Sands" alone; compared by Chris Roberts of
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
to
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
's "
Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...
", the song consists of " electro-pop, harmony vocals, key signature changes, incongruous blasts of synthetic trumpet and boogie woogie piano and swing", described '' Mojo''s David Buckley. The title track mashes together electronic and acoustically made instruments, as well as dreamy and "hyper-alert" vibes, analyzed Joe Stannard of ''
The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...
''. During the recording of the album, Horn also produced for the pop act
Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...
; this influenced how he created ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' and in turn his works for Dollar. He envisioned the duo as a " technopop orchestra" playing at the Vermillion Sands hotel (the subject of one of the album's tracks). This not only gave Horn the idea of songwriting and production concepts for ''Adventures in Modern Recording'', but also how the Buggles' visual aesthetic would change; the group went from two human players to a four-piece led by Horn and backed by three male dummies a la the Autons and members of
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
. Horn described producing ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' as a training of his production craft with experimentations of gear. Retrospective pieces have labeled it a document of how he would produce his later works. The album was one of the first commercially available albums to feature sounds from the
Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...
, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers, and was one of Horn's earliest times working with sampling techniques he'd later incorporate into his works for
Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...
,
Art of Noise Art of Noise (also the Art of Noise) were a British avant-garde synth-rock group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and ...
and
Frankie Goes To Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...
.


Release and promotion

Initially, Carerre only planned three single releases of ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' tracks: "I Am a Camera" with a
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
of "Fade Away" in October 1981, the title track with "Blue Nylon" as its B-side in January 1982 and "On TV" with a longer version of "Blue Nylon" later that year. However, the album's success in
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
led to the label releasing both "Lenny" and "Beatnik" as singles in 1982. "On TV" and "Fade Away" garnered an exclusive flexidisc release via ''
Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' magazine, while the title track ran on the seventh issue of '' SFX Cassette Magazine'', where guest critic Richard Skinner applauded Horn's singing and compared it to the works of
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) was a folk rock Supergroup (music), supergroup comprising the American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by the Canadian singer-so ...
.


Critical reception

Reviews of ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' upon release were mixed. Tim de Lisle of ''
Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...
'' praised Horn's production and the first five tracks for having "enough strong tunes, witty ideas and funky noises", but generally found the album "much less than the sum of the parts, and Side Two deteriorates into tedious Yes-style pomposity". A reviewer from '' The Morning Call'' also made an unflattering Yes comparison towards some of the songs, like "Beatnik"; he wrote that while it has the "melancholic frenzy" of the duo's biggest hit " Video Killed The Radio Star", it also has the same Yes-style mixture of "pretentious, meaningless lyrics" and "soaring, grandiose harmonics". Opined Mike Gardner in ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
'', "Instead of an invigorating glimpse into their world of hi-sci techno wizardry, we get a weedy piece of whimsy." A ''Record Mirror'' review by Sunie Fletcher of the title track negatively compared it to the "yukky strain of studiedly bouncy, vacuous pop" of "Video Killed the Radio Star". ''Smash Hits'' published an unfavorable review of "I Am a Camera", written by Fred Dollar. However, it also ran Martin Fry's review for "On TV", which noted its ahead-of-the-curve production, particularly with its huge drum and clear recording quality. Retrospective reviews were far more enthusiastic, noting how ''Adventures in Modern Recording''s sound was comparable in quality to music released in later years.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Jeri Montesan found the sound of it and ''The Age of Plastic'' better than the "unimaginative" pop of the 1990s. Roberts, on the other hand, felt that while Horn's project was ambitious, it had some outdated and chintzy-sounding moments. Stannard called its songwriting "vastly more sophisticated and satisfying" than ''The Age of Plastic'', while ''
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'' journalist Martin Hutchinson highlighted Horn's vocals.


Commercial reception

Horn admitted to being uninterested in ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' near the end of production "because I didn’t think there was a single there". In his home country of the United Kingdom, the album's economic performance confirmed that doubt, failing to make an impact. It was unable to enter the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, and the title track and "On TV" were only minor hits on the singles and airplay charts of UK magazine '' Record Business''. However, ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' fared better in North America and continental Europe, particularly France, the Netherlands and the US where it was the Buggles' only entry on the country's official ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' 200 chart, peaking at number 161. "On TV" was certified gold by
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for sales of 5,000 units. In the Netherlands, "I Am a Camera" was a minor hit and "Lenny" was in the top 20, particularly reaching number nine in Holland. This led to Horn lip-syncing "Lenny" on the country's ''
TopPop ''TopPop'' was a Dutch television programme. It was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly from 22 September 1970 to 27 June 1988. Presenter ...
'' series (with ABC as the backing band) on an episode aired 10 April 1982. The performance signaled the end of the Buggles project; Horn stated in the interview after the performance that while the Buggles were going downhill, he was more focused on his more successful venture as a producer for other acts.


Track listing


Personnel

The following is taken from the liner notes of the 2010 re-issue of ''Adventures in Modern Recording''. ;Buggles *
Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to Lond ...
 – keyboards (2–4, 7), drum programming (7), production (3–4, 7, 12) * Trevor Horn –
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
(1, 6, 9–11),
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
(2–4, 7),
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
programming (4), production ;Other * John Sinclair – drum programming (1, 5–6, 8–11),
cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
s (1, 8–9), guitar (2), vocals (5), production (1–2, 5–6, 8–9, 16) * Simon Darlow – keyboards and guitar (1, 5–6, 8–11) * Chris Squire –
sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
s (1, 9) * Anne Dudley – keyboards (2) * Luís Jardim – percussion (2) *
Bruce Woolley Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as the Buggles and Grace Jones, including " Video Killed the Radio Star" and " Slave to the Rhythm", ...
 – vocals (5) * Danny Schogger, Rod Thompson – keyboards (7) *
Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography Langan's career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons ...
, Julian Mendelsohn
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
* Stuart Bruce – assistant engineering * Rory Kee – illustrator * Glenn Travis Associates – design


Charts


References

{{Authority control Albums produced by Trevor Horn The Buggles albums 1981 albums Carrere Records albums