''Sound-on-Sound'' is the sole album by English new wave band

Bill Nelson's Red Noise Bill Nelson's Red Noise, or more simply Red Noise, was Bill Nelson's umbrella term for what effectively became a British new wave band formed by himself (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Ian (saxophone), Andy Clark (keyboards) and Rick Ford ...

, released in February 1979 by record label

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

. Band leader

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...

formed the group after the disbandment of

Be-Bop Deluxe Be-Bop Deluxe were an English rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s. History Be-Bop Deluxe Be-Bop Deluxe were founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitari ...

in 1978. The record was recorded with producer and engineer

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

, and marks a stylistic change for Nelson with its emphasis on

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s. His lyrics were inspired by

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

themes, which the musician tried to present in a humorous way. The album cover, featuring a bed-ridden robot, was photographed by Bishin Jumonji Promoted by the singles "Furniture Music" and "Revolt Into Style", ''Sound-on-Sound'' reached number 33 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 ...

and perplexed fans and music critics, with criticism centred on its 'artificial' sound.

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, Harvest's parent label, dropped Nelson in July 1979, rendering ''Sound-on-Sound'' their only album. It has been re-released by Harvest several times, including as a deluxe edition in 2012, and has been reappraised in a positive light by critics.

Background and recording

Since its 1972 inception,

was the leader and guitarist of eclectic rock band

, with whom he achieved some success, but later found himself restricted as the group's guitarist. With the band's final album, ''

Drastic Plastic ''Drastic Plastic'' is the fifth and final album by English rock band released in February 1978. Recording and content ''Drastic Plastic'' was recorded in in the south of France in the summer of 1977. Nelson recorded the album in because h ...

'' (1978), Nelson felt his ideas were marginalised compared to those of his bandmates, describing the record as disrupting the "transitional stage" he envisioned exploring between their previous album '' Modern Music'' (1976) and what became ''Sound-on-Sound''. As such, he dissolved Be-Bop Deluxe, feeling that beginning a new band was "the only way to do what I wanted to do." He had wished to dissolve the group before ''Drastic Plastic'' was recorded, but was persuaded by the band's management to continue. "Had I gotten my way," Nelson later said, "the ''Drastic Plastic'' material would have been recorded as the first Red Noise album. Instead, I adapted it for the final Be Bop album." Minimoog

By forming Bill Nelson's Red Noise, the musician again exerted creative control, paying the other members as

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s. He described the decision to form a band, rather than present himself as a solo musician with "an anonymous backing group", as a way of "hiding" and avoid being trapped "in a specific mould" if he achieved major success, saying: "This way I can change whatever cover I have to work under when my ideas alter or develop." Be-Bop Deluxe keyboardist

Andy Clark Andy Clark, (born 1957) is a British philosopher who is Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Prior to this, he was a professor of philosophy and Chair in Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotla ...

joined Nelson in Red Noise, with the line-up completed by Bill's brother Ian on saxophone and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist Rick Ford. Drumming on ''Sound-on-Sound'' is split between Nelson and

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention He replaced Martin Lamble, who had died on 12 May 1969 in a road ac ...

. The group recorded the album at

Townhouse Studios The Town House (also known as Townhouse Studios) was a recording studio located at 140 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush in London, built in 1978 under the direction of Richard Branson for Virgin Records. The studios changed ownership and eventuall ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, with producer and engineer

. Nelson had worked with Leckie since the first Be-Bop Deluxe album and found their partnership had developed into a "very give-and-take" fashion. Recording the album was a simpler process than any Be-Bop Deluxe record due to the prevalence of synthesizers, which Nelson felt were "much richer, tonally, than you realise," and only used overdubs to emphasise a specific sound, typically guitars. He elaborated: "With a synthesizer you press a switch and a sound is the direct result. With a guitar you pluck a string, which resonates above a pick-up, which then sends a signal along a wire to an amplifier, etc, etc, etc. It's a thinner sound altogether, which is why we can reproduce the album material so much more simply onstage using a lot of electronic instruments." The influence of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

on Nelson in the period, including groups like

the Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

, led him to begin using a synthesizer guitar instead of an ordinary one, and processing snare drums through

fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

es, among other experimentation. The most prominent synths on the album are the

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

and Yamaha CS80. Several songs on the album were remixed at Utopia Studios, London. Upon completion, Nelson felt unusually proud of the album, whereas with Be-Bop Deluxe albums he "couldn't bear to hear them for two months afterwards."

Composition

Nelson wrote the songs on ''Sound-on-Sound'' about "mundane, domestic things," citing "electronic appliances, factories...the paraphernalia of the times," and commenting that the album's instrumentation and arrangements reflect this. He said the "basic concept" behind the record was to explore all the

themes he "hinted at" with Be-Bop Deluxe, who had one song on each album with such themes. He drew inspiration from dystopian novels like E.M. Forster's '' The Machine Stops'',

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

's ''

Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...

'' and those by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, as well as the imagery of

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' (1927), but also felt the album had a "future-kitsch element", highlighting its "slight tongue-in-cheek quality that suggests humorous absurdity" and describing the album as exploring its sinister concepts playfully. According to critic Michael Waynick, the album's lyrics explore a wide palette of 20th century dystopian fantasies, ranging from "

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-style

social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

to state-sponsored

lobotomy A lobotomy () or leucotomy is a discredited form of Neurosurgery, neurosurgical treatment for mental disorder, psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy, Depression in childhood and adolescence, depression) that involves sev ...

," while writer Daryl Easlea describes the album as modernistic and "full of ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

''-style portent." The music is characterised by its mechanical synthesizers, harsh guitars and frenzied rhythms. By emphasising synthesised instrumentation, and eschewing guitar solos, the record marks a firm departure from Be-Bop Deluxe, with Red Noise moving Nelson into a new wave direction, although a guitar solo does appear on "The Atom Age". Nelson wrote some songs to break from "the idea of a rhythm which starts at point A and goes to point B by a logical progression," instead building songs like "Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric)", "Stop/Go/Stop" and "Radar in My Heart" in a more abnormal fashion until the results were "a little bit angular; you can't just flow through them, yet their urgency creates its own kind of flow." The musician described the musical structure of "Art/Empire/Industry" as a jokey experiment "using a kind of

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' ' Twist & Shout' build-up but with modern instrumentation and techniques." He wrote "Stop/Go/Stop" – which features the line "To Central Information, from Intelligence Patrol/We all must follow orders, obey remote control" – in 1977 about his future-wife Jan while he was still married to his first wife. He married Jan by the recording of ''Sound-on-Sound'' and reflected on the song: "I'd been trying to tell Jan how I felt about her through my songs. They were born out of this heady love I was feeling for her."

Release and reception

The sleeve of ''Sound-on-Sound'' was designed by Japanese artist Bishin Jumonji, and depicts a bed-ridden robot constructed of both electronic and electromechanical components, chosen by Nelson to represent the album's 'mundane, domestic' themes. The back cover features an "Important Notice" writing that the album was "styled with today's

hi-fi High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

in mind," saying that the record should be "played at high volume in a room with no views other than those afforded by the use of subliminal image video apparatus." Nelson said he wrote the notice with his " tongue firmly in cheek". During the band's live performances, the group wore

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

-style matching uniforms and used intricate lighting to "underline the point of the music," according to Nelson, who elaborated: "The songs are about the impending gloom of 1984, the austerity and the indoctrination. But I wanted to present the band as the perpetrators rather than the victims. The uniforms are part of that." After disbanding Be-Bop Deluxe, Nelson gave

—parent company of

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

, to which the band was signed—a choice between signing Red Noise or dropping him altogether. Although the label agreed to sign Red Noise, they were taken aback when hearing ''Sound-on-Sound''. Nelson elaborated: "A friend had dinner with EMI's head of A&R and told me he'd been asked, 'What's wrong with Bill? Why's he doing all this crazy music?'" Harvest released ''Sound-on-Sound'' on 16 February 1979, with the lead single "Furniture Music" being issued the same month. While the album jarred Nelson's fan base, it debuted and peaked at number 33 on the

, where it stayed for five weeks, while "Furniture Music" reached number 59 on the UK Singles Chart, with "Revolt Into Style" reaching number 69 in May. In the United States, where the album was released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, it was a commercial failure. ''Sound-on-Sound'' was released to polarising reviews from music critics, some of whom panned its intricate sound and compared it unfavourably with the work of

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

and T. Rex. John Orme of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' derided the album for its "transparently contrived" music, which he equated with the bed-ridden robot on the album cover. Nelson was upset at the poor reception, telling interviewer Mark Williams that he felt reviewers chastised the album for sounding "artificial" when this was the intention of the album. He also rejected criticisms of the album being too dense and layered as "it was recorded so much more simply than the Be-bop albums." Following the album's disappointing sales in the US, Nelson was dropped by Capitol. In the UK, EMI dropped Nelson altogether in July 1979, alongside other groups like

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

, as the label was slimming down its roster and looking for more commercially viable artists. By that point, Nelson had been working on a second Red Noise album, which was intended for an August 1979 release, but the dropping left the tapes with EMI. He reworked some of the material for his solo album '' Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam'' (1981); Nelson's prioritisation of solo material effectively ended Bill Nelson's Red Noise.

Retrospective assessment and legacy

''Sound-on-Sound'' went out-of-print in 1980–81, but was re-released on vinyl by Cocteau Records in 1986, and remastered for CD release by Harvest in 1999. In 2012, Harvest released a deluxe edition of the album featuring live tracks, B-sides and

Peel session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

s. Reviewing the vinyl reissue, '' Option'' said the album's "nervous, jagged

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

meets

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 ...

at a new wave club sound (with some

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

thrown in) sounds as much like

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

as anything on MTV, and that is intended as a compliment." In a review of the 1999 reissue, Neil Mckay of '' Sunday Life'' wrote that the album's "pioneering electro/rock/pop" was "still sounding fresh." Reviewing the 2012 reissue, Daryl Easlea of ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' called ''Sound-on-Sound'' "the intelligent, one-off a curio that split the crowd on release in 1979, but simply gets better with age." He hailed it for its "weird, futuristic music" which he felt was consistently surprising and speedy, concluding that the album "still sounds how you once imagined the future would be." "Furniture Music" was also credited by Easlea for predicting

Tubeway Army Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave music, new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. Formed at the height of punk rock in 1977, the band gradually changed to an electronic music, electronic sound. They were the first band of the elect ...

's hit single "

Are 'Friends' Electric? Are commonly refers to: * Are (unit), a unit of area equal to 100 m2 Are, ARE or Åre may also refer to: Places * Åre, a locality in Sweden * Åre Municipality, a municipality in Sweden **Åre ski resort in Sweden * Are Parish, a munici ...

" by three months, highlighting their "striking commonality". Michael Waynick of

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 ...

praised the album as "a brilliant collection of anti-romantic anthems" that "sounds like

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

given the

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

wall-of-sound treatment." He hailed its breathless pace and tuneful sound and wrote: "If Nelson did abandon Red Noise as a musical dead end, it was a fascinating cul-de-sac nonetheless." His colleague Steven McDonald called the record "a fluid document that demonstrated Nelson's ability to experiment." Mac Randall of ''

Musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

'' described ''Sound-on-Sound'' as a "brilliant album that went nowhere." Ira Robbins of ''

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 ...

'' wrote that Nelson "attacked the future with gusto" with the album's mix of lyrical modernism and "subtly infiltrated synthetic sounds," but considered the songs to be "the weak link," which he felt were generally half-formed "despite some good ideas." In '' The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'',

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

described the record as an "agitated but confused" response to "

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and techno-rock forces." The music magazine ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

'', established in 1995, was named after the album.

Track listing

All songs written by

Side one

# "Don't Touch Me, (I'm Electric)" – 1:50 # "For Young Moderns" – 4:24 # "Stop/Go/Stop" – 3:10 # "Furniture Music" – 3:31 # "Radar in My Heart" – 1:36 # "Stay Young" – 3:11

Side two

"Out of Touch" – 3:31 # "A Better Home in the Phantom Zone" – 4:26 # "Substitute Flesh" – 3:29 # "Atom Age" – 3:01 # "Art/Empire/Industry" – 2:45 # "Revolt into Style" – 3:23

2012 bonus tracks

"Wonder Toys That Last Forever" ("Furniture Music" B-side) # "Acquitted by Mirrors" ("Furniture Music" B-side) # "Stay Young" (live at Leicester

De Montfort Hall De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the ''Father of Parliament'', Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester. History The hall was b ...

, 8 March 1979) ("Revolt Into Style" B-side) # "Out of Touch" (live at Leicester De Montfort Hall, 8 March 1979) ("Revolt Into Style" B-side) # "Stay Young" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979) # "Furniture Music" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979) # "Don’t Touch Me (I’m Electric)" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979) # "Out of Touch" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979)

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of ''Sound-on-Sound'' ;Bill Nelson's Red Noise *Bill Nelson – vocals, guitar, drums, synthesizer, keyboards, bass, percussion, harmonica, vocoder *Rick Ford – bass *

– keyboards, synthesizer *

– drums, electronic drums * Ian Nelson – tenor and alto saxophone, Wurlitzer, string synthesizer ;Technical * Haydn Bendall – engineer * Bishin Jumonji – front cover photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 debut albums Albums produced by John Leckie Capitol Records artists Harvest Records albums Bill Nelson's Red Noise albums 1970s concept albums Science fiction concept albums