🎵 AotW The Human League CRASH (A&M SP 5129)

LPJim

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A1 MoneyWritten-By – Ian Burden, Jim Russell, Philip Oakey 3:54
A2 SwangWritten-By – David Eiland 4:37
A3 HumanWritten-By – James Harris III/Terry Lewis* 4:24
A4 JamWritten-By – Jim Russell, Philip Oakey 4:19
A5 Are You Ever Coming Back?Written-By – Jim Russell, Adrian Wright*, Philip Oakey 4:52
B1 I Need Your LovingWritten-By – Danny Williams (5), David Eiland, Herman Davis, James Harris III/Terry Lewis*, Langston Richey 3:43
B2 PartyWritten-By – Ian Burden, Jim Russell, Philip Oakey 4:29
B3 Love On The RunWritten-By – Ian Burden, Jim Russell, Philip Oakey 3:54
B4 The Real ThingWritten-By – Ian Burden, Jim Russell, Philip Oakey, Steve Fellows 4:19
B5 Love Is All That MattersWritten-By – James Harris III/Terry Lewis* 6:07



Released in a gatefold sleeve.
Entered the Billboard Top 200 on Oct. 4, 1986
Peaked at # 24 and charted for 25 weeks
"Human" reached # 1 as a single
Available on CD


JB
 
My favorite track is "Human" for me it was one of many definitive ballads of the period and at that time there was a lot of things going on in my life and I was only 19 at the time
 
"Swang" is one of the very worst things I've ever heard by anyone. It's entertainingly bad. No clue what they were thinking when they recorded this. "Human" is, of course, absolutely gorgeous.
 
You can immediately hear the Jam & Lewis arrangement on "Human". That track could've just as easily been recorded by Janet Jackson. Human League as much as admitted so when asked about it. As they were desperate for another hit at this point in their career, they basically were just the vehicle carrying the song, but it clearly was a production team effort, a la "Diamonds" by Herb Alpert or any other Jam & Lewis restoration project. Nonetheless, its still a great tune, a great sound and [yes] a great departure for Human League. I've always liked their 1982 hit "Don't You Want Me" from DARE, and this was equally entertaining... albeit a more R&B-approach.
 
You can immediately hear the Jam & Lewis arrangement on "Human". That track could've just as easily been recorded by Janet Jackson. Human League as much as admitted so when asked about it. As they were desperate for another hit at this point in their career, they basically were just the vehicle carrying the song, but it clearly was a production team effort, a la "Diamonds" by Herb Alpert or any other Jam & Lewis restoration project. Nonetheless, its still a great tune, a great sound and [yes] a great departure for Human League. I've always liked their 1982 hit "Don't You Want Me" from DARE, and this was equally entertaining... albeit a more R&B-approach.
Jam and Lewis could do No Wrong at that time and I agree the Human League's Don't you want me was Excellent it's kind of sad that they didn't have more memorable hits other than that and Human those two are my favorite Human league songs
 
I've always liked their 1982 hit "Don't You Want Me" from DARE, and this was equally entertaining... albeit a more R&B-approach.
Listen again (especially to the chorus), and then listen to KC & The Sunshine Band--they have admitted in the past that KC's sound was what they were after on that hit. :thumbsup:
 
"Swang" is one of the very worst things I've ever heard by anyone. It's entertainingly bad. No clue what they were thinking when they recorded this. "Human" is, of course, absolutely gorgeous.
Yeah, I've gotta admit... that was pretty BAD! :laugh:
This kinda makes me think that I should start a new thread about what everybody considers to be the most entertainingly BAD records ever. As a matter of fact, I think I'll do just that. On the "For Animals Only" forum perhaps.
 
Agreed about "Swang." Certainly one of the band's worst moments.

It's a bit weird in retrospect that "Human" topped the charts, yet nothing else here could even climb into the Top 40, but then again, they didn't have any American hits from Hysteria, either, so their commercial standing wasn't quite what it was in the days of Crash and Fascination! "Human" still sounds great today - and I still marvel at how Jam and Lewis were able to coax that kind of vocal performance out of Phil Oakey. I remember being floored the first time I heard the song that he could sing like that. I wouldn't have thought that he had it in him. He's typically a much more mechanical singer than that.
 
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