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Rating: I want to talk about an album that always puts me in a good mood, an album I never tire of listening to, a spontaneous and simple album, an album that inspires me to dare. "Dare!" by Human League is a great album, a symbol of the English new romantic, of the ripe times for mass electronic music, it clearly stated that disco was dead and that Kraftwerk's sound was no longer the exclusive property of an elite. You could say a lot about this album, the band's most successful, led by Philip Oakey, and philosophize as much as you'd like. Instead, I want to capture its spirit and write a simple review.
How did it come into my hands? That cover... yes, the one with that smooth, perfect, made-up face... it had something that somehow was telling me: "listen to me". I somewhat knew who Human League were (since I know Ultravox, Bowie quite well, and I like Roxy Music) but I had never listened to them. So, I got the CD reissue for €10 (the original dates back to 1981) and fed it to my home Hi-Fi. What happens? Simple, it starts right away. "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" today I can consider a kind of personal manifesto. "Take a cruise to China, or a train to Spain, go around the world again and again", "Do all the things you've never dared". A very easy and simpleton text, but at the same time so engaging and cheerful. All accompanied by elementary yet sometimes, in their simplicity, brilliant melodies and rhythms, all strictly electronic. THIS was what my hunger for music was loudly demanding to be satisfied. And satisfied I was.
After the lively intro, it moves on to "Open Your Heart", with that synth riff in the chorus that will become the album's trademark. The backing singers Joanne and Susanne (the dark-haired and the blonde for the more attentive ones in the videos) make themselves noticeably more known here. Another 4 minutes of carefree flying by. If appetite comes with eating, here comes one of the emblems of the Sheffield band, a single that was a hit on dance floors previously occupied only by disco music. "The Sound Of The Crowd" is essential and minimal to the bone, any beginner could play it without problems (you can see here how close new wave is to punk's attitude) but it's not in the complexity of arrangements that the sound of Human League (as it was for Kraftwerk) finds itself, but rather in the right stylistic choices and in the combinations (a tailor's job, so to speak).
So we arrive at the dark, thick, and sinister atmospheres of "Darkness" (sung by an intense and icy Oakey), the true new romantic passage of the album that adds an additional tone to the work, which so far appears already well-seasoned. Wanting to exploit a bit more the hardware in their possession, the band, with the help of the (then) extremely innovative Linn drum (the first drum machine that used digital samples for the component sounds and not analog synthesis), recreates in the studio the sunny, exotic rhythms of "Do Or Die", a symbol that cold electronics can also be warm and lively like a gospel choir or a soul voice.
At this point, we enter the B-side of the LP with the instrumental interlude of "Get Carter" (a melancholic melody performed with a synth) and then with the interesting "I'm The Law", which somewhat recalls the sound already heard in "Darkness". It quickly moves to the "Bowie-esque" "Seconds" (in my opinion among the most beautiful on the album) before encountering, just when you think the album is coming to an end, the pulsating "heart" of the entire Dare potpourri, two number 1 singles. First, "Love Action (I Believe In Love)", which I would place among my absolute favorites of the group's entire discography, with a text as obvious and carefree as it is actually rewarding and functional. The last song is the famous "Don't You Want Me", for which I won't waste words in commentary, as the epochal shift on dancefloors (from the 70s to the 80s) for which it was responsible speaks for itself.
After the reproduction ends, you remember the album, its notes resonate in your mind and make you want to hear it again. It's not a work you hear and then throw away, it truly manages to get into your head! Subsequently, Human League would have other great successes and release albums of nevertheless more than good quality (singles like "The Lebanon" and "Human" above all), but they would never reach the peaks of "Dare!" again. If someone wants to discover Human League in their experimental version (as before their "pop" turn with "Dare!"), they can enjoy them in reissues of "Reproduction" (1978) and "Travelogue" (1979). The best "pop version" of Human League can instead be found in the EP "Fascination" (1982), and in the albums "Hysteria" (1984) and "Crash" (1986, in a more R&B version). Special for collectors and lovers of goodies: Virgin also reissued the remix album of "Dare!" that Human League released as "Love and Dancing" in 1982 under the fake name "The League unlimited orchestra" (a paraphrase of Barry White's "Love unlimited orchestra"). For those who don't want to miss anything at all.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (04:15)
Take time to see the wonders of the world
To see the things you've only ever heard of
Dream life the way you think it ought to be
See things you thought you'd never ever see
Take a cruise to China
Or a train to Spain
Go round the world
Again and again
Meet a girl on a boat
Meet a boy on a train
And fall in love
Without the pain
Everybody needs love and adventure
Everybody needs cash to spend
Everybody needs love and affection
Everybody needs 2 or 3 friends
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
Take a lift to the top of the Empire State
Take a drive across the Golden Gate
March, march, march across Red Square
Do all the things you've ever dared
Everybody needs love and adventure
Everybody needs cash to spend
Everybody needs love and affection
Everybody needs 2 or 3 friends
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
Like fun and money and food and love
And things you never thought of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
New York, ice cream, TV, travel, good times
Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, good times
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
02 Open Your Heart (03:56)
And when it hurts you know
They love to tell you
How they warned you
They say "Don't be surprised
At someone's lies"
They think they taunt you
But if you can stand the test
You know your worst is better
Than their best
And so you stand here
With the years ahead
Potentially calling
With open heart
Or with a spirit dead
You walk on
Lies the reason
Faith or treason
Playing a part
End concealing
Try revealing
Open your heart
Dare to feel
Take the chance
Make the deal
Being an island
Shying from trying
Seems the easy way
Such an easy way
But there's no future
Without tears
Lies the reason
Faith or treason
Playing a part
End concealing
Try revealing
Open your heart
But if you can stand the test
You know your worst is better than their best
Lies the reason
Faith or treason
Playing a part
End concealing
Try revealing
Open your heart
03 The Sound of the Crowd (04:05)
Put your hand in a party wave
Pass around
Make a shroud pulling combs through a backwash frame
Find the copies in a carbon mount
Pass around
Stroke a pocket with a print of a laughing sound
Get around town
Get around town
Where the people look good
Where the music is loud
Get around town
No need to stand proud
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd
The shades from a pencil peer
Pass around
A fold in an eyelid brushed with fear
The lines on a compact guide
Pass around
A hat with alignment worn insde
Get around town
Get around town
Where the people look good
Where the music is loud
Get around town
No need to stand proud
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd
Get in line now
Get in line now
Stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme
Get around town
Get around town
Where the people look good
Where the music is loud
Get around town
No need to stand proud
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd
Get around town
Get around town
Where the people look good
Where the music is loud
Get around town
No need to stand proud
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd
Get around town
Get around town
Where the people look good
Where the music is loud
Get around town
No need to stand proud
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd
04 Darkness (03:59)
In darkness
Where my dreams are all too clear
Darkness, darkness
Filled with all the sounds of fear
I hear voices (don't turn out the light)
Calling faraway
I see shadows (don't turn out the light)
Moving, changing shape
And the clock stops
As darkness closes in
I hesitate but it's too late
I scream and scream again
I hear colours black and red
I see sounds that fill my head
I'll never read those books again
In darkness
Where my dreams are all too clear
Darkness, darkness
Filled with all the sounds of fear
I hear voices (don't turn out the light)
Calling faraway
I see shadows (don't turn out the light)
Moving, changing shape
Don't turn out the light (don't turn out the light)
Or I'll go over the edge
Don't turn out the light (don't turn out the light)
Or I'll go over the edge
In darkness
Where my dreams are all too clear
Darkness, darkness
Filled with all the sounds of fear
I hear voices (don't turn out the light)
Calling faraway
I see shadows (don't turn out the light)
Moving, changing shape
I hear voices (don't turn out the light)
Calling faraway
I see shadows (don't turn out the light)
Moving, changing shape
05 Do or Die (05:25)
Those cocky little fires you started in the night
The independent claims that just meant "Hold me tight"
The bruises on your body that you swore were from a fight
I'll pass at your insistence
Alsatians fall unconscious at the shadow of your call
One glance from your direction and the government will fall
Whole continents of misery don't bother you at all
But for me you have persistence
Run all day, run all night
Do or die, do or die
Got to run for your life
Do or die, do or die
I'd like to leave so would you kindly look the other way
You tell me to be honest but I've nothing left to say
Just like your feet my goddess, my brain has turned to clay
An end to all resistance
Run all day, run all night
Do or die, do or die
Got to run for your life
Do or die, do or die
Run all day, run all night
Do or die, do or die
Got to run for your life
Do or die, do or die
Run all day, run all night
Do or die, do or die
Got to run for your life
Do or die, do or die
Run all day, run all night
Do or die, do or die
Got to run for your life
Do or die, do or die
07 I Am the Law (04:08)
My life
I'm a fool for you
You who take no advice
You who think evil doesn't exist
Just because you deny it is true
You're lucky I care
For fools like you
You're lucky I'm there
To stop people doing the things
That you know they are dying to do
You know I am no stranger
I know rules are a bore
But just to keep you from danger
I am the law
A dog must bark
So evil calls
Both in the wild and
Within these walls
You know I am no stranger
I know rules are a bore
But just to keep you from danger
I am the law
08 Seconds (04:59)
All day
Hiding from the sun
Waiting for the golden one
Waiting for your fame
After the parade has gone
Outside was a happy place
Every face had a smile like the golden face
For a second
Your knuckles white as your fingers curl
The shot that was heard around the world
For a second
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds of your time to take his life
Seconds
Seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
For a second
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
For a second
It took seconds of your time to take his life
Seconds of your time to take his life
For a second
For a second
For a second
09 Love Action (I Believe in Love) (05:00)
When you're in love you know you're in love
No matter what you try to do
You might as well resign yourself
To what you're going through
If you're a hard man or if you're a child
It still might get to you
Don't kid yourself
You've seen it all before
A million mouths have said that too, ooh
I've had my hard times (hard times!) in the past
I've been a husband and a lover too
I've laid alone and cried at night
Over what love made me do
And the loved ones who let me down
And couldn't share my point of view
But this is Phil talking
I want to tell you
What I found to be true
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
I believe I believe what the old man says
Though I know that there's no Lord above
I believe in me
I believe in you
And you know I believe in love
I believe in truth
Though I lie a lot
I feel the pain from the push and shove
No matter what you put me through
I'll still believe in love, and I say
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
Love action
Love action
Love action
I love your distraction
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
I love your love action
Lust's just a distraction
No talking just looking
Watching your love action
11 Hard Times (05:45)
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times
Hard times.
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Other reviews
By egebamyasi
Dare is indeed a generational album, a progenitor of a whole series of imitators.
We’re not talking about music for refined ears, that’s for sure, but sometimes it’s nice to be carried away by a bit of nostalgia, by a bit of pleasant lightness.
