Product Description

It isn't overstating the case to call the Human League's third album synthpop's SGT. PEPPER; not only did DARE! establish synthesizers as a viable musical tool on the US charts, it redefined what people thought of electronic pop. No longerdid synth bands have to sound like Kraftwerk or Throbbing Gristle.
There are no guitars on DARE! but it's emphatically a pop record. Phil Oakey's gruff vocals blend surprisingly well with the untrained, girlish voices of new backing vocalists Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, and the electronic melodies are expertly rendered by producer Martin Rushentinto three-dimensional pop extravaganzas. Musically witty and unfailingly exciting, tracks like "Love Action", "Open your Heart", "Sound of the Crowd" and of course "Don't You Want Me" are as catchy as pop got in 1981, and darker tracks like "Seconds" and "Do Or Die" add depth. DARE! is a brilliantalbum even today.

Track Listing

1. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
2. Open Your Heart
3. The Sound Of The Crowd
4. Darkness
5. Do Or Die
6. Get Carter
7. I Am The Law
8. Seconds
9. Love Action (I Believe In Love)
10. Don't You Want Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19231 in Music
• Released on: 1983-03-11
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
When flipping through the annals of new-wave history, one can easily enough overlook the entry marked "Human League". But the truth of the matter is, this Phil Oakey-helmed synth-pop outfit was crucial to the movement, and Dare!, its third release, is an absolute linchpin. Thanks to its breakthrough single "Don't You Want Me", the record almost single-handedly made it safe to like new wave, and an MTV video gave it a fashionable face that was impossible to ignore. The sound was theatrical and awash with kitschy keyboards, but felt new and refreshing back in 1982. The League would never climb to such hooky aesthetic heights again; Dare! ranks as its greatest achievement--and it still sounds new and refreshing today. --Tom Lanham

Customer Reviews

Synth-pop Classic

Dare is one of the most memorable albums of the synth-pop genre of the late 70s and early 80s, in the company of masterpieces like Architecture & Morality by OMD, Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics and Upstairs at Eric's by Yaz(oo). True, Gary Numan had conquered the charts by synthesizer in 1979 but his was a darker vision and more properly called synth-rock, just like the Human League's first two albums of dark eerie music: Reproduction and Travelogue.

This 3rd album, however, is pure brilliant pop created by synths and syndrums. The songs are catchy, tuneful and emotionally profound, which is why this album has remained such a timeless treasure. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of, Love Action (I Believe In Love), Don't You Want Me and the magnificent Open Your Heart with its soaring vocals are the most immediately appealing with their strong hooks and melodies but there is something unique and atmospheric about every one of the lesser known tracks as well.

The aforementioned first two efforts are worth investigating for their ingenuity, but the band never managed to recapture the magic with their subsequent output.

Masterful electro-pop that has dated amazingly well
I am a very forward looking person. I am not one for wallowing piteously in nostalgia and banging on about how good things were when i were a lad. I like discovering new bands, movies etc . Sure i don,t mind listening to old music now and then but mostly i want to hear what is now. However a few albums make me ache with frustrated longing for times and places long gone. Foremost amongst these is Dare by Sheffield synth popsters The Human League.
Released on 20th October 1981 Dare was the bands third studio album after "Reproduction" and "Travelogue" but saw a change in the line up that had produced the previous two albums. In January 1981 the Human League consisted of just Oakey and Philip Adrian Wright with newly recruited teenage dancers Joanne Catherall and Susanne Sulley. After the acrimonious split of the original band in October 1980 and the subsequent recruitment of Sulley and Catherall- infamously recruited after Oakey spotted them dancing in a Sheffield nightclub- the new band had only just survived a European tour by bringing in session keyboardist Ian Burden to temporarily assist. The band were deeply in debt and only barely commercially viable.Burden , an accomplished musician and song -writer was invited to join the band full time . For any future recordings record label "Virgin" decided Oakey needed professional help in the studio so producer Martin Rushent was drafted in . His proficiency with the the latest technology- the album was to be made entirely electronically using Casio, Korg, Roland and Yamaha keyboards - made him an ideal choice. The subsequent recruitment of Jo Callis , formerly of the Rezillo,s completed the bands line up Because of the "unhealthy" atmosphere at Monumental Studios in Sheffield caused by the Human League sharing it with new band Heaven 17 (containing ex Human League members Ware and Marsh, Rushent moved the band to his Genetic Sound Studios in Reading. In addition Rushent's studios were better-equipped for the type of music the band was making. A downside would be that the distance would cause problems for Sulley and Catherall who were taking their final school exams and had to be bussed down from Sheffield regularly. I,ve no idea how the girls exam results turned out alas.
The album itself is a landmark fusion of shiny new technology and consummate pop sensibilities. The album was named after a Vogue Magazine cover and is also incorporated into the lyrics of the song "Things That Dreams Are Made Of". Talking of the songs though many of the albums tracks were eventually released as singles the band approached the song writing with the mindset that they wanted every track to be a potential single. This is something every pop band would allude to but with the exception of the brief cover of the "Get Carter" theme and the somewhat austere "I Am The Law" every track on Dare would have made a viable single , though a song like "Seconds" -about the assassination of John F Kennedy and - were in truth too dark thematically in those hedonistic times to be commercially viable.
The remainder is about as perfect as pop music can get. From the soaring opener "Things That Dreams Are Made Of" where Oakey strains for the high notes in the chorus to the celebratory "Sound Of The Crowd" -one of the greatest electro-pop songs ever written for this reviewer- Dare is a flawless gleaming pop edifice. The semi-autobiographical "Love Action( I Believe In Love)" fuses its trickle down keyboard notes over sumptuous dance floor rhythms. "Open Your Heart" while a glorious exhortation for communication within relationships is also the most complex track on the album , both structurally and vocally. "Darkness" written mainly by Philip Adrian Wright showcases a more vulnerable side to the band while "Do Or Die" reveals true versatility with its curious African/ reggae drum patterns."Don,t You Want Me" while cleverly at odds with the rest of the album, most notably for its male/female counterpoint vocal suffers somewhat nowadays from 0ver-familiarity thuogh it,s a fiendishly accomplished pop song by any standards.
Dare is not only one of the best British pop albums ever ,as well as one of the outstanding albums of the wrongly maligned eighties but is also an album that has stood the advancement of the years and technology. As i mentioned at the reviews start it also brings a nostaligic glow that very few albums can match. After the welcome fury and spite of punk the gossamer surfaces and melodic verve of bands like The Human League , made it despite the socio-political climate, a wonderful time to be young and alive. Every song on this album still brings that back and my only regret is that it was a tiny bit wasted on the rather grey young man that was misery me. I , of course, know better now.

Classic pop sound from 1981.

Some sounds are locked away in a particular time in music history, and will forever be a certain year; the sound of 'The Human League' are one such group that will forever be 1981!

Their album 'Dare' plays almost like a 'greatest hits' compilation - it has so many hit singles! The unique sound of those girls with Phil Oakey will always be recognisable and part of pop history. Considering the girls had no formal training (and this was long before the numerous reality and talent shows of today) almost puts the present so-called 'talent' to shame! Even the album material is great here - with tracks like the supreme 'Darkness'.

Back in 1981, 'The Human League' could not go wrong, and whatever they released, they had another hit on their hands!

Five stars!