In the eighties, new wave became a wildly popular musical genre. Unfortunately, most of these bands only had one extremely popular song, and were written off as one-hit wonders by most people. It's a shame that Information Society is among those that were written off as such, because they were so much more than "just another new wave group." While most new wave artists came from Europe, Information Society was a rare example of an American one. But their sound is so similar to that of Human League, Duran Duran, and countless other acts that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you didn't know otherwise. Although their sound was similar to that of other new wave acts, there's no denying that the band had a sound all their own. In 1985, the group released its self-titled debut. Read on for my review of it.

The album kicks off with What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy), the song that gave the band their supposed one-hit wonder status. This is eighties pop at its very best, and it's not surprising that this song gets radio play on eighties stations on a regular basis. But, just because it's the only popular song doesn't mean it's the only good one on here. The band's new wave ballad, Repitition is nothing short of excellent. Why didn't this song become more popular than it did? The synth-heavy Walking Away is another masterpiece of a song that never got the proper recognition. Other songs worth mentioning are the Duran Duran-styled Over The Sea, the ever-so-catchy Attitude, the bass-heavy Something In The Air, and the memorable closer Make It Funky. All in all, this is a good album.

Information Society's debut is a new wave classic, and there's no denying it. This is the way new wave is supposed to sound - no questions asked! Although these guys never got the proper credit, their music deserves to be listened to. Although the album is nothing too revolutionary as far as new wave goes (hence the rating of four out of five), it's still very good. If you're a fan of synthpop/eighties pop/new wave/etc., this is well worth buying.

Tell me what¿s on your mind. Pure energy.
It's a crime to put Information Society with the likes of industrial corporate music like Depeche Mode, Camouflage, or Xymox. OK, so lead singer Kurt Valaquen does sound a bit like Dave Gahan or Phil Oakey of the Human League, but with that rooster quiff of his? And the contrast given to the backing vocals with Amanda Kramer singing? They're unique. And since when did DM put dialogue samples from the original Star Trek in their songs? Their debut album contains songs that are mostly inquisitive songs of longing, all coated with an exciting melange of sound.

Dr. McCoy's "It's worked so far, but we're not out yet" introduces "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" made it to the Top Five on the Billboard charts, accompanied by an exciting video and Mr.Spock's "pure energy" quote throughout. The bouncy and rubbery synths, along with the metal striking metal sound effects have a lot more personality, as does the violin-like synth that comes in later. The single edit did not contain that sample from the computer, "destruction." Love that guitar-like sampling effect at the end.

"Tomorrow" could've been another single, the catchy way the title is stretched out in the chorus. Definite Human League-type vocals and stylings.

Their cover of Abba's "Lay All Your Love On Me" strips the original of its 70's disco synth material, but gives it an 80's flavour without dishonoring it. Some ST samples would've been hilarious here.

"Repetition" is a ballad with a slowed drum machine beat. I think this became a single, but I'm not sure. The airy feel here echoes what the Pet Shop Boys were doing at the time, but the despairing sense of returning to someone over and over because a life spent alone means nothing is felt here.

"It is useless to resist us" goes another ST sample, before the second single, "Walking Away" comes on. I sense some New Order stylings here. The beat isn't as energetic as "What's On Your Mind", but I can see why this hit the charts as well. Key lyrics: "One thing to remember/Is that I have feelings, too/I surely would have closed my eyes/If I had known the real you."

Personally, I would have chosen the next song, the longing-filled "Over The Sea" as the next single because the energy rivals "What's On Your Mind." Some of the synths have stylings alike the Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always On My Mind."

"Attitude" sports an 80's-style hip-hop beat and tells three stories of the importance of having an attitude to get one through the mean world. The third verse condemns the American power elite in toto: "They make sure things are going their way/And the country's in a mess/As they buy that land, start that war,/Keep those people poor,/They don't care if people aren't/Going to take it anymore." Sound familiar in 2003?

The slow-tempo "Something In The Air" features airy synths, samples a moaning woman and Spock's "I know what you know. I feel what you feel" (from Dagger Of The Mind?).

The 7:45 "Running" does veer towards DM territory, but its squishy synth beats, high octave keyboards, scratching sounds, and the layered instrumentation of the others make the running time of this tolerable.

"Make It Funky" is a small whiff of a song containing a computerized voice saying the title, and then "Good God."

A pity they didn't last long, as I've heard that their next album commanded an even better sound. Still, a memorable sound due to the "Pure Energy" single.

Enjoyable
This is an enjoyable album by Information Society, It features many dance songs and club songs. "Walking Away" is a pretty good song. ALthough most songs on here are not rememerable, they dont really stand the test of time "Whats On Your Mind" is the only song that stood the test of time. So my suggestion is to just get the song on a compilation or get it by downloading it.
The earliest incarnation of this Minnesota band of tech-geeks was essentially a rock band with a deep love for club music, and their first widely distributed record splits the difference. The hit "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)," featuring a Leonard Nimoy sample, is essentially the great lost Duran Duran single, but the rest of the album is pleasingly all over the place. "Walking Away" owes as much to Latin freestyle as it does to mainstream dance-rock, "Lay All Your Love on Me" lights a fire under Abba's tailbone, and the last few tracks slow the tempo way down to an electro crawl. The album is inconsistent and fillery, but it demonstrates a bunch of routes dance music might have gone in the late '80s and didn't quite. --Douglas Wolk