China Crisis “Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two”

1983 was the year that I was in probably the best band I’ve ever played in—so, my peak, you could say, as far as that kind of thing—playing music with a band. Not so much because of my ability, but because of the collaborators, the band, the Ragged Bags—a brief high point for me. So you might think when I see a record with that date on it, it would give me positive anticipation, or a warm feeling of some kind. But no. When I see that date on a record that I don’t know, it fills me with dread. It was, for me, not a great time for album buying (even though there must be some great music from this year—but I can’t recall what, offhand). Anyway, this record feels typical of my memory of that time—it’s synthpop, and very synth-y and very pop-y. I have to admit, I like this music a lot more now than a would have in 1983. I’ve gotten soft, maybe, but also, I enjoy something that’s done well, even if it’s not my bag of tea. I also appreciate nice melodies more now than when I was younger (when I was more in favor of screaming and noise, which bugs me now). So, sure, I can listen to this record. Nothing really bad about it. It’s just not likely to blow my mind or anything. The band was from England, and this record is an import—it’s got that flimsy, glossy cover—nice art, some photos of nuclear power plants. The title fairly screams “art.” I know nothing about this band—though the inner sleeve has far too much information—so much, I’m ignoring it. The internet reveals that they are still together, still a band, so who knows, they could be playing in Milwaukee tonight. Some lineup changes over the years, naturally, but the weirdest bit I discovered is that Walter Becker was briefly a member, in 1985. I did not know that. That’s kind of exciting. That warrants an additional listening. My impression of the record is exactly the same.

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