This copy of HoJo's second album is in great condition and was bought from a second hand record store just over a year ago.
The single "Things Can Only Get Better" opens things up with its catchy call and response chorus and Emulator bassline. Unfortunately second track "Life in One Day" moves away from a synth-pop sound and as it doesn't sound good as a result. I can appreciate that there is a good hook in this song, but the instrumentation really lets it down.
Unfortunately, the title track sounds a bit like tuneless industrial music and isn't very entertaining. Things improve drastically with "Nobody Else Is To Blame" which finds Howard at the peak of his songwriting abilities. My copy of the album contains the original mix but some later pressings carry the single version. If you are more accustomed to the single version produced by Phil Collins and High Padgham, the original album version can sound a bit strange, but it remains a brilliant composition.
I have always felt "Look Mama" was a bit incongruous as it seems to be a coming of age tale that is full of teenage angst being sung by a 30 year old man. Again, it is a good tune, but just doesn't hang together quite right. Side one rounds out with "Assault and Battery" which has some great synth sounds running alongside the piano and is worth listening to.
"Automaton" has a predictably machine like arpeggio sequence running in the background as Howard sings a fairly pointless tale about meeting a robot. There's some nice DX7 sounds on "Is There Any Difference?" and "Elgy" is a torch song that gives you a chance to go to the bar. The last three songs seem to be an amorphous mass typical eighties sounds with only the occasional "rap" or organ solo penetrating the mediocrity. 2.5/5
