Proceedings open with the instrumental "Airlane" which has a great melody and some breathless drumming from Ced Sharpley. It's no secret that this album features an enormous amount of the Polymoog keyboard (as distinct from the synthesizer model) preset Vox Humana and the sound is thrown straight at us here. Up next is the classic track "Metal" which has quite polished production to say it was recorded in 1979 by a man who was only 21.
This may be something of an anathema, but I am forced to admit that I'm not much of a fan of "Complex". For me this song is just too ponderous and the scratchy violin really annoys me. "Films" has a killer beat but there is more to enjoy here than just the drumming. Equally "M.E." is more than a just a repurposed sample - it's actually a really good song.
On the flip side, "Tracks" is reminiscent of "We Are So Fragile" from the previous album and sounds a little bit too derivative for me. Similarly "Observer" is almost a rehash of the monster single "Cars" which is also included here and is rightly revered as groundbreaking synth-pop. I have always found the melody and main riff from "Conversation" strangely intriguing and consider the song to be underappreciated. Things round out with "Engineers" which doesn't break from the well worn sonic palette employed by the rest of the disc. This album broke new ground when it was released and it still continues to fascinate today. 4/5
