LANDSCAPE
From The Tearooms Of Mars

Reviewed By

Best known of course for their classic piece of electropop 'Einstein A Go Go' (which is on this album and sounds a great as always!) there was more to Landscape. Opening track 'European Man' (released as their debut single in 1980) recalls the early electronic experimentation and innovation of people like John Foxx, Ultravox, and even Sparks - and is an electro skank floorfiller... 'Shake The West Awake' is more minimal and restrained pointing towards the sparse sound that made Einstein A Go Go so memorable, but it's a darker sound than the later pop fare, and would sit well alongside Japan and even Gary Numan.

After having tasted the chart success of Einstein A Go Go the music becomes more blatantly commercial, but Landscape don't seem to be able to recapture the freshness and innovation of their commercial peak and come off sounding like a poor mans Thomas Dolby.

Musically it's the hits 'Einstein A Go Go' and the lesser known 'Norman Bates' that stand out here with other fare sometimes veering too far towards experimental self-indulgence, but listening back to this collection now I think it's evident that Landscape were much overlooked for their electronic experimentation and bleak soundscapes, and while the songs aren't always great ('Face Of The 80's' is a real case in point here!) this is a fascinating record all the same.

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