The Human League

Reproduction (1979) ...

The original group formed around 1977 from a group known as The Future.  This was their first album, when they still had more in common with Cabaret Voltaire than Culture Club ...

Empire State Human ...
  

It’s just so dark. Throughout the record there’s a lack of hope for the world and apathy for humankind strewn across the futuristic electro warbles and detached vocals and lyrics heard on virtually every track. On paper, that sounds unpleasant, but in reality it’s a well formed brand of synth-pop that doesn‘t care for commercial approval. It has its own flavour; it’s own sense of style and a clear idea of what it wants to be - cold futurist music, deployed using (at the time) cutting edge synthesisers to create a danceable, yet moody form of electronic music for those outside the realms of pop’s rose-tinted glasses... sputnikmusic.com ...

The Path of Least Resistance ...

The Circus of Death ...
  

  
Austerity/Girl One ... 

 Before The Human League re-branded themselves as chart storming, synth-pop giants (female backing singers and all) upon the release of the critically lauded 'Dare' in 1981, they released a pair of albums that were perhaps the most cold and dehumanised form of synth-pop ever heard. It’s almost so unfamiliar that some listeners may doubt the robotic beats of 'Being Boiled' or the eerie dirge of 'The Path Of Least Resistance' could have ever come from the same band who; a few member changes and a stylistic rethink later; produced enduring, pop leviathans like 'Don't You Want Me' a couple of years following... sputnikmusic.com ...

Blind Youth ...