CD-Charts Position 1
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Greatest Hits

by: Human League

Release Date October 30, 1995
I would like to take this opportunity to express my feelings not only about this album but also about the Human League who are one of my favourite bands and an inspiration, not only for their music but their togetherness as a band.

Firstly, the Greatest Hits album. The only track I'm not too keen on is the remix of 'Don't You Want Me' at the end, which I find a bit tacky (couldn't Virgin have put 'Heart Like A Wheel' on instead?). The other tracks on the album are of at least a good standard, with my favourites being 'Love Is All That Matters', 'Together In Electric Dreams', 'Human', 'Mirror Man' and 'Tell Me When' which was the song that introduced me to the band. Overall it is a superb collection of fine electronic music.
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CD-Charts Position 2
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Dare

by: Human League

Release Date January 06, 2003

Dare is one of the most memorable albums of the synth-pop genre of the late 70s and early 80s, in the company of masterpieces like Architecture & Morality by OMD, Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics and Upstairs at Eric's by Yaz(oo). True, Gary Numan had conquered the charts by synthesizer in 1979 but his was a darker vision and more properly called synth-rock, just like the Human League's first two albums of dark eerie music: Reproduction and Travelogue.

This 3rd album, however, is pure brilliant pop created by synths and syndrums. The songs are catchy, tuneful and emotionally profound, which is why this album has remained such a timeless treasure. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of, Love Action (I Believe In Love), Don't You Want ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Love and Dancing: Instrumental Remixes

by: Human League

Release Date January 06, 2003
The term 'classic' is horribly overused in music these days, but in 1981 the Human League released the 'classic' electropop album 'Dare'. They were the coolest band in 1981 turning out singles like 'Sound of The Crowd', 'Love Action', 'Open Your Heart' and of course 'Don't You Want Me'. All were included on 'Dare' and are also included here in remixed instrumental form. I'm so used to hearing the single version of 'Don't You Want Me' on the radio and TV that I had forgotten what a great song it is. This is brought home when you listen to it in it's instrumental version on this album . This album was released in 1982 as a stop gap between 'Dare' and the Leagues next ablum. However, it is so much more than a stop-gap album and is in my opinion equal in quality ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Reproduction

by: Human League

Release Date January 06, 2003

You can take this album on a couple of levels - the first steps along the way for a classic 80s band? The early experimentation of some pop icons? The first stirrings of a new sound? It was certainly cutting edge for it's time, with basically keyboard, vocals and electro percussion. This was the synth pop sound, not synth rock as per Duran and Depeche. And it's raw, not all polished up like the sound became by the mid 80s with Erasure etc.

Question is, why would anyone want to listen to this in 2000 and something, some 20 to 30 years on? Well, because behind some bad lyrics and some squeaky fx that are in there just for the point of it, you have some classic tunes, that still reward a listen. Blind Youth has a euphoric melody line, and a ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Travelogue

by: Human League

Release Date January 06, 2003
The League's finest hour is also a key work in the canon of '70s/'80s electronica and fit to rank alongside Bowie's 'Low'. Worth owning if only for the supercharged reworked of 'Being Boiled', the defiantly bleak 'Life Kills', and the hilariously doomy version of 'Rock 'n Roll. Dark, compelling and endlessly inventive.

CD-Charts Position 6
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Original Remixes and Rarities

by: Human League

Release Date November 07, 2005
As a Human League die-hard since the age of 12 (and i'll be 40 in 2009)these reviews need balancing up. This release was intended for the die-hard fans ONLY - not the casual fan. Casuals fans won't want "b" sides or anything from an old master tape found in a cupboard from 20 years ago.

I for one was really pleased to see this released - great to finally have "You Remind Me Of Gold" on CD and "Total Panic" which I had on a 3" cd single that got worn out.

Yes...Virgin records COULD have done a better job of the track listing - a lot of stuff left off here (and why wasn't their back catalogue re-released in the UK with these tracks on anyway...like America got. Had to get them on import)

Great artwork though - nice play on the Secrets album - a fantastic ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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The Very Best of the Human League

by: Human League

Release Date September 15, 2003
...it's OK, but how could ANY compilation of Human League music claiming to be the "Very BEST" omit the song "SECONDS"...?!! I dunno, call me an idiot, but I think that was their one truly great song. Not exactly a dance hall hit, but at least it meant something!

CD-Charts Position 8
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The Best of The Human League

by: Human League

Release Date January 05, 1998
Seeing as the Human League released a greatest hits package in 1995, it is difficult to see the purpose of this "Best Of" compilation issued 2 years later.Familiar hits like "Love action", "The sound of the crowd" & "Mirror Man" are all included here & still sound fantastic but why these great songs have been chosen when "Don't you want me" is glaringly absent is a mystery.The most interesting part of this collection is hearing some of the less well known tracks from their back catalogue including early recording "Hard times", & "Seconds" & "Do or die" from the hugely successful "Dare" album, which broke new ground in the development of synth pop & like Heaven 17 brought an introspective intelligence ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Hysteria

by: Human League

Release Date July 23, 1984
Let's get serious for a moment. Hysteria is the Human League's best album. Following on after a huge selling album is, to some ears, impossible and I suspect the knives were poised before it was released. 'Dare' was an outstanding album, with at least four great pop songs - but 'Hysteria' is more consistent over all ten tracks. The introduction of guitar and bass guitar gives the sound more breadth and gravitas. Indeed, the bass-lines on this album are some of the most impressive ever committed to recorded music, particularly 'I Love You Too Much' and 'The Lebanon'...well, all of them really. If your ears are attuned to low frequencies you'll love this - 'Dare' sounds a bit plastic and tinny in comparison. The whole effort is very tight and, while it doesn't offer as great a song as 'Don't You Want Me', you never ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Octopus

by: Human League

Release Date January 01, 1995
At the time this was hailed as something of a return to form. Not entirely true, but it is the first time since Dare that a Human League album had benfited from a consistent production style coming together with fairly strong songwriting.

That said, it still doesn't quite hang together, as wildly different styles of music are attempted across the nine tracks - almost as if they were approaching the album with a 'throw enough mud and some of it will stick' philosophy.

The highlights are the opening trio of glossy pop tracks - the frothy Tell Me When, One Man In My Heart and (the single that should've been) These Are The Days. At the other end of the album, the roaring epic Cruel Young Lover is another strength.

Inbetween, however, we have a strangely mixed bag: the abstract, experimental ... Read More: