Romantic?

It's been 4 years since the last proper studio album, Crash, a piece of work, where their popularity underwent a certain metamorphosis. Some estranged fans, seeing the 1986's album's R&B influences and only a handful of the band's original tracks, must have felt the band was finished. While having a US top one hit with "Human" (which was a Top ten hit in the UK), the style changed, Ian Burden and Adrian Wright left following creative disagreements. Phil Oakey was alone with Joanne and Susan, and the band clearly needed a new direction.Virgin was also hardly interested in the band (although it was the Virgin which made a big mistake with a second single from Crash, which flopped badly), and believed their once most profitable act was over.Phil joined forces with Russel Dennet and Neil Sutton, and the five-piece band started working on a new album, which for many was a come-back album, although it's been only two years since the band's last release (a Greatest Hits compilation).The restructured Human League came up with a total of ten tracks which form this album, the title of which casts an ironic eye on the band's past in the New Romantic wave of the 80s.As for me the album has some great moments, but it also suffers from a lack of strong numbers. The kick-off, the messy Kiss the Future, is somewhat enjoyable, but slightly too weak for an opener. It segues rather clumsily into A Doorway, where we have Susan on vocals. And it is actually one of the better tracks here. Produced by Mark Brydon (who would later form Moloko) it has nice clubby feel and a driving melody. Not a big blockbuster, but fair enough. This song stays in my mind and is enjoyable. Heart Like a Wheel and the other single, Soundtrack to a Generation are probably the strongest tracks here (both have great lyrics!). Men Are Dreamers is a nice rock ballad.The more electronic Rebound and The Stars are Going Out are also one of the better tracks. Stars... is actually my favourite track off the album, too bad it did not make it to be a single. It has single written all over it - great melody line, somber electronic arrangement with the girls contributing in the choruses. And above all, it has great lyrics, something which is quite rare for Human League (I'm sorry to say that). Get It Right This Time is also enjoyable, but not particularly outstanding. The cover version of Gary Glitter's, Let's Get Together Again, sounds a bit flat and simplistic. And the easily worst track is Mister Moon and Mister Sun. The horror! Kurtz would cry out. I ALWAYS skip it. Waste of time.All in all the album couldn't bring the band back to the highest chart positions, but at least the two singles were decent enough. Maybe if Virgin invested more in the band, there would be something more to it? Certainly this is not a thoroughly weak album, it just lacks fresh ideas and better songwriting, but is otherwise rather fine. The next CD, Octopus brought back what was missing here - fresh, crisp sound and production.

This album was the end of Human League as far as Virgin Records were concerned. It was an almost total failure, peaking at number 24 in the UK and only delivering the minor hit single Heart Like a Wheel (# 29 in the UK in late 1990). Follow up single Soundtrack to a Generation (actually one of my faves from this album) flopped totally (# 77), causing Virgin to drop HL. The sound if Romantic? is a little dated tis true, but it is still a fantastic album with great songwriting, fab musicianship, loads of singalong choruses and hooks that stick in the brain all day long. Personally, this is in my Top 3 HL albums and I wore my cassette version out with repeated playing, so thought it was time to get the CD and stick it on my iPod. Favourite tracks here are Kiss the Future (rumoured to be an aborted third single - should still have been released as it is so catchy and a great album opener), Heart Like a Wheel, Men Are Dreams, Soundtrack to a Generation and Rebound. Such a shame this album was panned and remains so underrated. Would love to hear HL play more songs from Romantic? in their gigs. If you're an avid fan, it is a must for your collection. If you're new to HL, I highly recommend getting a copy of this album, it's fab!

Hi it's me again Ms Sue Birchenall. I am in love with this C.D it's great if you get the chance to listen to this CD please try it well done Human League 😘👍😍👌. Yours faithfully Ms Sue Birchenall 😎❣️😍👌.

Good quality product, delivered promptly.

Good album not one of there best but decent

Nothing to say, really.

Very pleased with my purchase.

I would definitely recommend this dvd to any Human League fan. Once again they have produced an excellent album. Fantastic!