Go Insane: was it behind the times?
 

I must say, I've always enjoyed the album Go Insane... it's so utterly wacky, fun, and such a moment in time. Every time I listen to this album though, I can't help but think how completely dated and behind the times musically it must have sounded when it came out. To me, all the sonic experimentation, usage of "found objects" sounds, primitive synthesizers, etc would have been pretty cutting edge in the '79-'81 timeframe... but all of these contrivances must have seemed behind the curve when this album emerged in '84. Or am I off base here? Anyone here buy the album when it was first released? If so, what were your impressions? I didn't buy this one until about 10 years ago myself. Love it to death though... always puts me in the best of moods! :thumbsup:

I bought it when it was first released and I didn't think it sounded dated. To me, I automatically embraced it because I thought it better than Law and Order. So, maybe I wasn't comparing it to the music out at the time in general, so much as I was comparing it to Lindsey's other music.

Loved the music; loved the artwork; loved the video.

Michele

I bought this album when it was released. The Loving Cup and Play In The Rain were my favorite tracks for a long time. I liked this whole album and it did not sound dated at the time. it sounded current.

Eh, the Fairlight was still a relevant tool when this album was recorded. While its used gratuitously in certain spots, all in all, it fits in with the jarring nature of the songs & their lyrics. Its appropriately dated.

Now, OOTC? No excuse for that masturbatory Fairlight fest. One of the main reasons why that album sounded already half-a-decade out of date upon its release and why the heavily promoted singles did jack sh*t on rock radio.

I heard 'Go Insane' (the song) when it was first released. I didn't hear Go Insane (the album) until 1988. It didn't sound dated to me even then. But of course, I have always been told I have bad taste when it comes to music!:lol::lol::lol:

OOTC is generally his most liked album by fans. Why do you dislike it so much? I can understand your point about it being out of date at the time since Nirvana and the like were breaking, but I think it's aged better than Law and Order and Go Insane in the long run. I still listen to it as a whole and don't automatically think late eighties/early nineties. Now when I listen to Go Insane it immediately conjures thoughts of eighties nostalgia.

I dunno Louie... for me, Go Insane sounds dated now. I can only imagine it didn't sound dated back in the day. :shrug:

All the best music sounds dated to me - if it didn't, it'd be just as awful as most of the music of today is! :laugh:

go insane
 

That is ridiculous. There is no way his music is dated. Lindsey is a pioneer of his experimental style of music and the reason he is called a visionary is not because of any production of 'dated' sounding music. He is always so far ahead of the game with any music he has ever made. There would be very few musicians who would have ever dedicated so much of their time, talent, creativity and entire life to create such perfection as Lindsey has and stil does. Given his talent and unmatched knowledge of the music industry in general, and his style of music at that time, to suggest that the music sounds dated can only suggest that you may not completely appreciate the musician that he is and the body of work he has created. To question Lindsey's ear for music?? INSANE.

Every rock/pop album that came out in the 80's sounded dated 10 minutes after its release.

It most certainly is dated. 80's cheese. However i enjoy it very very much:D

Mick

I can't recall a single person -- fan, DJ, critic, musician -- who listened to GO INSANE in 1984 & thought or said, "This approach is already five years old."

In fact, you're the first person I've heard say that. It's 2010.

But that's not Louie's assertion. He asserts that people listening in 1984 thought it sounded dated at that time.

I'm not saying the Fairlight was obsolete by '84... we all know it was quite relevant right through the '80s. I'm just saying Lindsey's implementation of it was dated. The usage of found sounds, the looping of one particular noise... people like Peter Gabriel had already done all that, years before. Obviously Go Insane was still out of the mainstream... but it was rather behind the groundbreaking curve.