808 State Gorgeous

808 State: Graham Massey, Andrew Barker, Darren Partington.
Additioanl personnel includes: Ian McCulloch, Caroline Seaman, Rachel MacFarlane, Barrington Stuart (vocals).
GORGEOUS represents 808 State at something of a creative crossroads. Despite having become dance club phenomenons worldwide and being cited in many circles as progenitors of the electro/techno second wave, they decided to pursue more commercial pastures with this LP.
GORGEOUS sports some of the band's more accessible material yet. They still use an enormous assortment of vintage and contemporary equipment, including old analog synths and now-quaint drum machines, in their sonic fabric; but the more pronounced use of vocals takes them away from the new age/house subgenre they pioneered and sets them squarely in radio-friendly territory. "10 X 10" is pure Chicago house with a big beat synth chug, while "Colony" is a beatbox anthem similar to earlier tracks "Boneyween" and "Pacific." "Moses" utilizes the solemn singing talents of New Order's Bernard Sumner, and is the perfect marriage of NO's obsessive rhythms and 808 State's tremolo synth licks. More bang for your buck here, too: GORGEOUS features 15 tracks in all, enough 808 State to make the whole family happy.

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Electronic/Dance