Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
Studio album by
Art of Noise
Released19 June 1984 (1984-06-19)
Recorded28 February 1983 – 1 April 1984
Genre
Length41:15
Label
ProducerArt of Noise
Art of Noise chronology
Into Battle with the Art of Noise
(1983)		 Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
(1984)		 Daft
(1985)
Singles from Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
  1. "Beat Box"
    Released: December 1983
  2. "Close (to the Edit)"
    Released: October 1984
  3. "Moments in Love"
    Released: 1 April 1985

Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? is the debut studio album by English avant-garde synth-pop group Art of Noise, released on 19 June 1984 by ZTT Records. It features the singles "Close (to the Edit)" which reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1984 and the double A-sided "Moments in Love"/"Beat Box", which made it to No. 51 in April 1985 in the UK.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]
Pitchfork8.6/10[3]

In a retrospective review, Charles Waring of Record Collector magazine gave the album four out of five stars and called it a "techno-pop classic". He said that it encapsulates both the popularity of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer and popular music in 1984—"the dawn of a new pop sensibility where sequencers, samplers and drum machines held sway".[4] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani also gave it four stars and said that it was "as subtly influential as Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express". He found its "blend of experimental rock and New Wave" both "brash" and innovative, and said that the album is "at times irksome but always groundbreaking."[5] In his five-star review of the album, AllMusic's Ned Raggett called it an "entertaining and often frightening and screwed-up package", and said that "rarely has something aiming for modern pop status also sought to destroy and disturb so effectively."[6] Ian Wade of The Quietus viewed it as an influential "brilliant racket of" what contemporary listeners of the album believe would be the sound of the future, and called its music "thrillingly inventive, reasonably danceable and full of interesting bits to laugh, love and dance to."[7]

Pitchfork critic Tom Ewing gave the album's deluxe reissue a score of 8.6 out of 10 and said that it "flirts with annoyance and even boredom", but "could also be thrilling", and concluded in his review that it is "as sly, stirring, and occasionally infuriating now as it was on release."[3] The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said that, although its "concatenation of musical-instrument imitations and collapsing new sound effects" begets occasional interest and groove, only "Close (To the Edit)" sustains its performance.[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley

Side one: A Time to Hear
No.TitleLength
1."A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid)"4:43
2."Beat Box (Diversion One)"8:33
3."Snapshot"1:00
4."Close (To the Edit)"5:41
Side two: Who's Listening
No.TitleLength
5."Who's Afraid (of the Art of Noise?)"4:22
6."Moments in Love"10:17
7."Memento"2:14
8."How to Kill"2:44
9."Realisation"1:41
1994 Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Close Up"7:42

Charts

1984–1987 chart performance for Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
Chart (1984–1987) Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 30
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[9] 89
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 35
UK Albums (OCC)[11] 27
US Billboard 200[12] 85
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[13] 22
2011 chart performance for Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?
Chart (2011) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[14] 37

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Mike (1 January 1998). "The Art of Noise". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 22–24.
  2. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 16 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. 1 2 Ewing, Tom (9 September 2011). "Art of Noise: Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise [Deluxe Edition]". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Waring, Charles (November 2011). "Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise – Art Of Noise". Record Collector. No. 394. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (2 November 2002). "The Art of Noise: (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise!". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? - The Art of Noise". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Wade, Ian (26 September 2011). "The Art of Noise". The Quietus. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Art of Noise – (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums". Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 7. 18 February 1985. p. 14. OCLC 29800226.
  10. ↑ "Charts.nz – The Art of Noise – (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  11. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "The Art of Noise Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "The Art of Noise Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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