A Flock of Seagulls: album reviews and ratings

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	A Flock of Seagulls

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"This new-wave electro-pop group from Liverpool, England, had remarkable success in the USA before finding a large following in Britain. The band comprised Mike Score ( keyboards, vocals), Ali Score (drum machine, vocals), Paul Reynolds (guitar) and Frank Maudsley (bass). Following an adventurous EP on Bill Nelson 's Cocteau label the band made their album debut with A Flock Of Seagulls, a splendid example of futurist pop that contained a number of notable tracks including 'I Ran (So Far Away)', which made the US Top 10 in July 1982. Ex-hairdresser Mike Score received numerous press jibes for his 'silly haircut'; he had cultivated his none-too-natural blond locks to hang irritatingly over his keyboards. Although Listen was another infectious collection of songs, they were unable to find any lasting popularity in their homeland to back up the success of 'Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)', which reached number 10 in November 1982. Paul Reynolds departed after the release of The Story Of A Young Heart. That album and Dream Come True (made as a trio) were way below par and the band subsequently disintegrated. Score organized a new version of the band in 1989, who toured the USA and issued a single 'Magic', of which commodity this band had little. They, too, broke up. Score resurfaced once more in 1995 with The Light At The End Of The World."

-- Muze UK Ltd

A Flock of Seagulls Discography - Album / CD Reviews

¾ 1982: A Flock of Seagulls
"(...) I Ran - the first single - is a song about being abducted by a UFO which came into the houses of many young Americans when MTV (then in its infancy) played it over and over and over. In it Mike wears his waterfall haircut, as he and the band play in a room decorated with aluminum foil as the camera pans around and around. The video was simplistic but the futuristic images, sight of the band, and the superior music drove I Ran to 9th place on US charts.
Ironically, A Flock of Seagulls became forever known for I Ran but there were many other fine songs on their first album. Space Age Love Song - is a song touching all the emotions of someone falling in love and DNA won a Grammy for best rock instrumental. The other songs have futuristic themes and upbeat, melodic music - all of which became the hallmark of A Flock of Seagulls."

-- Chris Mehelis, via aflockofseagulls.co.uk

½ 1983: Listen
"Listen spawned only one hit, but it's a gem; the multi-layered, hypnotic Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You). Other standouts include the eerie, moody Nightmares, with its sparse guitar and synthesizer squawks and a surprisingly effective ballad Transfer Affection. Ultimately, the band loses the plot on the second half, when they seem to forget melodies and focus on hardware. Although, the Bill Nelson-produced (It's Not Me) Talking is a bracing, breakneck tempo return to their interest in aliens. Listen is most likely to be enjoyed most by fans of the band only. "

-- Tom Demalon, AMG

1984: The Story of a Young Heart
"The less-cluttered, more-polished sound of album is undermined by the limited vocal ability of singer Mike Score. His monotone delivery fails to imbue the songs with any warmth. The More You Live, the More You Love is as good as anything they've done and gave the band one final chart hit, stalling at number 54. Otherwise, the best stuff is near the end and sounds most reminiscent of their debut. Over My Head and Heart of Steel bound along but sound thin. However, they almost recapture their hyperkinetic glory with Remember David. The Story of a Young Heart is the sound of a band slowly losing momentum "

-- Tom Demalon, AMG

1986: Dream Come True
"...without Reynolds' participation, A Flock of Seagulls floundered. Dream Come True didn't make the charts on either side of the Atlantic and the band soon called it quits. "

-- Frank Tortorici

1987: Best of Flock of Seagulls
A collection of their best songs and their biggest hits from I Ran and Space Age Love Song to Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You) and The More you Live, The More you Love. Unfortunately Remember David is not featured on this album.

1995: The Light at The End of The World

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