Dare!

The Artist

The Human League formed in Sheffield in the late 1970s as a stark, experimental synthesizer group fronted by singer Phil Oakey. In 1980 the original lineup split, with two founding members leaving to form Heaven 17. Oakey rebuilt the band around teenage vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, plus new instrumentalists including Jo Callis and Ian Burden. The new lineup traded cold experimentalism for bright, hook-driven synth-pop without losing the band's arty edge. Dare!, their third album, became their commercial breakthrough and remains their defining record.

The Album

Dare! was released by Virgin in 1981 and produced by Martin Rushent, who worked with the band at his own studio in England. Rushent leaned heavily on programmed drum machines and sequenced synthesizers, building tracks with painstaking precision rather than live takes. The result is crisp and glossy, with almost no guitar in sight. It topped the UK charts, and its closing single became a huge transatlantic hit. Thematically, the album circles fame, ambition, power and desire, often with a cool, cinematic detachment.

Listen For

Machine precision. On "The Sound Of The Crowd - Remastered 2002," notice how the programmed drums and pulsing synth bass drive everything. Nothing drifts or swings; the rigidity is the point.

Two sides of a story. "Don't You Want Me" shifts perspective mid-song, as the female vocal answers Oakey's version of events. Listen for how the story changes once she speaks.

Cinematic homage. "Get Carter - Remaster 2002" is a short instrumental nod to a British crime-film theme. Consider how it works as a palate cleanser between heavier moods.

History as pop. "Seconds - Remaster 2002" addresses a political assassination through chilly, hypnotic synths. Notice how the detached delivery makes the subject feel more unsettling.

Oakey's baritone. Pay attention to Oakey's deep, deadpan vocals against the sweeter backing voices on "Open Your Heart - 2002 Mix." The contrast gives the band its distinctive texture.