Information Society (album)
Debut synth-pop album featuring CD+G content and four singles.
Information Society, the debut album from the American synth-pop group of the same name, arrived on June 21, 1988, through Tommy Boy and Reprise Records. It marked their first major-label release after two independent EPs. The RIAA certified it gold on December 6, 1988, for half a million copies shipped in the US. The album produced four singles, including their biggest hit, "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)," and was among the few albums issued in the CD+G format.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Information Society
- Released
- 21 June 1988
- Recorded
- Platinum Island (New York City); Nicollet (Minneapolis)
- Genre
- Electropop; synth-pop
- Label
- Tommy Boy, Reprise
- Producer
- Fred Maher, Paul Robb
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy) | Robb, Kurt Valaquen | 4:33 |
| 2 | Tomorrow | Robb, Amanda Kramer, Valaquen | 4:08 |
| 3 | Lay All Your Love on Me | Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus | 3:39 |
| 4 | Repetition | Robb | 4:32 |
| 5 | Walking Away | Robb | 5:01 |
Track listing from the source article.
Did You Know?
- All tracks were produced by Fred Maher except "Running", which was produced by Paul Robb.
- The album divides its tracks into two thematic sections, "Software" and "Hardware".
Production
The album stood out for including CD+G content, a feature rare on records at the time. Since the CD+G format never became popular and compatible players are now hard to find, the band later posted all that content on their website. Two tracks, "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" and "Walking Away," appeared on a sampler disc that came with the Sega CD to demonstrate the console's CD+G abilities; that disc used the same graphics as the album. According to the CD+G notes, the production relied on an Akai S-900 sampler, an E-MU SP-12 drum machine, two Prophet 2002 samplers, eight Yamaha TX rack modules, a Moog Minimoog synthesizer, three Roland Super Jupiter synths, a Roland JX-3P synth, and a Roland S-50 synth. The album was first recorded to floppy disk using Voyetra Technology's Sequencer Plus MK III MIDI sequencer software in summer 1987. It was then transferred to 48-track analog tape in autumn 1987, when vocals were added, and finally mixed down to a stereo master in winter 1987–1988.
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