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AT THE END OF A CENTURY

Thoughout the 1980s the Art of Noise were at the forefront of modern technology, pioneering the then new concept of digital sampling, influencing a generation of musicians, sound engineers and record producers alike. By 1990 the two remaining members of the group, Anne Dudley & J.J. Jeczalik decided that their work was done when sampling had become available to the masses. As an avid fan since September 1983, I, like a lot of others was quite sad when the news was announced only a few weeks after the release of the hit single Art Of Love and their remix compilation album The Ambient Collection.

For the majority of that decade, enthusiasts like my self had to endure another two remix albums in attempt to keep the spirit of group alive by China Records, as more and more contemporary dance artists of the time were acknowledging the group as their idols, making way for a new audience to discover their music, albeit in bastardised forms. However Art of Noise themselves were busy not being Art of Noise as they were all working on other projects.

A few weeks before the third and thankfully last remix album was released, the first proper Art of Noise spin-off project, or sequel, depending on one's point of view emerged in the form of an album by Art of Silence, the brainchild of Jeczalik. It got positive praise by fans and rave reviews in the dance music press. However by early 1997 he had retired from the music industry ending what at the time seemed like the end of the Art of Noise for good. Shortly after we would be proved wrong when another spin-off project began to take shape in the form of the Image of a Group, a collaboration with original members Dudley, Trevor Horn, Paul Morley with a new member, Lol Creme of 10cc and Godley & Creme fame began working on Horn’s concept album idea based around the music of the French composer Claude Debussy that would eventually end up being released in 1999 as The Seduction Of Claude Debussy, the fifth Art of Noise and the first in a decade. The roots of that released album are included here as two prototype versions on the first two discs of this three set.

CD1 Balance - Music For The Eye: This previously unreleased album is presented in its pure unadulterated form. More tranquil and less bombastic than its overcooked commercial counterpart it allows the melodic themes of Debussy room to breath, taking them in different directions to those we have been used to hearing over the last fifteen years. From a production point of view it is an ambitiously polished work and stands up to the test of time. In many ways far better than the album we've been accustomed to with the use of more subtle drum & bass rhythms and tones. Throughout the sixty-nine minute duration it gives the listener a pleasant, refreshing feel with more prominent darker ambient moods and incorporated smooth jazz vibes. It is a timeless classic that never was, an album that could have easily have reached the top of the Smooth Jazz album charts. With its fusion of classical elements it reiterates and emphasises that all genres of music can coexist together, by breaking down musical boundaries to create something new that transcends conformist convention. Unlike The Seduction Of Claude Debussy, all of the monologues are performed by Morley as introductions to the three parts that make up this album and it feels easier to listen to the tracks individually without them sounding like they have been taken out of context. It is a shame that Balance - Music For The Eye was never released in its own right as it would have been an excellent debut for the Image of a Group. Alas this was not to be after Horn decided to shelve it and start again after Jeczalik allowed them to use the Art of Noise name. The results of that material appear as the second version of the album on disc two.

CD2 The Production Of Claude Debussy (The Producer’s Cut) Formerly only available as an advanced promotional copy of The Seduction Of Claude Debussy is now commercially available for the very first time with four addition tracks. It is essentially the same as the released version with a few alternate unfinished mixes of certain tracks with a discretely different running order. After listening to disc one the listener is now hit with rampaging drum & bass rhythms, orchestral arrangements, Sally Bradshaw operatic vocals, John Hurt’s gripping narration of the life and times of Debussy. Donna Lewis and Carol Kenyon provided vocals with raps provided by non other than Rakim. Horn co-produced a large part of the album with other producers including Henry Jackman, Way Out West, Sharktank and Ollie J that gave it a contemporary dance sound of that period. The album is more concise than the first version allowing the music to flow from one track to the next by gathering momentum until it stops to breath before picking up speed and races to the end to bow out gracefully with the final track. The additional tracks are remixes of Dreaming mixed by Brothers In Rhythm that feel like a missed opportunity as they were once considered to be included as tracks on a follow-up single to Metaforce.

DVD The Image Of A Group At The End Of A Century: A potpourri of concert footage, electronic press kits, rehearsal footage, promotional videos and scratch videos that cover this period of Art of Noise's history. A Private Audience With Art Of Noise (Live at Coexistence, 01 June 2000) and A Public Audience With Art Of Noise (Live at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22 March 2000) are two takes on the same show presented in full for the very first time are more coherent than the previously released DVD Into Vision that kept cutting between footage from the Coachella Festival, Shepherds Bush and Wembley. The only downside is that there is no 5.1 surround sound on this release but the amount of footage on this disc alone makes up for that.

Now after more than fifteen years since the release of The Seduction Of Claude Debussy, At The End Of A Century gives fans a new perspective of the music created from that period of time, an insight to what was and could have been. It is a portal to the past of which the likes of the over-hyped Spice Girls along with the overrated Oasis ruled the charts rather than radical innovative music that has been synonymous with the Art of Noise making them stand out from their contemporaries and peers as one of the most influential groups in music history, ironically keeping a low profile as they went along.

As ever with the every release in the Element series, number thirty-seven's packaging is first rate. Included within the lavish three disc digipak is a very well documented booklet with sleeve notes by Paul Morley and curator Ian Peel along with previously unreleased pictures.

- KM Whitehouse, January 2015