Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain is the debut album by English new wave group China Crisis released in 1982. It spent 17 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at number 21 in February 1983.[2]
Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 12 November 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1980-82 | |||
Studio | Amazon Studios, Liverpool; Strawberry South, Stockport; Red Bus Studios, London | |||
Genre | New wave | |||
Length | 39:30 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | Peter Walsh, Steve Levine, China Crisis, Gil Norton, Jeremy Lewis | |||
China Crisis chronology | ||||
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Singles from Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain | ||||
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The album was recorded during a long period of time in different studios with different producers. Half the album that eventually made up side two on the album was recorded on an eight-track studio in Liverpool before China Crisis had signed with Virgin Records. "African and White" was produced by Jeremy Lewis. The other half of the album that made up side one was produced by Steve Levine (two tracks) and Peter Walsh (three tracks).[3]
All tracks written by Daly/Lundon/Reilly.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [5] |
In a retrospective AllMusic review Stephen Schnee wrote that the duo of Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon "made their fascinating debut, Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain, on a low budget, and their magic was already in place, especially on the Steely Dan-ish "No More Blue Horizons," the upbeat groove of "Some People I Know to Lead Fantastic Lives" and "You Never See It", the gorgeous "Christian," and their early hit "African and White." Their quirkiness doesn't quite translate on a few tracks ("Temptation's Big Blue Eyes" and "Are We a Worker"), but the charm of this album will win you over if you like smart, yet slightly eccentric, pop songs. It is plainly obvious that, no matter how uncommercial a particular song may be, the boys in China Crisis put their heart and soul into it, creating something uniquely their own, and building upon it."[5]
In a Trouser Press review of the album Jim Green wrote: "The rhythms — R&B, funk, reggae, Afro-gypsy, bossa nova — are so gently, modestly, melodiously proffered that it goes down too smoothly. Then you notice that the dreamily enunciated sentiments interface the political and the personal, with hopeful dreams and admissions of self-doubt and inner struggle. The cohesive feel is maintained despite four different producers; China Crisis' sturdy intellectual backbone emerges often enough to avoid wimpiness."[6]
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Studio albums |
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Other albums |
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Singles |
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