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Listen (A Flock of Seagulls album)

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Listen is the second studio album by English new wave band A Flock of Seagulls, released on 29 April 1983 by Jive Records. It once again teamed the group with record producer Mike Howlett—who produced their self-titled debut album—except on "(It's Not Me) Talking", which was produced by Bill Nelson. The album includes the UK top-10 single "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)". Other singles released from the album include "Nightmares" and "Transfer Affection". The face on the cover is that of the band's drummer, Ali Score.

Listen
Studio album by
A Flock of Seagulls
Released29 April 1983
Recorded1982–1983
StudioConny Plank's Studio (Neunkirchen, West Germany)
Genre
Length42:02
LabelJive
Producer
A Flock of Seagulls chronology
A Flock of Seagulls
(1982) 		Listen
(1983) 		The Story of a Young Heart
(1984)
Singles from Listen
  1. "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)"
    Released: 22 October 1982
  2. "Nightmares"
    Released: 8 April 1983
  3. "Transfer Affection"
    Released: 10 June 1983
  4. "(It's Not Me) Talking"
    Released: 26 August 1983[2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
Smash Hits3/10[5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[6]
The Village VoiceB+[7]

Reception

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Listen received generally positive reviews. While Tom Demalon of AllMusic retrospectively felt the album was "sterile" and inconsistent, he found "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" to be "multilayered [and] hypnotic" while also praising "Nightmares" and "Transfer Affection".[3]

Robert Christgau joked that the album's "aural pleasure" of "whooshes and zooms...and computerized ostinatos" could make Mr. Spock dance. He gave the album a B+ rating.[8]

Reissues

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Listen has been released with varying track listings on at least three separate occasions. The original 1983 release, the 1992 CD Beehive label release, 2004 Superfecta Recordings release and the 2010 Cherry Red release.

The cassette version and the 1992 CD version (on the Beehive label) contain the original LP tracks in a slightly different order, with the additional tracks "Rosenmontag", "Quicksand", and "The Last Flight of Yuri Gagarin" interspersed (although the track listing for the CD edition, printed on the inserts and the disc itself, incorrectly follows the LP track listing above rather than reflecting the disc's actual contents).

The 2004 CD version contains the 10 LP tracks in the order, followed by three bonus tracks—"Committed", "Quicksand", and a live rendition of "I Ran (So Far Away)". "(It's Not Me) Talking" was released in 1981, two years before Listen was released on Nelson's Cocteau label. The version of the song used on Listen is a re-recorded version; as a consequence, the Cocteau version has yet to see a CD release.[9]

The 2010 Cherry Red release has the 10 LP tracks in the order, followed by the B-sides "Committed", "Quicksand" and "Tanglimara" and the remixes of "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" and "Nightmares".

Track listing

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Original LP

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All tracks are written by Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds

No.TitleLength
1."Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)"5:30
2."Nightmares"4:39
3."Transfer Affection"5:21
4."What Am I Supposed to Do"4:13
5."Electrics"3:36
6."The Traveller"3:27
7."2:30"1:00
8."Over the Border"5:04
9."The Fall"4:29
10."(It's Not Me) Talking"5:00
Total length:42:02
2010 Cherry Red CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" (extended version)9:36
12."Committed"5:37
13."Nightmares" (12″ version)5:05
14."Quicksand"4:43
15."Tanglimara"4:30

Total length 1:12:05

Cassette

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Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)"5:31
2."Nightmares"4:37
3."Transfer Affection"5:21
4."What Am I Supposed to Do"4:13
5."The Fall"4:30
6."Rosenmontag"4:03
Side two
No.TitleLength
7."Electrics"3:33
8."The Traveller"3:26
9."2:30"0:59
10."Over the Border"5:04
11."(It's Not Me) Talking"5:00
12."Quicksand"4:44
13."The Last Flight of Yuri Gagarin"6:06

This track listing was also used for the 1992 Beehive Trading Ltd. CD reissue.

Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Listen
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Mella, Alfie (31 July 2019). "A Flock of Seagulls - Inflight (Album Review)". Cryptic Rock. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Music Week magazine" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b Demalon, Tom. "Listen – A Flock of Seagulls". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). "A Flock of Seagulls". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  5. ^ de Lisle, Tim (28 April 1983). "Albums". Smash Hits. p. 43. ISSN 0260-3004 – via Flickr.
  6. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (26 July 1983). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  8. ^ Christgau, Robert (26 July 1983). "A Flock of Seagulls". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  9. ^ Janosik, MaryAnn, ed. (2006). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: The Video Generation, 1981–1990. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-31306-022-9.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6228a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – A Flock of Seagulls – Listen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – A Flock of Seagulls – Listen" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – A Flock of Seagulls – Listen". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – A Flock of Seagulls – Listen". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Billboard 200 – Week of July 16, 1983". Billboard. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Rock Albums" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 95, no. 24. 11 June 1983. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ "The Top Albums of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39, no. 17. 24 December 1983. p. 15. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  20. ^ "Canadian album certifications – A Flock of Seagulls – Listen". Music Canada. 1 February 1984. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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