The Pleasures Of Electricity
by John Foxx & Louis Gordon

I am a great admirer of John Foxx. This admiration was mainly due to the irresistible and leading "Metamatic", the track "Dislocation" on "Systems of Romance" by Ultravox, his artistic vision and very special and much admired lyrics. Of course I was disappointed when Foxx continued his career after "Metamatic" with "The Golden Section" (New Romantic stuff, but Visage did better) or "Pleasures of Electricity" that can best be described as a tribute to Kraftwerk. Foxx is a better singer than Ralf Hutter, but that also applies to the magic realism of his lyrics. Foxx's partner Louis Gordon provides a number of songs on the album with rhythms, keyboard patterns, synthesizer sounds (the thin solos) and percussion sounds (the swishing snare drum for example) that were copied a bit shamelessly from Kraftwerk. I can only conclude that Foxx is doing everything he can to survive and therefore trades in his unique, somewhat dark artistic vision for more commercial considerations. That is his right, but a great pity for a dedicated fan like myself. John Foxx is just at his best if he stays himself, unpacks with those wonderfully cinematic and disruptive lyrics and opts for melodies with a dark edge. The strongest song (and what one!) is "A Funny Thing" and that song does not refer to Kraftwerk or other musicians. This is vintage Foxx: special lyrics ("You mixed yourself with me"), strong melodies, beautiful intro with synths and strings, and good, credible vocals. It should be noted that the cover (source: a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte) does live up to expectations.