Review: "1234" by Propaganda (CD, 1990)

This is the 1990 album 1234 by band Propaganda. Is this album of Heavenly words, or does it sound like is it from questionable sources? Read on…

Propaganda - 1234 (1990) album — Propaganda – 1234 album (1990)

Crickets usher us into Vicious Circles, seemingly at night, as synths deliver us some fantastically sinister and mysterious sounds as we head towards the first verse. It’s full of intrigue and drama, and not entirely unlike some Pet Shop Boys or early Goldfrapp tracks. Former vocalist Susanne Freytag sounds fantastic here, backed by Tessa Niles, and she delivers the lyrics with a sort of Shirley Manson/Alison Goldfrapp vibe to her.

Next is an upbeat more pop-ish sounding Heaven Give Me Words which is loaded with bleeping synth sounds and catchy melody. The artwork reveals that William Orbit has a post-production credit here, which makes sense musically. Betsi Miller is joined on vocals by Tessa Niles and Howard Jones and they collectively sound fantastic. The track was rightly released as a single – the lead one – but sadly it stalled at #36.

That’s followed by Your Wildlife and this brings a ton more synth sounds and drum machines. Again, i’m reminded of some early Pet Shop Boys sounds with some Betty Boo-esque rap/vocals from Betsi, and a ton of roaring 80’s rock-pop guitars thrown in. The track is loaded with breathy vocals, and gurgling synths too, but it seems a bit more chaotic than the previous track.

Only One Word follows this, and this track includes Pink Floyd’s guitarist Dave Gilmour, and they put him to good use in the final third of the song with a great solo. It’s quite a gentle sauntering track that evolves as it goes. The track was released as the album’s second and final single, but it failed to find the moderate success of the previous single – falling at #71.

That’s followed by How Much Love which opens as if it’s some kind of Steps track, and then throws in some drum fills, pianos, guitars, and synth pads. Betsi sounds sombre but with delicate vocals here as the track takes a downbeat shift in the chorus, giving her voice a softer but impressive sound. Musically the track feels dated at times, and a bit abstract.

We then get 1m 36s of Vicious (Reprise), which treats us to wafting guitars and mysterious percussive teasings. Musically it sounds nice, but a fully formed song would feel better here.

Ministry Of Fear is next, and this sees the second and final appearance of Susanne Freytag. The track’s use of sampled conversations is wonderfully electronic – and it has 7m 19s to do this in, even if the lyrics are only 21 words long. Musically this sounds great, with a plethora of bleeping and layered synths and vocal samples as if Yello/Erasure’s Vince Clarke or Kraftwerk has popped in to help, but it is at odds with most of what we’ve already heard here on this album.

Then it’s Wound In My Heart, and this returns us to a more fuller sounding song, and i’m initially reminded of The Human League. This mid-tempo track plods well in a wash of heartfelt lyrics, big vocals, and melodic layers of guitars and synths. A simple beat helps carry us along with ease, and perhaps this track could have been a single for them.

The album closes with the Italian titled instrumental track La Carne, La Morte E Il Diavolo (English: Flesh, Death and The Devil). This track is another example of a track that’s good but seems oddly placed here. The synth strings soar well, and the catchy repeated riffs in the song work nicely and help carry along. The morose trumpets and the near choral sounding synths make it feel quite epic, and as if it belongs on the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

Propaganda’s lead single ‘Heaven Give Me Words’ (1990).

VERDICT

Over all, this album is a bit of a jumble of sounds – not quite propaganda – more mixed messages.

Musically it mostly sounds great – a bit dated in a few places – but it has catchy pop songs and an element of serious soundtrack to it. However, this feels odd being sat side-by-side, and it makes it feel a little jarring, or at the least leaves you wishing that the vocalist either had a full set of songs to sing on, or that it was actually a soundtrack instead.

Saying that, the highlights are Heaven Give Me Words which gives us a pop song that should have fared better in the charts (1990 was a bit turbulently weird to be honest!), and the mostly instrumental Ministry Of Fear and Vicious Circle (Reprise).

The lowest point was Only One Word and How Much Love, both of which failed to capture my interest and had some awkward vocals.

Definitely good to have on in the background, but you might want to skip a couple of tracks.