Art Of Noise

Country: London, England

Genre: New Wave - Pop/Rock - Ambient

Anne Dudley, Gary Langan, and Paul Morley were members of producer Trevor Horn's in-house studio band in the early '80s before they formed the Art of Noise, a techno-pop group whose music was an amalgam of studio gimmickry, tape splicing, and synthesized beats. The Art of Noise took material from a variety of sources: hip-hop, rock, jazz, R&B, traditional pop, found sounds, and noise all worked their way into the group's distinctly postmodern soundscapes.

Dudley was the center of the group, having arranged and produced material for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, ABC, and Paul McCartney before forming the Art of Noise. The trio signed with Trevor Horn's ZTT label, releasing their first EP, Into Battle With the Art of Noise, in 1983. The following year, the group released the full-length (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise!, which featured the hit single "Close (To the Edit)."

After "Close (To the Edit)," the group parted ways with Horn and ZTT, releasing In Visible Silence in 1986; the album included the U.K. Top Ten hit "Peter Gunn," which featured Duane Eddy on guitar. Re-works of the Art of Noise, an album of remixes and live tracks, was released that same year. In No Sense? Nonsense!, released in 1987, saw the band experimenting with orchestras and choirs, as well as horns and rock bands. The next year, the Art of Noise released a greatest-hits collection, The Best of the Art of Noise, which featured their collaboration with Tom Jones on Prince's "Kiss."

Below the Waste (1990) captured the band experimenting with world music; it received a lukewarm critical and commercial reception. The following year, a low-key remix album directed by Killing Joke's Youth called The Ambient Collection appeared. Later in the year, the Art of Noise broke up. Dudley eventually worked with Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman and Phil Collins. Horn, Dudley, and Morley reunited in 1999 for a new album, The Seduction of Claude Debussy. Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were added to the lineup.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

ART OF NOISE ALBUMS

2006

 

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Disc 1:

1. Beat Box (One Made Earlier)
2. Once Upon A Lime
3. War (Demo 2)
4. Close To The Edge
5. Confession
6. Moments In Love
7. Sign Of Relief
8. Who's Afraid Of Scale
9. So What Happens Now (Take 2)
10.  The Subject has Moved Left
11.  It's Not Fair
12.  Close To The Edge (Ruff Mix)
13.  A Time For Fear (Who's Afraid)
14.  Moments In Bed

Disc 2:

1. Moments In Love (12" B Side Idea)
2. Tears Out Of A Stone
3. Samba #2
4. The Chain Of Chance
5. Fairlight-in-th-Being
6. Diversions 3
7. Close (To Being Compiled)
8. Diversions 5
9. Damn It All!
10.  Structure
11.  The Angel Reel: Hymn 1 (Take 2)
12.  The Angel reel: Hymn 3
13.  The Angel Reel: Fairground
14.  And What Have You Done Wity My Body, God?
15.  Klimax
16.  Who Knew?

Disc 3:

1. War (Demo 4)
2. The Focus Of Satisfaction
3. Moments In Love (7" Master Rejected)
4. It Stopped
5. The Uncertainty Of Syrup
6. The Long Hello
7. The Vacuum Divine
8. The Ambassador's Reel: Beat Box
9. The Ambassador's Reel: Medley
10.  The Ambassador's Reel: Oobly
11.  Goodbye Art Of Noise

Disc 4:

1. Battle
2. Beat Box
3. The Army Now
4. Donna
5. Moments In Love
6. Bright Noise
7. Flesh In Armour
8. Comes And Goes
9. Moment In Love
10.  That Was Close
11.  Moments In Love + Love Beaten
12.  Love Beat
13.  In Case We Sneezed
14.  A Time To Hear (Who's Listening)
15.  (Do) Donna (Do)