- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Remarkably varied, lush, and fascinating from start to finish, #1 is a great album.
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Alternative PressPoints to a genius that should overtake the world of IDM like a funky tsunami. [Jul 2002, p.81]
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With every nuance filtered through as much electronic buggery as conceivable, #1 is often irresistibly catchy and simultaneously disposable.
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The group's live shows are the stuff of legend--perhaps that's why the act's debut album, #1, seems a bit disappointing without the corresponding over-the-top visuals.
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BlenderSometimes the music can feel as cold and clinical as Kraftwerk, but even then, the lyrics emote wildly. [Jun/Jul 2002, p.106]
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Basically disco with a new-wave spin, it's nothing you haven't heard before--in 1983.
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Entertainment WeeklyIt's both impressive and pointless. [28 Feb 2003, p.79]
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It is not groundbreaking, or particularly clever.
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MixerChannels the voices of Gary Numan and Missing Persons through the mouths of Black Box Recorder and Laurie Anderson. [Jun 2002, p.87]
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MojoWinds the clock back to a mid-'80s electro-soundworld in which melodies are crafted alongside beats, rather than crushed by them, and the tinkle of a keyboard carries a sinister air of mystery. [Mar 2002, p.104]
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#1 is a mixture of sounds already available on many Human League, 808 State and Heaven 17 records, arranged by amateurs exploring their self-obsessed, nerdy sexuality.
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Fischerspooner might be harking back to a more colourful age, but '#1', more than any other album apart from, perhaps, 'Original Pirate Material' is very much The Sound Of Now.
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It's shallow, pretentious, flamboyant, catchy, and just plain freaky at times, but unlike all the empty pop music you hear on mainstream radio today, this is one pop album that gets it right for once, and what a pure blast it is.
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Q MagazineThe future of pop? Only if you've read too many fashion magazines. [June 2002, p.111]
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Long stretches of #1 sound like the synth-pop soundtrack to a vintage video game: thin and static.
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While there's no denying the hedonistic charm of "Emerge" or "Turn On", it's also obvious that the album slips easily into a beat-happy rut, never quite pulling off the total and complete transfixion it was so obviously designed to achieve.
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To even acknowledge #1 is to endorse a deliberately hollow and airy scheme, but to ignore it is to miss one of the best musical artifacts of the nu-electro movement.
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UncutThe album's polished sheen and lack of emotional focus may disappoint electro-trash devotees accustomed to low-rent sleaze and punky rawness. [Jun 2002, p.118]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 15
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Mixed: 1 out of 15
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Negative: 1 out of 15
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Jun 9, 2015
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AnalogueB.Sep 29, 2007
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JamesKJan 4, 2007