Fad Gadget (1956–2002)

Product Details

* Audio CD (December 11, 2001)
* Number of Discs: 2
* Label: Mute U.S.
* ASIN: B00005TNDF
* Average Customer Review: based on 5 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,584 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #51,130 in Music

Listen to Samples
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Disc: 1
1. Back To Nature Listen Listen
2. The Box Listen Listen
3. Ricky's Hand Listen Listen
4. Handshake Listen Listen
5. Fireside Favourite Listen Listen
6. Insecticide Listen Listen
7. Make Room Listen Listen
8. Lady Shave Listen Listen
9. Saturday Night Special Listen Listen
10. King Of The Flies Listen Listen
See all 18 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2
1. Collapsing New People (Berlin Mix) Listen Listen
2. Fireside Favourite (Toasted Crumpet Mix) Listen Listen
3. Swallow It (Regurgitated) Listen Listen
4. Love Parasite 2 Listen Listen
5. Luxury (Remix) Listen Listen
6. For Whom The Bells Toll 3 Listen Listen
7. I Discover Love (Extended Version) Listen Listen
8. Sleep (Electro-Induced Original) Listen Listen
9. Life On The Line (Version 2) Listen Listen
10. One Man's Meat (Remix) Listen Listen
See all 12 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
As influential as it gets..., January 12, 2005
Reviewer: Takis Tz. (Germany) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
Listening to a lot of electronic music the past 4-5 yrs has only helped me realise how spectacularly influential Fad Gadget was. And did I mention way, way ahead of his time?

Sure, the Gadget do have this characteristic 80s "feel" reminiscent of undeground electronic pioneers from that time. But man, do they stand out. When you compare this one man band's releases with , say, early albums of Depeche Mode you understand what kind of a genius Frank Tovey was.

This is music so intelligent and so irresistibly groovy and catchy you'd have to be completely unitiated musically to not be hooked by it. Speaking of catches, Fad gadget's music was and still is intended for intelligent people. It's not just the music itself of course. If it were "only" that we'd speaking of an entirely different concept. What makes the deciding difference between Tovey and other electronica creators from his time or even now is his lyrics.

Instead of opting for the usual pseudo sci-fi or "heard it all before" pseudo-bizzare love songs, Tovey went straight for what matters. The system. With all its angles, expressions, crashes, flows, faults and cracks.

His lyrics were not like a Rage against the Machine of the 80s. Oh no. In a sense they were way better. Politically charged like anything you've ever heard, and yet subtle, metaphorical, allegoric, poetic, and timely direct and in your face whenever the message needed to be such.

If you read his name being dropped by some of the current legends who made or are still making music in that genre, well, it shouldnt surprise you. What should indeed surprise you is that you might not be aware of the great contribution to contemporary music Fad Gadget put in.

This is as influential and as great a band as they come.

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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant, May 9, 2002
Reviewer: Sam Haozous "Sam Atakra" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
We had actually been discussing Frank on the synthpunk discussion list a few days before he died (before touring the US!), and it came as a bit of a shock. So when news of this release came about I rushed to get it. Brilliant stuff, I highly recommend it for fans of all genres.… (mer)