Homosapien (album)
| Homosapien | ||||
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| Studio album by Pete Shelley | ||||
| Released | 1981 (US) 15 January 1982 (UK) |
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| Recorded | February–August 1981 at Genetic Sound, Berkshire, England |
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| Genre | New wave, synthpop | |||
| Length | 35:51 | |||
| Label | Genetic Records/Island (UK & Europe) Arista (US & Canada) |
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| Producer | Martin Rushent, Pete Shelley | |||
| Pete Shelley chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Homosapien | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Melody Maker | favourable |
| NME | average |
| Q |
 (1994 reissue) |
Homosapien is the 1981 second solo album by Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley (following the pre-Buzzcocks experimental instrumental album Sky Yen, recorded in 1974 and eventually released in 1980). Homosapien saw a marked departure from the punk guitar stylings of the Buzzcocks' records, being heavily influenced by programmed synthesizer sounds and drum machines. The title track was released as a UK single and was banned by the BBC, but was nevertheless a hit in several other countries.
The album grew out of rehearsals for the fourth Buzzcocks' album with producer Martin Rushent. After a troubled 1980 the group had convened at Manchester's Pluto Studios early in 1981 to start work on a new Buzzcocks album. However, the sessions went badly, exacerbated by EMI's refusal to pay an advance for the recordings, which put further strain on the Buzzcocks' already difficult financial situation. Seeing the tensions within the band and sensing that Shelley was in need of a break, Rushent halted the sessions on 9 February and suggested to Shelley that the two of them should decamp to Rushent's newly built Genetic Sound studio at his home in Streatley, Berkshire to work on new material. Shelley and Rushent began recording tracks on 13 February 1981, the majority of which dated back to 1973–75, before Shelley had formed the Buzzcocks. Rushent had equipped his new studio with the latest electronic equipment, and in the process of recording Shelley and Rushent grew enormously fond of the sound they had created in the studio, which featured an interesting blend of drum machines, synthesizers and sequencers coupled with guitars. Shelley, weary of the Buzzcocks' financial state, decided to leave the band after Island Records' Andrew Lauder offered him a solo record deal based on the demos. Shelley told the NME in an interview in November 1981, "We came here [to Genetic Sound] in February to record demos but as we started to do them they sounded more and more finished, so we nudged them in that direction and within a few months we'd come up with three finished tracks. Just me and Martin in the studio with all the machines." According to Shelley the album was recorded over "a six or seven month period".
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