The Modern Dance

The Modern Dance
Studio album by Pere Ubu
Released January 1978
Recorded October 1976, January 1977, Cleveland Recording, Cleveland; November 1977, Suma Studios, Cleveland
Genre Art punk[1]
Length 36:20
Label Blank
Producer Pere Ubu, Ken Hamann
Pere Ubu chronology

The Modern Dance
(1978)		 Dub Housing
(1978)

The Modern Dance is the debut studio album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in January 1978, through record label Blank. A 5.1 surround sound version was released as the DVD-Audio side of a DualDisc in 2005.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Pere Ubu (David Thomas, Tom Herman, Allen Ravenstine, Tony Maimone, Scott Krauss), except as noted.

Side one
A1. Non-Alignment Pact – 3:18
A2. The Modern Dance – 3:28
A3. Laughing – 4:35
A4. Street Waves – 3:04
A5. Chinese Radiation – 3:27
Side two
B1. Life Stinks (Peter Laughner) – 1:52
B2. Real World – 3:59
B3. Over My Head – 3:48
B4. Sentimental Journey – 6:05
B5. Humor Me – 2:44

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
Robert Christgau A− [3]
Q [4]
Rolling Stone favorable[5]
Stylus Magazine favorable[6]

The Modern Dance has been critically acclaimed. Although only moderately positive initially, Robert Christgau later raised his rating a notch and wrote of the album that "the highs are worth it, and the failed stuff ain't bad" in his revised review.[3] At the same time, Ken Tucker in Rolling Stone called it vivid and exhilarating, even if "harsh and willfully ugly".[5]

Personnel

Pere Ubu
Technical

Release history

Year of Release Place of Release Format Label
1978 United States Vinyl LP Blank
1981 United Kingdom Vinyl LP Rough Trade
1988 United Kingdom Vinyl LP Fontana
1988 Germany CD Fontana
1998 United Kingdom CD Cooking Vinyl
1998 United States CD DGC
1999 Italy Vinyl LP Get Back
2005 Europe DualDisc Silverline
2007 United States Vinyl LP Blank
2008 United Kingdom CD Cooking Vinyl

References

  1. ↑ Dougan, John. "The Modern Dance – Pere Ubu : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ Dougan, John. "The Modern Dance – Pere Ubu : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Christgau, Robert. "Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance > Consumer Guide Album". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 20 November 2007. Revised with a new rating from "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. March 27, 1978. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Q: 123. [I]f you're curious about the original post-punks, THE MODERN DANCE remains absolutely essential. Missing or empty |title= (help) Cited at "The Modern Dance CD". buy.com. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tucker, Ken (June 1, 1978). "Pere Ubu The Modern Dance / The Suicide Commandos Make a Record > Album Reviews". Rolling Stone (266). Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Smith, Chris (September 1, 2003). "Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance – On Second Thought – Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2013.

External links