There are a certain number of albums from my childhood that I'd consider "must haves" and absolutely essential for any collection and Hunters & Collectors "Human Frailty" is absolutely one of those. I'll admit that grouping of albums is larger than a handful, probably more like 20-30 albums, but there are a select few that fit into the absolutely must own category in regards to life changing albums. I still remember when I first bought this on cassette tape and I think I knew immediately that I had found something that would change my musical life forever.
One thing to note right off the bat is that the original American version of the album ran in a different order than the Australian, and to my knowledge this album has only ever been offered on CD with the latter ordering. Having said that, I actually prefer the US version's order although it might just be due to having first heard the album that way. Also, the original US CD version includes the equally wonderful "Living Daylight" EP, minus one song (odd in itself), and for whatever reason they decided to stick it right in the middle of the album. These kinds of decisions by record companies have always left me shaking my head quite a bit. Of course, in today's world of completely digital audio, I could easily create my own mix or order of the songs but I've admittedly never actually done that. Just for the record (no pun intended), I'm going to mainly be referencing the order of the US album since that's what I prefer.
The album starts with the fairly raucous "Say Goodbye", one of the few tracks that sounds a bit more like vintage H&C, but is a completely infectious song that I've never forgotten. In fact, I still spew lines from this song in particular probably on a weekly basis, that is when appropriate. From there, the album moves into the equally punky "Is There Anybody in There?", arguably one of their best "hit" songs ever. The beauty of the US release is that it then moves into the wonderfully anthemic "Throw Your Arms Around Me", hands down H&C's best true pop hit ever, in my opinion, and also one of the greatest pop songs of the era, again at least from my viewpoint. I was shocked to hear a cover of this song recently in an episode of a TV program, and whereas the version was okay it really lacked the imperfections of the original, mainly the roughness of Seymour's vocals and such, which really add to the lyrics of the song.
I will say that I did later on get into Hunters & Collectors early work and it took a bit of getting used to. Now, having said that, I actually love it quite dearly but the music, production, and mixes all really suffer at times from a lower overall quality, and the songs in general are way more experimental, rougher, more punk, etc. "The Jaws of Life" would probably be on my top all time list except that the production value of the album overall really leaves a bit to be desired. However, that's why "Human Frailty" is the great album that it is; it's H&C still sounding a bit rougher as a band but with a bigger studio and production budget that really brings the songs to life in a way never heard before. The follow up album, "Fate" (in the US at least...I believe it's called "What's a Few Men?" in Australia), is also a great album but you can really feel how the band and management started leaning much heavier on the poppier sound that they had created on "Human Frailty", and thus they lost some of the edge that they had become known for. The albums that came afterward at times feel messy, confused, and occasionally amazing, but never again achieved the same level of brilliance of "Human Frailty", again at least not in my personal opinion.
Other songs to note on this album are "Relief", probably my all time favorite, with that awesome thin guitar sound that Seymour used back then which for whatever reason is so visual sounding and simply completes the overall mood of the songs. "The Finger" also showcases that same sound, while the trio of "Dog", "Stuck on You", and "This Morning" are a masterpiece way of closing out an album, especially with the craziness of the last track. When listening to this album, it always left me feeling very energized, uppity, and hopeful...even though the album ends bleakly in lyrics. I think it's just the band's and Seymour's vocal energy that always moved me internally.
Hunters & Collectors are one of the few bands that I never got to see live and I've always been extremely sad about it. They actually played in my home town during the "Human Frailty" tour but I was all but 16 and couldn't get into the 21 and over show, so you can imagine how that's sat with me over the years. I only had one other opportunity to see them after that which was as an opener for Midnight Oil at a horrid venue during the "Ghost Nation" tour and I simply chose not to go, thinking I'd have a better opportunity in the near future. Well, it never came, and hence I never saw them. There is, however, some great footage of that 1986-87 tour floating around out there that I did catch on MTV back in the day and I'd imagine it's on YouTube at this point.
In all honesty, if you're a fan of mid to late 80's alternative music, you owe it to yourself to at least check out this album, and again I'd be specific about it since if you happen to try a different album first you may have a harder time getting into it or be misled by their sound. Overall, "Human Frailty" is a true classic in my collection and unfortunately is pretty difficult to come by on CD at this point so best of luck, if that's what you're after. It is worth putting in the energy to seek out, however, and a true joy.
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