Mystery, Romance, and Danger...

That's the opening line of the second album, Change of Heart (1982), by Glasgow band Positive Noise, another lost band of the 80s.  The album title is significant: their first album was called Heart of Darkness, but frontman/songwriter Ross Middleton left before the second album, and the band's sound changed from competent, angular, mildly political punk-lite to bass-heavy danceability.  I think it was a change for the better, except for the lyrical content, which went from vaguely principled to catchy but practically meaningless.   ("I feel the fear / someone whispers in my ear / and I feel the fear right now," or "Get up, get up / Get up, get up up up/ Get up, get up and go.")  But they have great beats and hooks, and that's enough in my book.

Change of Heart was one of the few divisive albums between me and my college pal/housemate, Mike.  He couldn't stand it, saying it sounded like all the other "dance crap" that was coming out; I countered that since this album actually came out a few years ago (at the time), Positive Noise were ahead of the times and should be revered rather than penalized for being visionary.  I've since backed off the "visionary" claim, but I still enjoy the album as I would a confection full of empty calories.

After twenty-odd years of having Heart of Darkness in my collection, I finally got around to listening to it yesterday.  The standout is the title track, an epic song full of "jungle drums," a vein I wish they had explored further.  Of the three Positive Noise albums, all on Statik Records (a great lost label of the 80s), only Change of Heart got a US release, on Sire.  I have never seen or heard the third album, Distant Fires; I am still curious to hear how they sound as produced by Gang of Four's Dave Allen.