''Information Society'' is the debut studio album by American synth-pop band

Information Society An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...

, released on June 21, 1988, by Tommy Boy Records and Reprise Records. It was the band's first release under a major label, after two independently released

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

s. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 6, 1988, denoting shipments in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. Four singles were released from the album, including "

What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy) "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" is a song by American synth-pop band Information Society that was released as a single in 1988. The "Pure Energy" subtitle derives from a sample of Leonard Nimoy's voice from the '' Star Trek'' episode "Erra ...

", the group's most commercially successful single to date. It was one of the only albums released in the seldom-used

CD+G CD+G (also known as CD-G, CD+Graphics and TV-Graphics) is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device. CD+G discs are often used for ...

format.

Production

''Information Society'' is one of the very few albums to have

content. As the CD+G format never caught on and compatible players are difficult to find, the whole content was also made available on the band's website. "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" and "Walking Away" were used in a sampler disc bundled with the

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...

to showcase the console's CD+G capability. It had the same graphics as the album. According to the CD+G notes, instruments used in the production of this album include: Akai S-900 sampler,

E-MU SP-12 E-mu SP-12 12 also known as the “sampling drum computer” was designed in 1985 and widely released in 1986 by E-mu Systems. Although the SP-12 was quickly superseded by the more powerful SP-1200, the SP-12 is often regarded as the first commerci ...

Drum Machine, Prophet 2002 Sampler (X2),

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

TX Rack Module (X8),

Moog Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popula ...

Synthesizer, Roland Super Jupiter Synth (X3),

Roland JX-3P The Roland JX-3P is a synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation of Japan from 1983-1985. The "3P" in its name refers to "Programmable Preset Polyphonic". It is notable as one of the company's first synthesizers (along with the Jupiter-6) to inc ...

Synth, Roland S-50 Synth. This album was recorded onto floppy disk via Voyetra Technology's "Sequencer Plus MK III" MIDI sequencer software in the summer of 1987. It was transferred to 48-track analog tape in autumn 1987, at which time vocals were added. The 48-track was then mixed down to a stereo master in winter 1987–1988.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

Fred Maher Frederick J. Maher is an American drummer, music programmer and record producer. He was a member of the bands Massacre (1980–81), the Dance, Material, Scritti Politti, and has recorded and toured with Lou Reed. In 1984 he released ''Basic'', ...

, except "Running" by Paul Robb.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Information Society''.

Information Society

* Paul Robb – arrangements, programming * Kurt Valaquen – samples *

James Cassidy James Cassidy may refer to: * James Cassidy (musician), American bass and keyboard player * James Edwin Cassidy (1869–1951), American Roman Catholic bishop in Massachusetts * James H. Cassidy (1869–1926), United States Representative from Oh ...

* Amanda Kramer

Additional musicians

* Murat Konar – vocals *

ELIZA ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program created from 1964 to 1966 at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to demonstrate the superficiality of communication between humans and machines, ...

– guest vocals

Technical

– production, mixing, recording engineering ; arrangements, programming * Paul Robb – production * Roey Shamir – mixing, mix engineering * Joey Gardner – mixing * "Little" Louie Vega – mixing * Kevin Laffey – executive production * Chopper Black – recording engineering * Eric Calvi – mix engineering * Jon Smith – mix engineering * Oz Fritz – engineering assistance * Angela Piva – engineering assistance * The Latin Rascals (

Tony Moran Anthony "Tony" Moran is a DJ, record producer, remixer, singer and songwriter known for remixing popular songs. In 2007, he hit number one on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart twice with " Walk Away" featuring Kristine W and " K ...

and Albert Cabrera) – edits * Herb Powers Jr. – mastering

Artwork

* Grey Organisation – art direction * Isabel Snyder – photography * Steven Miglio – layout * Daniel Shapiro – typography

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Kurt Harland comments on ''Information Society''

''Information Society’s'' CD+G content
{{Authority control 1988 debut albums Albums produced by Fred Maher Electropop albums Information Society (band) albums Reprise Records albums Tommy Boy Records albums