The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century
| The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Men Without Hats | ||||
| Released |
October 1989 April 23, 1990 (South Africa) | |||
| Recorded | 1988, Hudson Studios (Briarcliff Manor, New York) | |||
| Genre | Synthpop, pop rock | |||
| Length | 51:17 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Stefan Doroschuk | |||
| Men Without Hats chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century is the fourth studio album by Canadian synthpop group Men Without Hats, released in 1989. It was the second and last album to be released with the lineup of Ivan (vocals), Stefan Doroschuk (guitar), Marika Tjelios (bass), Richard Samson (drums) and Bruce Murphy (keyboards), which was also the lineup that toured to promote the previous album Pop Goes the World.
Recording history
The lineup that recorded the album was essentially the touring band from Pop Goes the World.
Ivan Doroschuk, in an interview released on a promotional disc around the time of the album, stated that the original title of the album was The Adventures of Men Without Hats in the 21st Century, but the title went through several revisions, including The Adventures of Men and Women Without Hats in the 21st Century before swapping the order of "Men and Women" around and changing the word "Hats" to "Hate".[2] In the same interview, Ivan also explained that the band decided to omit their crossed-out-man-with-hat logo due to Ivan hearing about a Jamaican bar prohibiting Rastafarians from entering, which was indicated using a sign that looked similar to the group's logo.[2] A new logo, a heart with the number 21 in it, was devised for the album, being used for all artwork related to the record.
The album was recorded in 1988 at a studio in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The group would return in 1990 to record the followup, Sideways.
The album is much more serious than the group's previous work, with lyrics focusing on subjects such as environmentalism ("In the 21st Century"), domestic violence ("Hey Men") and commercialism ("Everybody's Selling Something", "I'm in Love"). Musically, it is a pop rock album with slight synthpop influence.
"All We Do", one of three ballads on the album, was written in 1986 and performed on the tour to promote Pop Goes the World. The other two ballads are "You and Me" and "Underneath the Rainbow".
The final track, "21st Century Safety Dance", was described by Ivan in the press release for the album as a "warning" track, explaining his beliefs that all music would sound like it unless people "got [their] act together".
Due to being recorded in the United States, the album does not qualify for the "P" (performance) element of MAPL Canadian content certification. The CD indicates that the album is 75% Canadian content (CanCon) except for "S.O.S.", which is 25% CanCon.
Singles
The initial track of this album and "Hey Men" both became singles with corresponding music videos. "Here Come the '90s" was also released as a promo single.
Charts
The album was certified Gold by Music Canada in October 1989, for Canadian sales of over 50,000 units.[3]
Track listing
All tracks written by Ivan and Stefan Doroschuk except "S.O.S." by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson..
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In the 21st Century" | 6:16 |
| 2. | "Hey Men" | 5:04 |
| 3. | "You & Me" | 5:44 |
| 4. | "Everybody's Selling Something" | 2:54 |
| 5. | "Here Come the '90s" | 4:52 |
| 6. | "S.O.S." | 3:58 |
| 7. | "All We Do" | 4:47 |
| 8. | "I'm in Love" | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Eloise and I" | 4:15 |
| 10. | "Underneath the Rainbow" | 3:28 |
| 11. | "21st Century Safety Dance" | 5:03 |
On CD copies of the album, the intro to "Eloise and I" is indexed as a separate track running 1:10 (listed on some copies as "Intro: Eloise"), while the song itself runs 3:05.
Personnel
- Ivan Doroschuk – vocals
- Stefan Doroschuk – guitar, bass, keyboards
- Lenny Pinkas – keyboards, programming
- Marika Tjellos – keyboard bass
- Richard Samson – drums
- Bruce Murphy – keyboards
- Heidi Garcia, Colin Doroschuk – backing vocals
References
- ↑ The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century at AllMusic.
- 1 2 "Interview with Ivan from Men Without Hats about 21st Century album". YouTube. 2010 [1989 audio interview].
- ↑ "Gold/Platinum". Music Canada (search result). Archived from the original on 2016-10-07.