Octopus (The Human League album)
| Octopus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 January 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 1994–1995 | |||
| Length | 45:12 | |||
| Label | East West | |||
| Producer | Ian Stanley | |||
| The Human League chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Octopus | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| The Guardian | |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Select | 2/5 |
| Smash Hits | 2/5 |
Octopus is the seventh full-length studio album recorded by the English synth-pop band The Human League. It was produced by the former Tears for Fears keyboard player Ian Stanley and released by EastWest Records in 1995. The album's title referenced the fact that it was their eighth album in total including their Greatest Hits album from 1988. It was the first new album from The Human League in five years after the termination of their long-term contract with Virgin Records. Octopus was the first Human League album that presented the band as a trio consisting of the singers Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. The former Human League member Jo Callis and keyboard player Neil Sutton also contributed to the writing of the album.
The album's sound is notable for almost exclusively featuring analogue synthesizers, a marked change from the band's primarily "digital" sound in the mid-to-late 1980s.