Even today, the debate still rages as to whether Art Of Noise – comprising über-producer and ex-Buggle Trevor Horn, session keyboardist Anne Dudley, programmer JJ Jeczalik, engineer Gary Langan and former NME writer and chief ZZT spin doctor Paul Morley – were a bunch of charlatans trying to con the public or musical and conceptual geniuses. They were certainly sonically innovative – holed up in Sarm Studios and armed with an early and expensive sampler (the legendary Fairlight), their futuristic, cut-up soundscapes were profoundly influential and affected the way both pop music was made and presented.
Art Of Music’s first ever sonic salvo, 1983’s Into Battle With…, a 12” EP featuring seven tracks (and including the dreamy beat ballad Moments In Love) still sounds subversive and radical today. What makes this first-ever reissue truly exciting is the presence of the group’s aborted first album, Worship, which has remained locked in the ZTT vaults until now. It contains Close (To The Edit), a surprising Top 10 hit in 1984, which prompted Worship and its tenebrous sound collages to be shelved in favour of a more digestible reconfigured version, but was eventually released as Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise? (due to be reissued later this year).
