Plenty of my brethren seem taken with "New Song," the single from British technomaster Howard Jones' debut LP. I'm not; snappy though it may be, it's too fussy and cluttered, and its overlay of synthesizers and Linn drums can't obscure the basic lack of a whammo hook. That's pretty much the situation throughout this record: While Jones pulls off some neat flourishes, he simply doesn't demonstrate the imagination or songwriting skill to produce anything truly memorable.

Jones' best moment is "Don't Always Look at the Rain," a seamless, dreamy ballad that gives his Anglo-soulful chops – especially his passionate falsetto – a decent workout. Too often, his compositions are poor pastiches of already overworked synth exercises: the rat-a-tat-tat percussion and grand piano of "Human's Lib," for example, or the warbly soul testifying that caps "Equality." And "Conditioning" employs an ultratech backing without the wit or perspective to highlight his 1984-ish lyrical lament. Although Human's Lib has its moments, Howard Jones seems a little too blinded by science. (RS 421)

CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY