For those unaware, this new set is a simply stunning return from A Flock Of Seagulls that blends future-forward synths with the melodic nostalgia of the 80s.

A Flock of Seagulls is an English new wave and synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1979. Best known for their 1982 global smash I Ran (So Far Away), they became a definitive act of the era by pioneering the use of synthesizers alongside an iconic visual aesthetic.

Ascension was the sixth studio album by the band and was released on July 6th, 2018. Indeed, it was the first album since 1984’s The Story of a Young Heart that features all four original members. It contains twelve songs (eleven from the first three albums and one new song) rerecorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

1. I Ran
2. Modern Love Is Automatic
3. Telecommunication
4. Space Age Love Song
5. Ascension
6. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)
7. Nightmares
8. DNA
9. Electrics
10. Transfer Affection
11. The More You Live, The More You Love
12. Man Made

A Flock Of Seagulls returned with a new album back in 2018 and this overhaul with the added power of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra just makes everything so very much more pronounced. I mean, not only was it their first album since 1995, but it was the first collection to contain all four original members since 1984.

As forementioned, for this new project, they have teamed up with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to deliver orchestral renderings of some of their biggest hits. In the shadow of Metallica, Kiss, and Scorpions, AFOS was trying something that many other bands have already done 15 years ago.

Opening track, the tried and true “I Ran,” has a very long instrumental buildup but unfortunately Mike Score’s vocals have diminished and so he hasn’t got those infamous-pitched chops anymore, but it, and all the others, still manage to admirably work.

Guitarist Paul Reynolds still sounds great and the song manages to work because of his memorable lead. “Modern Love is Automatic,” a song I wasn’t very familiar with before this release, isn’t bad and the band’s other great hit, “Space Age Love Song,” still sounds lovely - the guitar work sounding impeccably pretty.

The orchestra can be a little overwhelming at times, a desire to hear the original song always there, but if this is what it took to get the original AFOS back together, then so be it. “Wishing” sounds interesting but Score’s vocals just aren’t there anymore, as noted. Meanwhile, “Transfer Affection” isn’t half a great song too, along with both “Nightmares” and the brilliant “The More You Live, The More You Love.”

Official Purchase Link

www.aflockofseagulls.org