Romantic?
Romantic? is the sixth studio album by the English synthpop band The Human League. It was issued by Virgin Records in 1990 and was the band's first album of new material in four years. Romantic? had several producers, most notably Martin Rushent, who worked with the Human League on their biggest commercial success (1981's Dare) and had walked out of the recording sessions for its 1984 follow-up (Hysteria). Also producing several tracks is Mark Brydon, who would found Moloko several years later.
The album signalled a low point for the band as it was ridiculed by some critics, who proclaimed the album's sound as "dated". The only significant success came from the album's first single "Heart Like a Wheel", which peaked at No. 29 in the UK singles chart and No. 32 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The second single "Soundtrack to a Generation" charted at No. 77 in the UK. Plans to release the synth infused "The Stars Are Going Out" as the third single were shelved. The album itself peaked at No. 24 in the UK Album Charts, and as a result, the band's long-standing contract with Virgin Records was terminated. They moved to East West Records to release their next album, 1995's Octopus.
Romance
Romance or romantic usually refers to romance (love), love emphasizing emotion over libido. It may also refer to:
Genres
- Romancero, the corpus of such Spanish ballads, or a collection of them
- Romance (meter), a metric pattern found in Spanish ballads
- Romantic music, the musical style used by Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner and other late 18th and 19th-century composers
- Romantic poetry, the poetic style used by Schiller, Blake, Keats, Wordsworth and other late 18th and 19th-century poets
- Romanticism in science, a movement in science during the Romantic period
Romanticism
Romanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, the latter also being celebrated. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, and the natural sciences. It had a significant and complex effect on politics, and while for much of the Romantic period it was associated with liberalism and radicalism, its long-term effect on the growth of nationalism was perhaps more significant.
The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature. It considered folk art and ancient custom to be noble statuses, but also valued spontaneity, as in the musical impromptu. In contrast to the rational and Classicist ideal models, Romanticism revived medievalism and elements of art and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to escape population growth, early urban sprawl, and industrialism.
