The Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in January 1978 by record label Blank.
A 5.1 surround sound version was released as the DVD-Audio side of a DualDisc in 2005.
Critical reception
The Modern Dance has been critically acclaimed. Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1978, Robert Christgau wrote that "even though there's too much Radio Ethiopia and not enough 'Redondo Beach,'" he would be "listening through the failed stuff—the highs are worth it." In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), he reaffirmed that "the highs are worth it, and the failed stuff ain't bad" in his revised review. Ken Tucker, writing in Rolling Stone, called it vivid and exhilarating, even if "harsh and willfully ugly".
NME named The Modern Dance the 11th best album of 1978. Fact placed the record at number 31 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s.
Track listing
Personnel
Pere Ubu
David Thomas – vocals, musette, percussion, production
Tom Herman – guitar, backing vocals, production
Allen Ravenstine – EML 101 and 200 analog synthesizers, saxophone, tapes, production Tony Maimone – bass, piano, backing vocals, production Scott Krauss – drums, production Tim Wright – bass guitar on "The Modern Dance" and "Sentimental Journey", production