Contemporary reviews
In 1978, Robert Christgau reviewed the album for The Village Voice , writing: "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." [25] 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. [26] Ken Tucker, writing in Rolling Stone , called it vivid and exhilarating, even if "harsh and willfully ugly". [27]
On March 11, 1978, Paul Rambali reviewed the album for NME, writing: "although Ubu aren't going to bust charts, break hearts and save rock 'n' roll, their mutant jack-hammer sound isn't as impenetrable as such descriptions suggest. Sometimes, even, it's almost friendly". [28] Writer Ian Birch of Melody Maker on March 18, 1978, stated, "It's a devastating debut...this album has struck me with a vengeance. Because it delivers such a powerful, complex and open-ended punch, it's almost impossible at such an early stage to explain why or how in full detail." [29]
On November 2, 1978, Jon Savage reviewed the album for Sounds magazine, writing: "Uh-oh, this is getting frustrating, trying to tell you how good this is - black and white is an inadequate substitute for the impact heard ... This is a brilliant debut. Granted it lacks the superficial accessibility of lesser works, but this time around the aroma lingers. This is built to last! Ubu's world is rarely comfortable, full of the space beyond the electric light and what it does to people, but always direct and unwavering. And courageous." [30]
Retrospective assessment
The Modern Dance has been described as "a classic slice of art-punk" and the "signature sound of the avant-garage: art rock, punk rock, and garage rock mixing together joyously and fearlessly" by John Dougan of AllMusic . [31] The album was also described as experimental rock by The Quietus' Brian Coney. [40] While David Thomas was lauded for his "yelping vocals" by Record Collector . [22]
David Stubbs of Uncut reviewed the album in August 2006, stating: "This is a far more cerebral, imperishable proposition than a mere local cry of urban discontent. The Eraserhead -style sad-clown persona of singer David Thomas, Tom Herman's nerve-shredding slide guitars and Ravenstine's abstract electronics combine to form a rock music as visceral and essential as the Stooges, yet which reaches parts of the brain untouched by their peers, predecessors or successors... An album that's only gotten more awesome with age." [3]
The album was ranked number 11 by NME on their list of "Best Albums of 1978", [41] number 14 on Spin magazine's list of the "50 Most Essential Punk Records", number 31 by Fact in "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s", [42] number 34 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums", [42] and number 63 on Uncut's "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums". [43]
Additionally, The Guardian stated, "[...] had this son of a literary professor stopped at The Modern Dance, he would have already sealed his legacy as one of rock’s great outsider innovator-pioneers." [44]
Although commercially unsuccessful, the album drew critical acclaim and was later regarded as influential in the development of post-punk. [45] It appears in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [46]
In 2023, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark referenced The Modern Dance in the title track of their album Bauhaus Staircase . [47]
