Others will find their respect for Bartos has grown after a listen, and once the revelations settle, Off the Record feels like an enjoyable journey back to "Ohm Sweet Ohm."
The truth is that Off the Record has glimmers of real brilliance, but they are mostly come with a strict adherence to rote electronic beats and formulaic synths.
Bartos delivers a lovely electronic soundscape, but the effort doesn’t ‘scream’ nor suggest true musical innovativeness; it doesn’t go ‘against the grain’.
Given a chance to take old material and make it new, Bartos simply leaves it suspended in the period, making few notable advances.
Unearthed somewhat unnecessarily, this release is pleasant indulgence but no masterpiece.
The king of electro-pop is back with a modernized vesrion of himself.
But sounds aged and tired.