This album comes a bit of a surprise like many other albums this year, but for Paramore, this is a bit of a hard rock orgy at points and considerably grown up in parts. I guess we all expected them not to follow up 'Riot!' so well but they have and if not, emulated it.
Going back to the hard rock orgy that was mentioned above, Paramore demonstrate this in 'Careful' the opening track to 'brand new eyes'. Most notably, is Zac Farro's drumming which is particularly gentle but harsh with thunderous power. When Hayley Williams singing starts, you begin to hear echo's from 'Misery Business' from their previous album 'Riot!', but how it parts itself away from 'Misery Business' is that it's a lot harder and more grown up vocally, considering Hayley is only, like 20? The up tempo start to 'brand new eyes' doesn't stop there, straight after 'Careful' we're slashed right into 'Ignorance' which starts in a stuttering guitar intro which stops to a thick bass line and a muted guitar sound which Hayley, almost talking, sings 'If I'm a bad person you don't like me well I'll make my own way, it's a circle I mean cycle' which oozes her confused sensibility. Again, the tempo doesn't die on track three, well it does, but not for long, when you hear the slow guitar lines from Josh Farro, you think Paramore are going to go all emo on us, but thankfully they snap out of it and Hayley booms out swagger-like lyrics like 'Next time you point a finger, I might have to bend it back or break it, break it off' which gives us the impression, if you fuck with her, you'll burn for it.
Paramore's third release is full of wonderful little surprises and 'The Only Exception' is definitely one of them. It's a beautiful love song about never falling in love, but one day finding that one 'Exception'. The song is built around a slow acoustic guitar melody, accompanied by the odd bass fill ins, but the highlight of the song is Hayley Williams vocals, as you can imagine falling in love with the girl or guy of your dreams listening to her sweet but far out voice. Paramore go back to the hard rock orgy straight after the romance of 'The Only Exception' in 'Feeling Sorry' which is a song about not having sympathy for anyone or wasting time about 'Feeling Sorry' for people. It starts out in forced and hard guitar mode, along with clashing drums and a flowing bass line and again, Hayley's blasted vocals which sound like they've been turned up to max... or wait, isn't that already Hayley's singing everyday?
Going back to those little surprises in 'brand new eyes', well again they have landed another one, with 'Misguided Ghosts' and this song is just about two people who have no direction in life, doesn't conform to normal ideas of life, just go their own way, whether they've walked the same road once before, it doesn't matter, because whoever they are, they're just misguided. 'All I Wanted' is probably one of the songs Paramore went all out for, it's a guitar drenched anthem and Hayley is battling with it, with her high screaming vocals shouting out 'All I Wanted Was You!' I thank that speaks for itself what the song is about.
'brand new eyes' is probably one of the most surprising albums of the year, especially after all the problems Paramore were having within the band. They seem to be sorted now and grown up a bit and showed they're not just one of those 'emo' bands. Because with this album, they are leaving that scene behind and will outlast a lot of other bands coming from there to. If you don't like the hard rock feel from 'brand new eyes' then surely the camp fire setting of the acoustic ballads like 'The Only Exception' and 'Misguided Ghosts' will charm you enough to warm to them.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Monday, 28 September 2009
Muse - The Resistance
An album with such a heavy influence in classical music is always going to be taken seriously, which Muse have demonstrated very well in 'Origin of Symmetry' and 'Absolution', but unlike those albums 'The Resistance' falls short, and I repeat, VERY short.
'Uprising' is the lead single from 'The Resistance' and unlike most lead singles from Muse, this one here sounds a very half hearted attempt at what Matt Bellamy described as 'A hard rock take on Goldfrapp'... Hmm I don't think so Matt, this sounds more like a repetitive chorus repeated once to much which gives us the thought of 'Shut the fuck up' after the first two minutes, never mind a dragged out five minutes of it. After 'Uprising' we are taken into a slightly beautiful song called 'Resistance' which does have it's moments of brilliance, especially with the jittery piano intro and the hard hitting chorus which is Muse at their best, but, they could have done without the almost cheesy moments of 'We Could Be Wrong, Could Be Wrong' and that part alone is bound to give you a love/hate relationship with this song.
Moving on to 'United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)' and this is a sorry and foolish attempt at Queen, which you get a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' feel from it, before entering a groovy and hard hitting piano bridge which takes references from Middle Eastern culture. After all that has passed, we enter a very nice calming and soothing piano solo with the added orchestra of violins and strings in places, which doesn't save the scare of the first four minutes of terrible attempts at Queen, but it does gave you a relief of some sort. 'Guiding Light' is definitely one of the albums high points, Matt Bellamy's vocals are beautiful and reassuring as he sings 'You're My Guiding Light, When There's No Guiding Light Left', even though the solo again rings out more Queen-esque styles but Matt's vocals alone in this song is a complete saviour.
We find ourselves indulged in 'Unnatural Selection' which is another hard hitting heavy Muse at their best, but here comes the snag, the main riff sounds HEAVILY like the dominating and boulder crushing riff that's in 'New Born', now there's nothing wrong with that if your just wanting heavy and catchy riffs to dance to or whatever, but for music enthusiasts and hardcore Muse fans, this is sure to annoy them and along with that seven minutes of mediocrity we don't want more Queen, and we got more of them at the vocal crescendo at the end which takes it's sorrows from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' yet again.
To the high points of the album, which lack few and far between, one of them however would be 'MK Ultra' which has a driving bass line leading the horde just like the songs of 'Origin of Symmetry' did. 'MK Ultra' proves itself in many forms, it's again, Muse at their best, has the calming start and somehow, out of no where comes to the blasting fire power the band has severely lacked on 'The Resistance' with a gracious nod again to 'New Born' but not as heavily replicated as 'Unnatural Selection'.
The final point in the album to be made is in 'Exogenesis', which is something Matt said he has been working on, on a long time. 'Exogenesis' runs for a total of thirteen minutes plus. The 'Symphony' is divided into three parts with part one being 'Overture' and this is swallowed in the darkness of an orchestrated chill of violins and more strings and Matt's restrained guitar pulling out a gentle but grinding solo and sings melodically but quietly to the gruesomely exceptional music behind him. Part two 'Cross-Pollination' starts of with a fast paced piano intro, but slows down to Matt's low and fierce vocal lines, but we somehow find ourselves racing in tempo with a guitar riff building intensity, and flickering the sharp solo before the whirlwind come down of the piano riff that the song started out with. Finally, part three enters into something that's a little more upbeat in comparison to 'Cross-Pollination'. 'Redemption' is probably the most beautiful piano ballad Matt Bellamy has came up with, it's slow but uniquely uplifting. Again, the violin's come in again and add it's bit of genius to Matt's unique ballad and just to complete this Symphony, Matt's hurried and low vocals just bring up the mood a little more before the outro consisting of the piano riff that was used as the intro and the slow in and out use of the violins.
Muse's fifth album has not raised any eyebrows, mainly around music critics and am sure hardcore Muse fans would be slightly disappointed with this effort. 'The Resistance' does have it's high points in 'MK Ultra' and the entire Symphony of 'Exogenesis' which would definitely be considered a masterpiece amongst the more classical sides of Muse fans. Although at to many parts in the album, they have uplifted roots from Queen and failed to pull it of and used riffs from their previous songs that have just been meddled around with to achieve some effect that's just not happened. 'The Resistance' is not a serious disaster overall, but very mediocre for a band with the heavy, heavy amount of talent that Muse has and let's hope that the next time, is a little less Queen and a lot more Muse hopefully.
2½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
'Uprising' is the lead single from 'The Resistance' and unlike most lead singles from Muse, this one here sounds a very half hearted attempt at what Matt Bellamy described as 'A hard rock take on Goldfrapp'... Hmm I don't think so Matt, this sounds more like a repetitive chorus repeated once to much which gives us the thought of 'Shut the fuck up' after the first two minutes, never mind a dragged out five minutes of it. After 'Uprising' we are taken into a slightly beautiful song called 'Resistance' which does have it's moments of brilliance, especially with the jittery piano intro and the hard hitting chorus which is Muse at their best, but, they could have done without the almost cheesy moments of 'We Could Be Wrong, Could Be Wrong' and that part alone is bound to give you a love/hate relationship with this song.
Moving on to 'United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)' and this is a sorry and foolish attempt at Queen, which you get a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' feel from it, before entering a groovy and hard hitting piano bridge which takes references from Middle Eastern culture. After all that has passed, we enter a very nice calming and soothing piano solo with the added orchestra of violins and strings in places, which doesn't save the scare of the first four minutes of terrible attempts at Queen, but it does gave you a relief of some sort. 'Guiding Light' is definitely one of the albums high points, Matt Bellamy's vocals are beautiful and reassuring as he sings 'You're My Guiding Light, When There's No Guiding Light Left', even though the solo again rings out more Queen-esque styles but Matt's vocals alone in this song is a complete saviour.
We find ourselves indulged in 'Unnatural Selection' which is another hard hitting heavy Muse at their best, but here comes the snag, the main riff sounds HEAVILY like the dominating and boulder crushing riff that's in 'New Born', now there's nothing wrong with that if your just wanting heavy and catchy riffs to dance to or whatever, but for music enthusiasts and hardcore Muse fans, this is sure to annoy them and along with that seven minutes of mediocrity we don't want more Queen, and we got more of them at the vocal crescendo at the end which takes it's sorrows from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' yet again.
To the high points of the album, which lack few and far between, one of them however would be 'MK Ultra' which has a driving bass line leading the horde just like the songs of 'Origin of Symmetry' did. 'MK Ultra' proves itself in many forms, it's again, Muse at their best, has the calming start and somehow, out of no where comes to the blasting fire power the band has severely lacked on 'The Resistance' with a gracious nod again to 'New Born' but not as heavily replicated as 'Unnatural Selection'.
The final point in the album to be made is in 'Exogenesis', which is something Matt said he has been working on, on a long time. 'Exogenesis' runs for a total of thirteen minutes plus. The 'Symphony' is divided into three parts with part one being 'Overture' and this is swallowed in the darkness of an orchestrated chill of violins and more strings and Matt's restrained guitar pulling out a gentle but grinding solo and sings melodically but quietly to the gruesomely exceptional music behind him. Part two 'Cross-Pollination' starts of with a fast paced piano intro, but slows down to Matt's low and fierce vocal lines, but we somehow find ourselves racing in tempo with a guitar riff building intensity, and flickering the sharp solo before the whirlwind come down of the piano riff that the song started out with. Finally, part three enters into something that's a little more upbeat in comparison to 'Cross-Pollination'. 'Redemption' is probably the most beautiful piano ballad Matt Bellamy has came up with, it's slow but uniquely uplifting. Again, the violin's come in again and add it's bit of genius to Matt's unique ballad and just to complete this Symphony, Matt's hurried and low vocals just bring up the mood a little more before the outro consisting of the piano riff that was used as the intro and the slow in and out use of the violins.
Muse's fifth album has not raised any eyebrows, mainly around music critics and am sure hardcore Muse fans would be slightly disappointed with this effort. 'The Resistance' does have it's high points in 'MK Ultra' and the entire Symphony of 'Exogenesis' which would definitely be considered a masterpiece amongst the more classical sides of Muse fans. Although at to many parts in the album, they have uplifted roots from Queen and failed to pull it of and used riffs from their previous songs that have just been meddled around with to achieve some effect that's just not happened. 'The Resistance' is not a serious disaster overall, but very mediocre for a band with the heavy, heavy amount of talent that Muse has and let's hope that the next time, is a little less Queen and a lot more Muse hopefully.
2½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
So, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have dropped their guitars and went for the synthesizers approach, any fan of the band would have been pretty scared by the prospect of such a thing and after the success of their previous albums, it would have probably been a smart idea to carry on in that format.
It's Blitz! opens up with a magnificent feel good song by the name of 'Zero'. Which has a heavy synthesizer beat floating around Karen O's sweet and romantic vocals which echo her punk influences like Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders. Yeah Yeah Yeahs also prove their development in sound with 'Heads Will Roll' and this song again, has another heavy synthesizer beat dominating the track, further more it's another feel good song which the band captured on 'Zero' and just like 'Zero' it has that party feel and all the glitter to make you feel that you were back in the 70's listening to 'Heart Of Glass'.
Probably the most challenging effort the band has ever made would be in 'Skeletons', which is an epic, sad and notorious love song and no matter what mood you might be in, it will demonstrate some effect of romance and sadness on you. 'Skeletons' draws influences from Electronica and Celtic forms and when you feel the song couldn't hit a higher note of depression, a beautifully placed bagpipe solo rings out and draws the song to a winding close. After 'Skeletons' we are thrashed into 'Dull Life', now this song is what Yeah Yeah Yeahs do best, fast paced punk rock in a slick and furious tone with Nick Zinner's stylish swagger with the six stringed instrument that he earns his corn through.
Towards the rear end of the album, we are plunged into 'Dragon Queen' and in this song, Karen O' produces some flat vocal lines and somehow still sounds simply amazing, and the Synthesizer's still flicker around us and almost reminisces The Who's 'Baby O'Riley'. We move on to 'Hysteric' which further shows the development of Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound, it's basically another cheeky little love song, not to be taken to seriously however, but wonderful in many ways with Karen O's light vocal lines gliding along to Nick Zinner's soft guitar lines and Brian Chase's jazzy drumming. The final song on 'It's Blitz!', 'Little Shadow' is another beautiful ballad, apart from Karen O's fantastic vocals, but the drumming is a particular highlight here, it surges through you like a bullet in your gut and has the dramatic power drumming from 'Gold Lion' which he blasted apart in a million pieces in superb fashion.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have demonstrated that after three albums, they are certainly a band that's here to stay, considering a lot of these so-called 'Alternative' and 'Indie' bands are fading away, Yeah Yeah Yeahs however, show they are rocking and they are dancing and on their third album 'It's Blitz!' they have evolved their sound from fast paced punk rock to new wave/synthesizer rock and how we cannot wait until their next album.
4½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
It's Blitz! opens up with a magnificent feel good song by the name of 'Zero'. Which has a heavy synthesizer beat floating around Karen O's sweet and romantic vocals which echo her punk influences like Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders. Yeah Yeah Yeahs also prove their development in sound with 'Heads Will Roll' and this song again, has another heavy synthesizer beat dominating the track, further more it's another feel good song which the band captured on 'Zero' and just like 'Zero' it has that party feel and all the glitter to make you feel that you were back in the 70's listening to 'Heart Of Glass'.
Probably the most challenging effort the band has ever made would be in 'Skeletons', which is an epic, sad and notorious love song and no matter what mood you might be in, it will demonstrate some effect of romance and sadness on you. 'Skeletons' draws influences from Electronica and Celtic forms and when you feel the song couldn't hit a higher note of depression, a beautifully placed bagpipe solo rings out and draws the song to a winding close. After 'Skeletons' we are thrashed into 'Dull Life', now this song is what Yeah Yeah Yeahs do best, fast paced punk rock in a slick and furious tone with Nick Zinner's stylish swagger with the six stringed instrument that he earns his corn through.
Towards the rear end of the album, we are plunged into 'Dragon Queen' and in this song, Karen O' produces some flat vocal lines and somehow still sounds simply amazing, and the Synthesizer's still flicker around us and almost reminisces The Who's 'Baby O'Riley'. We move on to 'Hysteric' which further shows the development of Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound, it's basically another cheeky little love song, not to be taken to seriously however, but wonderful in many ways with Karen O's light vocal lines gliding along to Nick Zinner's soft guitar lines and Brian Chase's jazzy drumming. The final song on 'It's Blitz!', 'Little Shadow' is another beautiful ballad, apart from Karen O's fantastic vocals, but the drumming is a particular highlight here, it surges through you like a bullet in your gut and has the dramatic power drumming from 'Gold Lion' which he blasted apart in a million pieces in superb fashion.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have demonstrated that after three albums, they are certainly a band that's here to stay, considering a lot of these so-called 'Alternative' and 'Indie' bands are fading away, Yeah Yeah Yeahs however, show they are rocking and they are dancing and on their third album 'It's Blitz!' they have evolved their sound from fast paced punk rock to new wave/synthesizer rock and how we cannot wait until their next album.
4½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
It looks like these Sheffield boys have came back from the sweltering desert in Josh Homme land with some balls, as their third effort is a real shift in style and complexion from their past two albums which were definitely a little more acceptable in terms of the mass public's opinion on what proper music is, where this album, is a bit of a harder listen.
So the Monkeys open with 'My Propeller', a nice jaunting track, where the guitar lines actually reminiscent the sound of what we think a propeller would sound like when it's old and battered. Alex Turner doesn't disappoint with his lyrics either, as usual he comes up with quirky lines like 'Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller' which could sound sexually deviant when you think of it.
Track two, would come in the form of 'Crying Lightning', which is also the lead single from 'Humbug'. It's a grower, especially for a single, it doesn't have the impact most lead singles would have, but again, lyrically it delivers, may I suggest how lyrics these days are never as good as this 'And your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called 'Crying Lightning''. After 'Crying Lightning' we enter 'Pound' mode 'Dangerous Animals' which has a Black Sabbath aura to it, with the main riff is a hard pounder which is destined to enter your head along with the chorus which equally pounds itself to the back of your mind 'D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L'.
As 'Humbug' progresses on it's dark and wonderful path, we soon encounter 'Potion Approaching' which is another thumper, it's another song you feel that Mr. Homme might have had a bit of an influence over, which is obvious, as he's produced most of the tracks, but you could argue that certain parts do sound very Homme-ish in terms of his guitar playing style and unique sound which the Monkeys seemed to have stole and made it their own. Despite all that, it's Arctic Monkeys at their best, music is solid and lyrics present as ever. When 'Potion Approaching' finishes, we are blessed with a song called 'Fire And The Thud' which has a very special guest on it, Miss. Alison Mosshart of The Kills/Dead Weather. Although her role in the song is just backing vocals and she only appears in the last minute and a bit. However, the song wouldn't work any other way, as Alex Turner and co, already add their dreary and murky label on it, Alison just applies the finishing touches with her echoing and haunting voice which simply pierces your heart like a nail through the eye.
Towards the end of the album, 'Cornerstone' gives us a nice little ballad about keeping your short-cuts to yourself and picking up the scent of your girlfriend on the seatbelt, despite that, 'Mardy Bum' fans would be happy with this effort for another genuine sing-a-long. 'Pretty Visitors' gives us a slight bit of comedy in the line 'What came first the chicken or the dickhead?' and another bit of Josh Homme pops up again with the dark echoing vocals in the background to a ferocious guitar riff and drum beat dominating proceedings. Now, something the Arctic Monkeys are very good at now comes into play and that's writing excellent closing songs for an album, and just to refresh your memory may I mention how good 'A Certain Romance' and '505' are? Well, here comes another one, 'The Jeweller's Hands'. They display many styles in this song, like Psychedelia, Rock and maybe some elements of Jazz (Probably in the drumming). The song is also basically, Arctic Monkeys on The Doors and my reference to this would be in the later half of the song where Alex Turner scarily brings Jim Morrison back from the dead as he isolates us and brings our defences down further as he sings 'If you've a lesson to teach me I'm listening, ready to learn. There's no here to police me I'm sinking in until the return. If you've a lesson to teach me don't deviate, don't be afraid. Without the last corner piece I can't calibrate, let's get it engraved'. Even the lyrics would resemble something Jim Morrison would write and if anything, that speaks volume for Alex Turner's song writing capabilities and the rest of the band also do their bit, by keeping a very tight rhythm that haunts us with it's mellow and black perceptions until the final note.
'Humbug' has been a very pleasant surprise, hopefully a departure from their previous work and they can enter a new world of mystery and deviant behaviour. It's hardly going to be winning any awards or going to be album of the year, but who gives a fuck? Arctic Monkeys are a band that's not going to fade away within a few years, they're here to stay and this album demonstrates that.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
So the Monkeys open with 'My Propeller', a nice jaunting track, where the guitar lines actually reminiscent the sound of what we think a propeller would sound like when it's old and battered. Alex Turner doesn't disappoint with his lyrics either, as usual he comes up with quirky lines like 'Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller' which could sound sexually deviant when you think of it.
Track two, would come in the form of 'Crying Lightning', which is also the lead single from 'Humbug'. It's a grower, especially for a single, it doesn't have the impact most lead singles would have, but again, lyrically it delivers, may I suggest how lyrics these days are never as good as this 'And your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called 'Crying Lightning''. After 'Crying Lightning' we enter 'Pound' mode 'Dangerous Animals' which has a Black Sabbath aura to it, with the main riff is a hard pounder which is destined to enter your head along with the chorus which equally pounds itself to the back of your mind 'D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L'.
As 'Humbug' progresses on it's dark and wonderful path, we soon encounter 'Potion Approaching' which is another thumper, it's another song you feel that Mr. Homme might have had a bit of an influence over, which is obvious, as he's produced most of the tracks, but you could argue that certain parts do sound very Homme-ish in terms of his guitar playing style and unique sound which the Monkeys seemed to have stole and made it their own. Despite all that, it's Arctic Monkeys at their best, music is solid and lyrics present as ever. When 'Potion Approaching' finishes, we are blessed with a song called 'Fire And The Thud' which has a very special guest on it, Miss. Alison Mosshart of The Kills/Dead Weather. Although her role in the song is just backing vocals and she only appears in the last minute and a bit. However, the song wouldn't work any other way, as Alex Turner and co, already add their dreary and murky label on it, Alison just applies the finishing touches with her echoing and haunting voice which simply pierces your heart like a nail through the eye.
Towards the end of the album, 'Cornerstone' gives us a nice little ballad about keeping your short-cuts to yourself and picking up the scent of your girlfriend on the seatbelt, despite that, 'Mardy Bum' fans would be happy with this effort for another genuine sing-a-long. 'Pretty Visitors' gives us a slight bit of comedy in the line 'What came first the chicken or the dickhead?' and another bit of Josh Homme pops up again with the dark echoing vocals in the background to a ferocious guitar riff and drum beat dominating proceedings. Now, something the Arctic Monkeys are very good at now comes into play and that's writing excellent closing songs for an album, and just to refresh your memory may I mention how good 'A Certain Romance' and '505' are? Well, here comes another one, 'The Jeweller's Hands'. They display many styles in this song, like Psychedelia, Rock and maybe some elements of Jazz (Probably in the drumming). The song is also basically, Arctic Monkeys on The Doors and my reference to this would be in the later half of the song where Alex Turner scarily brings Jim Morrison back from the dead as he isolates us and brings our defences down further as he sings 'If you've a lesson to teach me I'm listening, ready to learn. There's no here to police me I'm sinking in until the return. If you've a lesson to teach me don't deviate, don't be afraid. Without the last corner piece I can't calibrate, let's get it engraved'. Even the lyrics would resemble something Jim Morrison would write and if anything, that speaks volume for Alex Turner's song writing capabilities and the rest of the band also do their bit, by keeping a very tight rhythm that haunts us with it's mellow and black perceptions until the final note.
'Humbug' has been a very pleasant surprise, hopefully a departure from their previous work and they can enter a new world of mystery and deviant behaviour. It's hardly going to be winning any awards or going to be album of the year, but who gives a fuck? Arctic Monkeys are a band that's not going to fade away within a few years, they're here to stay and this album demonstrates that.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Kasabian's third studio album is a bit of a landmark... okay, it's not 'Nevermind' but for Kasabian this is certainly a grown up album considering their previous effort 'Empire' was more appealing to Britain's very horrible scene of scenesters and it's very nice to see at least one of the early 'NME Bands' to have shone through the mud. Kasabian also go for a very unusual album title 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum'. You can either call it wonderfully funny or one of the worst album titles ever... either way, the album title doesn't matter.
So 'West Ryder...' has it's high energy start with 'Underdog', as Sergio Pizzorno's eye fluttering-like guitar sound plucks away in distorted flashes and when Tom Meighan's vocals kick in, you fall straight in love with Kasabian just like how you did when their debut was released. After 'Underdog' in comes 'Where Did All The Love Go?' which sounds very Oasis-like, but even at that, it parts itself from Oasis with it's middle eastern influence on the solo, which would go down well in a concert in India. Kasabian also dabble in electronic art, which is their primary field, but in 'Swarfiga, which is simply two minutes and eighteen seconds of synthesizers, bass and the odd percussion, but the previous track 'Where Did All The Love Go?' sets into 'Swarfiga' so well that you would think it was just an extended jam. With the slightly slow tempo 'Swarfiga' complete, which perhaps slows the albums mode down by a considerable amount, but then 'Fast Fuse' is thrown at us, and this song is driven by a bass line, in the same form as Muse did in their album 'Origin of Symmetry' which the bass was a main power throughout the album. 'Fast Fuse' doesn't stop there however, it also proves Kasabian are attempting to bring this album out in a higher tempo compared to their self titled and 'Empire' where both those albums varied in pace and melody but never sustained any specific speed of energy.
What is also striking about Kasabian's third album, is that they continue to show different styles within their music, even their vocalist Tom Meighan shows different vocal styles in this album, again, in 'Underdog' he sounds more 'English' and expresses his Leicestershire accent perfectly. Sergio Pizzorno is a bit of a wizard with the guitar, as he's proved in many departments... need I suggest you to listen to 'Shoot the Runner', 'Reason Is Treason' and 'Stuntman' from their previous two albums, but in 'West Ryder...' he shows you how to play the acoustic guitar in 'Ladies and Gentlemen (Roll The Dice)'. His playing is some simply yet fantastic, while he just plucks away as if it all comes to him on the spot and again... Tom Meighan doesn't fail either as his baritone vocals smother the guitar flicks around him as he sings along almost drunk-like along to the beautiful melody.
The main highlight of the album would come in the form of 'Secret Alphabets' and this song suggests what Kasabian do best and that's in their primary field of 'Electronica'. This song also points out the development Kasabian have made in their song writing and development as musicians. Their bassist Christopher Edwards shows his progression as a bassist, this song is primarily fuelled by his mono bass lines and Ian Matthews simple, yet artistic drumming is key in this song, because that's all the song is... drum and bass with the in and out use of synthesizers. Tom Meighan's vocals just add to the haunting and fearsome chill of this song by groaning and crooning the lyrics out as he wanders around in his own mental asylum.
After the brilliant nightmare of 'Secret Alphabets' we are introduced to the lead single of the album, 'Fire'. Now, it's probably one of the most commercially acceptable songs of the album, but it's certainly not the most worthy one, reasons for being so, it's simply not as hard hitting as 'Underdog' and not as jingly and catchy as 'Where Did All The Love Go?' which doesn't make it a bad song, it just makes it the wrong choice of a lead single. The album closes with something less Kasabian like which is 'Happiness' a nice ballad of simple love and joy in life, which is what we all like to hear in some form or another. This song also feels like it might have appeared from the Rolling Stones 'Let It Bleed' and it's main comparison would be in the form of the Stones cover of 'Love In Vain' from the great Robert Johnson. The song expresses use of piano techniques that the Stones frequently used in 'Let It Bleed' and gospel choirs, even the vocals from Tom Meighan could be compared to early Mick Jagger when they were full of sole and heartlessness feelings.
Kasabian's third studio effort is close to fulfilling their potential, if not completely fulfilling it. 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' is masked in the usual Kasabian forms of Rock and Electronica. But what makes it more original is that they have experimented more mentally and instrumentally, they are more open to different forms of music and made it their own which is what most artists in music in Britain are lacking at the moment, which will make the 'Lunatic Asylum' something they should be VERY proud of and work very hard to follow up.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
So 'West Ryder...' has it's high energy start with 'Underdog', as Sergio Pizzorno's eye fluttering-like guitar sound plucks away in distorted flashes and when Tom Meighan's vocals kick in, you fall straight in love with Kasabian just like how you did when their debut was released. After 'Underdog' in comes 'Where Did All The Love Go?' which sounds very Oasis-like, but even at that, it parts itself from Oasis with it's middle eastern influence on the solo, which would go down well in a concert in India. Kasabian also dabble in electronic art, which is their primary field, but in 'Swarfiga, which is simply two minutes and eighteen seconds of synthesizers, bass and the odd percussion, but the previous track 'Where Did All The Love Go?' sets into 'Swarfiga' so well that you would think it was just an extended jam. With the slightly slow tempo 'Swarfiga' complete, which perhaps slows the albums mode down by a considerable amount, but then 'Fast Fuse' is thrown at us, and this song is driven by a bass line, in the same form as Muse did in their album 'Origin of Symmetry' which the bass was a main power throughout the album. 'Fast Fuse' doesn't stop there however, it also proves Kasabian are attempting to bring this album out in a higher tempo compared to their self titled and 'Empire' where both those albums varied in pace and melody but never sustained any specific speed of energy.
What is also striking about Kasabian's third album, is that they continue to show different styles within their music, even their vocalist Tom Meighan shows different vocal styles in this album, again, in 'Underdog' he sounds more 'English' and expresses his Leicestershire accent perfectly. Sergio Pizzorno is a bit of a wizard with the guitar, as he's proved in many departments... need I suggest you to listen to 'Shoot the Runner', 'Reason Is Treason' and 'Stuntman' from their previous two albums, but in 'West Ryder...' he shows you how to play the acoustic guitar in 'Ladies and Gentlemen (Roll The Dice)'. His playing is some simply yet fantastic, while he just plucks away as if it all comes to him on the spot and again... Tom Meighan doesn't fail either as his baritone vocals smother the guitar flicks around him as he sings along almost drunk-like along to the beautiful melody.
The main highlight of the album would come in the form of 'Secret Alphabets' and this song suggests what Kasabian do best and that's in their primary field of 'Electronica'. This song also points out the development Kasabian have made in their song writing and development as musicians. Their bassist Christopher Edwards shows his progression as a bassist, this song is primarily fuelled by his mono bass lines and Ian Matthews simple, yet artistic drumming is key in this song, because that's all the song is... drum and bass with the in and out use of synthesizers. Tom Meighan's vocals just add to the haunting and fearsome chill of this song by groaning and crooning the lyrics out as he wanders around in his own mental asylum.
After the brilliant nightmare of 'Secret Alphabets' we are introduced to the lead single of the album, 'Fire'. Now, it's probably one of the most commercially acceptable songs of the album, but it's certainly not the most worthy one, reasons for being so, it's simply not as hard hitting as 'Underdog' and not as jingly and catchy as 'Where Did All The Love Go?' which doesn't make it a bad song, it just makes it the wrong choice of a lead single. The album closes with something less Kasabian like which is 'Happiness' a nice ballad of simple love and joy in life, which is what we all like to hear in some form or another. This song also feels like it might have appeared from the Rolling Stones 'Let It Bleed' and it's main comparison would be in the form of the Stones cover of 'Love In Vain' from the great Robert Johnson. The song expresses use of piano techniques that the Stones frequently used in 'Let It Bleed' and gospel choirs, even the vocals from Tom Meighan could be compared to early Mick Jagger when they were full of sole and heartlessness feelings.
Kasabian's third studio effort is close to fulfilling their potential, if not completely fulfilling it. 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' is masked in the usual Kasabian forms of Rock and Electronica. But what makes it more original is that they have experimented more mentally and instrumentally, they are more open to different forms of music and made it their own which is what most artists in music in Britain are lacking at the moment, which will make the 'Lunatic Asylum' something they should be VERY proud of and work very hard to follow up.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
The Horrors - Primary Colours
So The Horrors have dropped the goth look and went for something a little more socially acceptable and that's in dress sense and musical style. Still, at least Faris still has his gigantic hedge-like hair style.
Primary Colours is a surprise in more ways than one, it's far more complex and more structured in comparison to 'Strange House' which was just a garage rock orgy. Primary Colours is also in a total different style compared to it's predecessor with it being more post-punk-ish.
The Horrors don't stop with the surprises, 'Mirror's Image' the opening song to 'Primary Colours' is an electronic dream. The intro dots along at a pacey speed and when Faris enters the fold he dominates the music behind him with his graceless vocals that makes the song more of a dreamy opener. Straight after 'Mirror's Image' we are plunged into 'Three Decades' which is another electronic dream, the drumming in particular is the main highlight in this song as 'Coffin' Joe Spurgeon sustains the rhythm elegantly as he bashes his cymbals at a glancing speed.
A lot of people have been comparing 'Primary Colours' to Joy Division, well there are similarities I guess, especially in the song 'Do You Remember' as the guitar playing would be reminiscent of some of the songs of 'Unknown Pleasures' may I suggest 'Disorder' in particular. Still, The Horrors don't exactly replicate Joy Division entirely, they have the sense to distort their sound perfectly which gives it a sense of originality and makes it marvellous sound to behold. The Horrors even slightly go back to their roots on 'New Ice Age' which has the punky 100 MPH feel from 'Strange House' but even at that, the song itself isn't a minute and a half long, they drag it out a bit and make it fit with the rest of the album perfectly.
If I was to pick out the weak tracks in 'Primary Colours', then I guess there's only two out of the ten tracks available, which would be 'Who Can Say' and 'I Only Think Of You' reasons for being so, in 'Who Can Say' Faris comes out with a lame and corny spoken line of statement 'And When I Told Her I Didn't Love Her Anymore, She Cried And When I Told Her Kisses Were Not Like Before, She Cried', sorry Faris, but really, cheese and punk don't go! and with 'I Only Think Of You' well, I guess it's a nice depressing song about love and friendship but with the song being at such a slow tempo, they really don't have to drag out for seven minutes and repeat the same lyrics constantly it tends to get boring after the first two minutes and makes you think "I get the point".
The Horrors also get Stooges-like, for example, in 'I Can't Control Myself' we kind of here 'No Fun' from The Stooges self titled album back in the 60's. The sound is similar in the vocals as they stutter and strut along to the brash guitar chords that make the song entirely punk and for The Horrors, they just went retro there. One of the key songs of 'Primary Colours' would have to be the song that closes this very complex album is 'Sea Within A Sea', this song is certainly a grower, it will take it's time, but really it's worth listening to and all seven minutes and 58 seconds of it to. This song is built around an electronic buzz that constantly startles itself around Faris' vocals which just whisper for the first couple of minutes and then the rest of the band do the talking, but not lyrically... instrumentally, yes. After Faris' vocals have ceased, the keyboards stamps it's mark on the song and probably makes it the most exciting part to listen to, where it just buzzes and flickers around your brain and washes your mind clear and lets you fall in love with the music that surrounds you then suddenly Faris brings you to attention as he comes back with his groaning vocals that are sounding sleepy by this point but full of romance, he eventually puts us to sleep as he we march into a 'Sea Within A Sea'.
For a second album, The Horrors have really went for it, this is a very ambitious effort and even their debut 'Strange House' received good responses and would be a hard album to follow up, The Horrors however have executed their second album perfectly, most of 'Primary Colours' sounds nothing like it's predecessor and for that they deserve respect for their ambition and ability to change their sound so drastically but in amazing fashion, 'Primary Colours' will certainly be considered for the Mercury Prize at the end of the year, if not win it.
4½ / 5.
Linus Broadbent.
Primary Colours is a surprise in more ways than one, it's far more complex and more structured in comparison to 'Strange House' which was just a garage rock orgy. Primary Colours is also in a total different style compared to it's predecessor with it being more post-punk-ish.
The Horrors don't stop with the surprises, 'Mirror's Image' the opening song to 'Primary Colours' is an electronic dream. The intro dots along at a pacey speed and when Faris enters the fold he dominates the music behind him with his graceless vocals that makes the song more of a dreamy opener. Straight after 'Mirror's Image' we are plunged into 'Three Decades' which is another electronic dream, the drumming in particular is the main highlight in this song as 'Coffin' Joe Spurgeon sustains the rhythm elegantly as he bashes his cymbals at a glancing speed.
A lot of people have been comparing 'Primary Colours' to Joy Division, well there are similarities I guess, especially in the song 'Do You Remember' as the guitar playing would be reminiscent of some of the songs of 'Unknown Pleasures' may I suggest 'Disorder' in particular. Still, The Horrors don't exactly replicate Joy Division entirely, they have the sense to distort their sound perfectly which gives it a sense of originality and makes it marvellous sound to behold. The Horrors even slightly go back to their roots on 'New Ice Age' which has the punky 100 MPH feel from 'Strange House' but even at that, the song itself isn't a minute and a half long, they drag it out a bit and make it fit with the rest of the album perfectly.
If I was to pick out the weak tracks in 'Primary Colours', then I guess there's only two out of the ten tracks available, which would be 'Who Can Say' and 'I Only Think Of You' reasons for being so, in 'Who Can Say' Faris comes out with a lame and corny spoken line of statement 'And When I Told Her I Didn't Love Her Anymore, She Cried And When I Told Her Kisses Were Not Like Before, She Cried', sorry Faris, but really, cheese and punk don't go! and with 'I Only Think Of You' well, I guess it's a nice depressing song about love and friendship but with the song being at such a slow tempo, they really don't have to drag out for seven minutes and repeat the same lyrics constantly it tends to get boring after the first two minutes and makes you think "I get the point".
The Horrors also get Stooges-like, for example, in 'I Can't Control Myself' we kind of here 'No Fun' from The Stooges self titled album back in the 60's. The sound is similar in the vocals as they stutter and strut along to the brash guitar chords that make the song entirely punk and for The Horrors, they just went retro there. One of the key songs of 'Primary Colours' would have to be the song that closes this very complex album is 'Sea Within A Sea', this song is certainly a grower, it will take it's time, but really it's worth listening to and all seven minutes and 58 seconds of it to. This song is built around an electronic buzz that constantly startles itself around Faris' vocals which just whisper for the first couple of minutes and then the rest of the band do the talking, but not lyrically... instrumentally, yes. After Faris' vocals have ceased, the keyboards stamps it's mark on the song and probably makes it the most exciting part to listen to, where it just buzzes and flickers around your brain and washes your mind clear and lets you fall in love with the music that surrounds you then suddenly Faris brings you to attention as he comes back with his groaning vocals that are sounding sleepy by this point but full of romance, he eventually puts us to sleep as he we march into a 'Sea Within A Sea'.
For a second album, The Horrors have really went for it, this is a very ambitious effort and even their debut 'Strange House' received good responses and would be a hard album to follow up, The Horrors however have executed their second album perfectly, most of 'Primary Colours' sounds nothing like it's predecessor and for that they deserve respect for their ambition and ability to change their sound so drastically but in amazing fashion, 'Primary Colours' will certainly be considered for the Mercury Prize at the end of the year, if not win it.
4½ / 5.
Linus Broadbent.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand have returned, with 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand' it comes as a bigger hit than what Katie Price's break up with Peter Andre was and we all knew that was coming.
But moving away from them, 'Tonight' is less surprising than the hype it got, it starts out in ordinary Franz Ferdinand fashion 'Ulysses' a catchy song. That's all it is. It's not like 'Take Me Out' or 'Do You Want To' as they had the instant catchy pop guitar hooks, especially in 'Take Me Out' as that was one of the best songs to appear in the early 2000's along with The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' and both songs were similar in a lot of ways. 'Ulysses' falters in some parts, it's badly put together, more like there was no effort put into it what-so-ever and the song writing is also weak on a consistent basis and the entire track itself, shows what Britain is lacking in many aspects of it's recent bands which is repetitiveness, predictability and most of all plain flat out boring to listen to degenerate copy-cat Indie Rock bands.
'Tonight' does briefly now and then show some light, although not much and shows some glimpses of Franz's early work which can be considered almost genius. In the short 2 minutes and 21 seconds of 'Turn It On' Franz display their guitar work which sounds similar to 'Cheating on You' which appeared on their debut album is definitely more worthy a lead single than 'Ulysses'.
The album progresses in it's obvious fashion, 'No You Girls' appears and no doubt you would have heard it in some night club or on the radio at work. The track achieves its purpose and that's by getting extensive radio and TV play, this is another song that expresses the problem with the British music scene at the moment, this song tries to replicate the sound on 'Take Me Out' and does sound like the entire band have no long term plan on which direction they want to take their music in and so they try to produce songs similar to their previous work which is just not cutting it.
Now, 'Tonight' does bring out an instant classic in it, probably not in the eyes of the mainstream but what I mean is, this is the best song Franz Ferdinand have ever constructed and that song is 'Lucid Dreams', nearly 8 minutes long and it starts out in calm manner as it peacefully strolls around in a park with pop fever and as that fades, in comes around three to four minutes of instant instrumental Electronic haze, which will fizzle your mind until it fries out and dries up and leave you wondering were you on an acid trip. The album also closes out in a nice sing-a-along fashion 'Katherine Kiss Me' is just a simple acoustic melody which Alex Kapranos sings to in his low voice which makes you fall in love with him and makes you ask 'Alex Kiss Me?'
Finally, 'Tonight' is a solid effort, considering 2005's 'You Could Have It So Much Better' wasn't well received but even at that, it flowed better than 'Tonight' which nearly everything was just replicated from it's predecessor, songs like 'Send Him Away', 'Twilight Omens' and 'Live Alone' really could have been left out and stuck in some vault and be released posthumously or something, because they don't even give of the 'filler' feel, they just bore you, because you simply think you've listened to these songs before from somewhere else. This album will also raise no eyebrows amongst music critics or even hardcore Franz Ferdinand fans which will be slightly disappointed and will expect more from a band like this who have so much talent and potential to fulfil, plus this album will surely not be nominated for 'Album of the Year' or anything but I guess it shall give fans of Franz Ferdinand something to listen to until they hopefully release a more ambitious and less predictable record on their fourth effort.
2½ / 5.
Linus Broadbent
But moving away from them, 'Tonight' is less surprising than the hype it got, it starts out in ordinary Franz Ferdinand fashion 'Ulysses' a catchy song. That's all it is. It's not like 'Take Me Out' or 'Do You Want To' as they had the instant catchy pop guitar hooks, especially in 'Take Me Out' as that was one of the best songs to appear in the early 2000's along with The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' and both songs were similar in a lot of ways. 'Ulysses' falters in some parts, it's badly put together, more like there was no effort put into it what-so-ever and the song writing is also weak on a consistent basis and the entire track itself, shows what Britain is lacking in many aspects of it's recent bands which is repetitiveness, predictability and most of all plain flat out boring to listen to degenerate copy-cat Indie Rock bands.
'Tonight' does briefly now and then show some light, although not much and shows some glimpses of Franz's early work which can be considered almost genius. In the short 2 minutes and 21 seconds of 'Turn It On' Franz display their guitar work which sounds similar to 'Cheating on You' which appeared on their debut album is definitely more worthy a lead single than 'Ulysses'.
The album progresses in it's obvious fashion, 'No You Girls' appears and no doubt you would have heard it in some night club or on the radio at work. The track achieves its purpose and that's by getting extensive radio and TV play, this is another song that expresses the problem with the British music scene at the moment, this song tries to replicate the sound on 'Take Me Out' and does sound like the entire band have no long term plan on which direction they want to take their music in and so they try to produce songs similar to their previous work which is just not cutting it.
Now, 'Tonight' does bring out an instant classic in it, probably not in the eyes of the mainstream but what I mean is, this is the best song Franz Ferdinand have ever constructed and that song is 'Lucid Dreams', nearly 8 minutes long and it starts out in calm manner as it peacefully strolls around in a park with pop fever and as that fades, in comes around three to four minutes of instant instrumental Electronic haze, which will fizzle your mind until it fries out and dries up and leave you wondering were you on an acid trip. The album also closes out in a nice sing-a-along fashion 'Katherine Kiss Me' is just a simple acoustic melody which Alex Kapranos sings to in his low voice which makes you fall in love with him and makes you ask 'Alex Kiss Me?'
Finally, 'Tonight' is a solid effort, considering 2005's 'You Could Have It So Much Better' wasn't well received but even at that, it flowed better than 'Tonight' which nearly everything was just replicated from it's predecessor, songs like 'Send Him Away', 'Twilight Omens' and 'Live Alone' really could have been left out and stuck in some vault and be released posthumously or something, because they don't even give of the 'filler' feel, they just bore you, because you simply think you've listened to these songs before from somewhere else. This album will also raise no eyebrows amongst music critics or even hardcore Franz Ferdinand fans which will be slightly disappointed and will expect more from a band like this who have so much talent and potential to fulfil, plus this album will surely not be nominated for 'Album of the Year' or anything but I guess it shall give fans of Franz Ferdinand something to listen to until they hopefully release a more ambitious and less predictable record on their fourth effort.
2½ / 5.
Linus Broadbent
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