The opening track, titled Death vibrates that frequency at the back of the pituitary. The one that releases epinephrine.
Truly, I was expecting death-core grind-fest 666 hell-on-earth music. Brace yourself. It's only kind of like that. I think.
Heavy and Hooky. Not afraid to be very pop-friendly while still maintaining a suitable amount of heavy imagery and brutal sound engineering.
In fact, fun surprise. I just looked up the Wikipedia to see who engineered/mixed this beauty. Turns out it was Zeuss. And it is a Christian Metal Band. Wow. That is one genre that I can truly say I normally discount before even hearing it.
So there you go, Do Christian-Metal-Kids already talk about this band as if they sold out? The last half of the album starts to sound a bit too "icky" for my likes, but the production and performances alone make this worth listening to. I'm going to check out the rest of Zeuss' catalouge.
If you are an actual Satan-Worshiping death-core listener, I believe it would be possible to slip Death into your ipod and none, but the most hard-core Hard-Cores would know the difference. However, by the time the album finishes playing out, I remember why I instinctively judge Christian Hard-Core.
Check out this video for Death and you will not see some straight-edge kids in skinny jeans shrieking into a mic. You will see what you see.
I'm not your gatewayIt's worth watching this lyric video for Artificial Light as well. In between the invasive death-kiks and actual guitar shredding there is a call for reform and and action. A yearning of devoted worshipers with scant few teachers to show them the way.
I'm not your prodigal son
I am the vile lesser-than
Just who do you think I am?
I'm not your standard
I'm not your vision divine
I am no sacrificial lamb
Just who do you think I am?
I am death
In many ways, this is also an experiment in honesty. I'm very curious as to why some collections of sounds produce a certain physiological and physiological result and others do not.
I logged my reactions to these albums as I listened to them. While I would never listen to this in any situation that I can possible imagine outside of this blog, it represents a great moment to try and dissect what the hell I am actually trying to accomplish here. What is it about this record that would make me put it on this list, knowing that I was going to have to try and defend it later?
This album has great bass sounds. Even with small speakers, there is a definitely thump. I know it is characteristic of this type of music to have that thump and I also realize that there is basically a scientific formula for achieving it along with millions of plug-ins to do it "Automagically!®". But one could also say that all painters have access to the color red so what makes Picasso's red better than another artist's red?
I realize I've just compared RuPaul to Picasso. Hey look over there! (NSFW)
Shit. I should have saved the Picasso reference for this album. Scandinavian pop music. Some would say that it has always been great. I might be one of those people. The first CD I every owned was Ace of Bass. Hasn't there been a seemingly endless parade of Scandinavian pop ever after? One might even be able to argue that the combined influence of Scandinavian songwriters rivals that of the Beatles or entire genres, such as "Techno". Wait, that's Swedish? OK, got it. All music comes from Sweden or Denmark, apparently.
Each song paints a picture dripping with emotion and authenticity. Never Want to Know has a nice 50's groove that is perfectly tainted with some fancy new 21st century production techniques. The whole record is a great study in solid changes and confident pacing.
I believe this is a break-up record. And is among the best I've heard. As I'm writing this and listening over the tracks again, I believe that I ranked this way too low. This should be a top 20 album.
Upon my first listen, I was a little turned off the seeming derivative nature of the style. Perhaps I only have room in my heart for Adele. Lorde snuck in there somehow for a moment, but is gone now.
However listening again, I hear a vulnerability and rawness that is much different than the reigning Queens of pop. When Adele is the most popular and highest selling artist of the last 10 years, one can expect to have many imitators. But what Adele brings to the table is impossible to imitate. MØ is a serious contender because she is not imitating, she is exploring her own unique frequency.
I'm making an executive decision. I'm moving This album to #20 and switching it out for the current album in that spot. Check this Album out and let me know if it seems like a fair swap!
Jim Croce's son. This album was at #20 previous to my blogprovisation above.
A classic sounding record by a classic songwriter. Lyrics are clever and meaningful. The production is clear and clean. If you aren't into folky Americana Pop, this won't convert you. If you are, add this to your collection. When someone complains that no one makes music like they used to. Put on Tarnished and Shining and tell them to shut the hell up and go buy an AJ Croce record.
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