Customer Reviews

The Astronaut Dismantles HAL

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a perfectly acceptable EP to fill the gap while we wait salivating for the new proper album. amplifier are a band to watch in the coming months. Heads up everyone! amplifier might just make it big.

There is nothing original about the band Amplifier. This trio from Manchester, England isn't reinventing the wheel. But, what they do bring to the table is an awful lot of style and cool. Take a shot of Lemmy era Hawkwind, combine it with some Oceansize wall-of-sound, throw in a pinch of Dredg pop sensibility, mixed with distorted guitars and you get Amplifier's sound.

Continuum 8:50 - A slow burner that starts off like an Oceansize song, not surprising considering the bands are friends of each other. The song develops into a bass heavy groove that slowly builds to a boiling point, explodes, and builds up again. This song feels like an extension of their debut release. It is atmospheric one moment and sledgehammer heavy the next. A really great song and a remarkably short 9min trip.

Into the Space Age 4:58 - Here is a song for bass lovers. This one absolutely owns my subwoofer (dual 15" w/ 350 watts) and is capable of moving earth and moon. This is more of a funky song with a killer stacatto groove. The minimalist drumming is just about perfect because it says a lot while playing very controlled. My favorite song.

For Marcia 4:57 - Once again, this song has a heavy Oceansize feel to it. This track is very ambient seeing the band go away from the bombast of the previous track. There's some very nice keyboards running underneath the guitar giving the song a nice laid back style. Sid's vocals work very well on this track.

The Brain Room 0:56 - A weird noise track, sounds like something from an early Vanilla Fudge album.

Everyday Combat 5:32 - Ah, this is a typical Amplifier song and a definite match for their first album. All the classic components are here, the driving distorted bassline, the military sounding drums, the multi-tracked tracked vocals, and the odd sound effect or two. Another killer groove.

Live Human 5:28 - This is the most psychedelic sounding track on the album. It starts with plenty of echoey guitar play and reverberating effects, then launches into a slow, metal groove. This patter repeats itself during the vocal sections and works rather effectively.

Scarecrows 3:54 - This is the hidden track at the end of Live Human and since I listen to all my music over a computer server, I have it tracked separately. This is a mellower song that starts off sounding like an old AM radio with Sid singing only with guitar accompanyment. By the second verse the AM radio sound is dropped and the drums begin. By the third verse some keyboards are added to the sound and the layering is quite effective without losing the acoustic quality of the performance.

Overall, a nice 35min EP that feels very much like a direct continuation of their first album. And that's a great thing because their first album is pretty darn close to a masterpiece. If you search hard enough and long enough you can find a good price for this EP.

I'm kind of at a loss why these guys aren't readily available in North America. "HAL" is a serviceable EP and a companion to their Debut album (with EP disc). Probably does me well to review all three of their albums...

DEBUT: Wow! Awesome, powerful, epic, and what a sound! 5 stars. Put alongside it's smaller 2nd disc EP it's just a continuous experience. And "Glory Electricity" has got to be one of the best b-side songs I've ever heard - why it's not on the main disc can only be accounted for its time and I don't think they had the space on the first disc.

HAL: This is a good disc, but it's not quite as powerful as "Debut" IMO. As I said, it does make a good companion piece to "Debut".

INSIDER: Hmmm. I'm dissappointed. The song writing isn't nearly as strong, and that epic feel just rarely if ever kicks in. "O Fortuna" is a pretty cool track as well as "Hymn of the Aten" but overall it just doesn't connect with me on the same level as "Debut". 3.5 Stars.