Customer Reviews

Big Machine

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

 

 

Upon first listen to this album, naturally expecting a continuum of the artistic journey Emilie Simon started with previous album Vegetal The Big Machine struck me as odd. Like a splinter in my mind her brilliant musical cords and electronically adorned vocal ornamentations I soon became addicted to this album. It is a "grower" of an album and it is well worth the money you pay for it. Not only did Emilie Simon experiment with new vocal styling and musical arrangements but the album takes you on a journey through her mind. If you enjoy the experimental side of the early work of Kate Bush I would imagine you would fall in love with the album like I have. Tracks like "The Ballad of the Big Machine", "Dreamland", "The Cycle" and "Rainbow" seem to pay an unspoken tribute to Kate Bush, at least on a vocal level. Musically it is almost incomparable but at times reminiscent the music of Tori Amos (the Boys for Pele /Choirgirl Hotel era), Bjork and at times similar to Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine. The album can not truly be described by comparing to other artists work; it is to be owned! It is truly unique on so many levels. It is brilliant and I hope you become as addicted to it as I have.

I'm always excited when Emilie puts out a new LP; she's my favorite artist for good reason. The Big Machine, like all of her previous LPs, has a personality of its own. An interesting change from her previous works is that you'll find all the songs are in English on this LP, with only an occasional French line or two in the middle of a song. Once again, Emilie has compiled a fantastic album, highly recommended and well worth the money.

Emilie Simon's latest effort "The Big Machine" definitely lives up to the quality of her previous albums, and is an obvious extension of the eccentricity of "Vegetal". The sounds of "Machine" are fuller, richer, and more heavily layered than her previous efforts, and her vocals are stronger and brighter. There are elements of Kate Bush influenced vocals, but this album sounds like an Emilie Simon album: creative, beautiful, strange, and more rewarding with each listen. The songs sound modern yet familiar and antique at the same time. If you enjoyed Emilie's prior albums, you will enjoy this one. She's pretty much amazing, and efforts like this make me excited to see what she will create next.

Right up there with Ladytron and Goldfrapp.

Happy, friendly upbeat music, and Emlie's vocal range is quite impressive as illustrated in this album. "Dreamland" is the highlight for me.

So, you're an Emilie Simon fan. Congratulations. She's great, isn't she? Remember how great and original Végétal was? Well, prepare to start calling yourself "a fan of Emilie Simon's older stuff".

This album really is a new kind of terrible. That's the quick and dirty of it. There is nothing that ties this album together with her previous (and excellent) efforts. It's kind of like what happened to David Bowie in the 80's; or Beck, when he thought he could become a rapper. How about Trent Reznor on a tambourine? Like those examples, nothing on this album makes sense.

Emilie Simon could have, previously, been compared to the likes of Bjork. She was kind of like a sexier, smarter, more-talented Bjork. Well, now, she's making generic almost-club-music. Every song on this album is synth-heavy to the point where it sounds like it could be a song by The Faint. The sound can best be described as: The Pet Shop Boys + A Brass Section + Poppy, Generic Vocals. So, it's extremely 'experimental' then? Well, the downside is that the melodies are so utterly terrible; half the time, she just pounds on two or three piano keys and layers the unpleasant sounds atop. It's just extremely unpleasant.

This is all coming from someone who absolutely adores - nay, loves - Emilie Simon's work.

The only song that it is even remotely listenable is the last: "This Is Your World". Well Emilie, if this were my world, I'd have a time machine that would allow me to go back in time and prevent you from making this terrible ablum.

What happened? Why did Emilie go downhill?

If you loved Emilie's other albums, Végétal and Émilie Simon, then don't buy this one. Around half of the songs are mediocre and irritating to hear. The worst songs in this album are "Rocket to the Moon" and "This is your World" (completely unbearable, they should be used for torture abroad). The best songs in the album are "Rainbow" and "Dreamland"

All of her songs prior to this album are great. Hopefully This is just a glitch and she will go back to singing great music.

This particular album is not worth owning.