Customer Reviews

Concentration

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No one but the special few even know who Machine Of Loving Grace are anymore unless they heard "The Crow Soundtrack". That song was good, but man this album kick so much ass. If you like KMFDM or Pretty Hate Machine-era Nine Inch Nails, then you should like this. The bass on this cd is really thick and funky and is the best thing on this cd. The drums are nice and heavy too. Scott Benzel's voice is sleazy enough to get the job done and with the synths and some funky guitar licks, Concentration ends up becoming a catchy, memorable industrial album. Listen to the samples, or buy this on a whim because its totally worth it, even if they arent around anymore. Get Gilt too, although just so you know its totally different. Gilt has no keyboards and the funky industrial feel is gone, but the sound is still heavy its just more metal than anything. Note: This band is better than My Life W/ The Thrill Kill Kult. Standout tracks are Content?, Butterfly's Wings, Limiter, and definitley Lilith/Eve...that song is very creepy. For those who like their music loud and heavy. Rocketh on!

Concentration by Machines of Loving Grace is easily one of the best albums in my expansive music collection. They fuse together 90's industrial with an 80's synth-like quality. All 12 tracks on this CD stand out on their own from themselves and from the rest of music in general. The music found on this album is very inspired and original. From the somewhat jazzy feel to the guitars to the sometimes funky basslines- everything is top- notch. The vocals and lyrics of Scott Benzel are some of music's most hidden secrets and deserve much recognition. This album is not as heavy as Gilt and not as poppy as their self-titled. This is a perfect mix of all the best things in music and it is essential for almost everybody. MOLG are now sadly dismantled but their music will live on. In other words, buy everything with their name on it(it is truly worth it).

I haven't heard this CD is quite some time and so while I was digging around through some of my $hit I found it and realized that I used to LOVE this CD...well, the song "Butterfly Wings" which in my opinion (and seems like quite a few other reviewers) makes this CD. The other songs are great and deeply political, but it's 'Butterfly Wings' that is still the best track here and a HUGE reason to purchase it. Love that song. Sometimes just one track can be worth the $15.00 and 'Butterfly WIngs' is that track.

These guys are so awesome. Ok, now that I got this out of my system, let me tell you why... it's lite-industrial, utterly danceable music that combines original, intense lyrics, catchy tunes, and that spicy something that is present only on the albums destined to become classics. This is not new but it didn't age a bit. If you've never heard this group before, think Head Like a Hole of NIN, or Stabbing Westward's Darkest Days but more groovy - something for an energetic night in the goth club. Their first album impressed me to a lesser degree. Gilt was all right, Concentration is light-years ahead of it and simply sparkles with all the right things.

The best song here, by far, is Limiter. You won't be able to resist the rhythm, the bass, the lyrics. Other great ones: Butterfly Wings, Content?, Ancestor Cult, Shaken, If I Should Explode, Cheap... add to that Acceleration, a joyride-happy ultimate driving song, Perfect Tan, a great starter for this album, and Trigger for Happiness - a song that besides the title's promise, proposes a "pill for forgiveness." If you like this album, also check out Crow's soundtrack where they contribute a great single, and Stabbing Westward who are of the same style even if of more morbid orientation.

Machines' first album showed the potential they had to improve upon their overall sound, and their second album CONCENTRATION is a step forward in the right direction. This time, there's a balance of industrial rhythms, semi-thrashy guitar, throbbing bass, kinetic drums, and also pulsing keyboards. Scott Benzel's vocals are also dreamy and soft-loud whisper and semi-shout.

"Perfect Tan (Bikini Atoll)" gets things off to a good start with it's fast pace catchiness. Next, we travel into the light metallic industrial irresistibility of "Butterfly Wings", a track that caught attention on some video and radio. It's one of the best tracks on here. "Acceleration" is one of the fast and catchy alternative rock songs with a sprinkle of industrial noises that will certainly catch your attention.

Elsewhere on CONCENTRATION, "If I Should Explode" features some intriguing guitar work from Stuart Kupers; "Cheap" is funky with polished drum work from Brad Kemp and throbbing funky bass from Stuart Kupers, who plays guitar on the album as well. "Shake" has many background rants which spice up it's energy and industrial leanings. "Trigger Happiness" closes the album on a rather curious note, with a soft metallic feel, but a subdued rock energy. Although clocking in at over 30 minutes, I found the bonus voice track rather odd, and kind of useless (it would have been cool if "Golgotha Tenement Blues" had been the hidden track).

Overall, though, CONCENTRATION is a big step in the right direction. This album hints at the polished and mighty album GILT that would prove to be Machines of Loving Grace's last album under that name and in general. With CONCENTRATION, Machines' began to take a step towards the right direction.

From beginning to end, Machines of Loving Grace's second album, "Concentration," is nothing less than stunning. The album skips nimbly across several genres, always with a combination of technical skill and an odd sense of playfulness. No two of the songs on the album sound alike, but there is a unifying style throughout that is difficult to pin down. From the infectious chorus of Butterfly Wings to the semi-punk sound of Acceleration, the Machines never disappoint with their lite-industrial rock.

As a rule, the typical album has its ups and downs. There are almost inevitably going to be tracks which are skippable, and occasionally some that border on the downright unlistenable. Amazingly, every single song on this album is enjoyable, to the point where it's very difficult for this reviewer to pick out a favorite. Even years later, the songs hold up remarkably well, and have a distinct feel which has yet to be successfully replicated (particularly by MoLG's third and final album, "Gilt").

Many bands fail to produce this much quality material over the course of several releases. That one album should be so consistently excellent is almost inconceivable. If the album has a flaw, it's simply that one wishes that there were more of it. And that's a true rarity.

MOLG have the honor of being one of my favorite bands of all time. No, not every song sounds like The Crow soundtrack. But it has produced some excellent songs, including "Albert Speer," "Limiter," and "Ancestor Cult." There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, except that this cd is still relevant to the times and I don't think the music sounds dated at all. It's such a shame that they had to break up. Three albums is too few from this awesome industrial band.

I bought this album because of Butterfly Wings and promptly put it on the shelf for a few months. Once I began listening to it again I recognized that it really fit the disillusionment I felt at the time for society and the structure of power in the United States- this is an album that requires, well, concentration.

Not only is the music catchy and borderline hypnotic in its ability to pull you into a mood, the lyrics paint a picture of an America that has the face of a virgin but the soul of a whore. An extremely powerful album.

Albert Speer, Limiter, Lilith/Eve and Trigger for Happiness really stand out but I'd be hard-pressed to name a weak track on this disc.

Who would have thought that a band that good could have been from Tucson, Arizona. Few people know that they formed while going to the University of Arizona film school. They decided to make their own music for one of their film projects. Then Suzie Dunn at local rock station KLPX got ahold of one of the songs and started playing it on the radio. Next thing you knew they had an album and were out touring with the likes of Nitzer Ebb and the Cocteau Twins. It's a shame they broke up.

The first song I heard from MOLG was Golgotha Tenement Blues off the Crow soundtrack, and I picked up Concentration not soon after. AMAZING! The stuff I normally listen to is AIC, Soundgarden, STP, etc., but this album rocks! Butterfly Wings and Lilith/Eve are worth the whole album by themselves. In my opinion this album is FAR better than offerings by NIN, Gravity Kills, Stabbing Westward, and others. Seriously, a MUST own.