Customer Reviews

The Dissociatives

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget about the price. You can spend $30 on 2-3 sh---y releases all year long. If you like Silverchair, or are an open-minded powerpop fan, you'll be amazed. Think "Diorama' meets "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory". Daniel Johns is quickly establishing himself as one of the most talented songwriters on the planet. 2 thumbs way up ;-)

Wow is all i can say to Daniel John's new side project The Dissociatives. The whole album is a huge trip. Fans of silverchair this album picks up where diorama left of and then some. Mark my words the music that you hear on this album will become mainstream soon and there will be tones of bands poping up trying to mimic this genius. Just know it came from Daniel Johns first. From what i know of music i have never herd a band sound like this before. The Dissosiatives sample with so many new instruments and tap into an up and coming mainstream artform, electronica.

We're Much Preferred Customers: very catchy chorus, set the rest of the album up perfect. 9/10

Somewhere Down The Barrel: One of my favourite songs on the Album flows perfectly from We're Much Preferred Customers. 10/10

Horror With EyeBalls: Not completely shure because they have so many singles going right now all over the world but this is the north american one i belive. Very eerie and trippy lyrics, talks about his amount of time and feeding his animals. GENIUS! 10/10

Lifting The Veil From The Braille: Instrumental, very happy song, if your having a bad day this is a perfect song for you. 9/10

Forever And A Day: Slower song, alot less electronica in this one but still nice, not really sure if it fits well with the general mood of the album but good none the less. 8/10

Thinking in Reverse: A nice hopping song with a groovin drum beat and fast paced acoustic. 9/10

Paris Circa2007Slash08: A mishmash of instruments and beats. fits well with the albums general mood (experimental) but alone it doesn't hold much ground. 7.5/10'

Young Man, Old Man, (You Aint Better The The Rest): Probley my favourite song. Perfectly shows Daniel Johns growth as an artist, he really mellowed out since his early silverchair days and this song is just a breathe of fresh air. 10/10

Aaangry Megaphone Man: a nice song in general. Daniel is aloud to shine just as he did in diaroma. Great song vocally as well as musically. 9/10

Sleep Well Tonight: Perfect song for the person (like me) who likes to fall asleep to an album. Nice and soft. 9/10

While visiting Australia a few months ago, I fell in love with The Dissociatives, who have a lot of industry respect there, and rightly so. Paul Mac and Daniel Johns (Silverchair, anyone?) have created something undeniably special.

"The Dissociatives" brings some of the most refreshing and interesting pop music I've heard in a long time. From Daniel Johns' soothing vocals and interesting lyrics, to Paul Mac's melodic chords and electronic noises, and even to the "oohs" and "aahs" of the background kids choir in some songs, everything just adds up in the perfect way to make this debut album nothing short of beautiful.

Each track brings something different and unique to the album. I won't go into detail about individual songs, because nothing was more exciting than hearing them for the first time without any perceptions about what to expect.

What's just as mesmerizing as the music is the visual style of the band. For anyone who hasn't seen their music videos yet...you're in for a treat.

The album just got released in North America. It's hard to say how music like this could do against the current dime-a-dozen songs that dominate the American charts. It will either stand out above the rest or be swept away by the stubborn mainstream. In any case, this one of the best albums for 2004-2005.

After having this CD for almost a year, I'm still not tired of it. I play it in my car non-stop! What's great about it is the fact that I enjoy ALL the songs, while on every silverchair album there are usually a couple I always skip over. Daniel Johns is really a musical genius and I hope he continues writing because he keeps getting better and better. I recommend the band to all my friends but don't mention who the singer is, and they're blown away it's the kid that once sang "Tomorrow."

Don't buy the import, wait until it's released in the US on March 29 so you can get a better deal!

This truly is one of the most innovational albums i have ever heard. And it is easily excessible to almost everyone. I am into much heavier and harder music i.e. (Nirvana,AFI,Bush) and this album still blows me away. "Somewhere down the barrel" in my opinion is one of the best songs i have ever heard. Get this cd if you need something new and original. Daniel johns voice will bring you to your knees and paul mac production is amazing

This has been on high rotation in my iTunes ever since my brother turned me on to it. I play iTunes at work and EVERYONE who has been within earshot keeps asking what it is, and wanting me to play it again. No problem! Happy to oblige!! (Listening again while I type this - SO good!)

Coldplay fans and alt.rock fans generally - do yourself a favor and get an earful of this. Try Somewhere Down the Barrel, or Aaangry Megaphone Man, or - what the hell! try the lot! Simply the best!!

Like many others, I discovered The Dissociatives while trying to find updates on one of my favorites bands...Silverchair. After watching the two available videos on The Dissociatives' website, I was hooked, and immediately went to Amazon to purchase the album. I was stupified by the price. $35 just because it's an import. And that's before the tax I have to pay for living in WA state. Hence the "Bad Amazon.com...BAD!!!" thing. I then went back to the band's website and paid $35 Australian, which converts to just under $25 U.S. AFTER S&H. Still high for a CD, but I saved a nice chunk of change.

Not sure how serious this side project is meant to be, upon hearing it I'm assuming not very as the music is quite playful and experimental and the lyrics though intriguing barely pertain to any sort of clear life analogy or description of deep and meaningful personal experience - ie this is definitely NOT Silverchair-esque.
One thing that is somewhat surprising about this is that for cutting edge music it is highly melodic, a definite attempt has been made to create a pleasing rather than abrasive, challenging sound. It's mostly ambient digital, drum-machine backed bleeps with faint, acoustic-sounding guitar work from Johns - whose voice sounds an octave or two higher than usual to compliment the feelgood nature of Mac's piano work; this is good as it means you can return to the album many times in any frame of mind.
I imagine after the grandiosity of Diorama this was like a music chillout break for Johns.

With a reunited, confident and revitalized Silverchair having unleashed yesterday the fevered, strident yet bright force of nature that is "Straight Lines" (merely the fifth of five stellar singles - the others, "Across The Night", "Luv Your Life","Somewhere Down The Barrel" and "Young Man, Old Man....." - from the distinctive pen of Daniel Johns, in fact five of this young century's finest) and its accompanying video to chairpage - the band's website, it's instructive to revisit The Dissociatives, Johns' project with friend Paul Mac, Danger Mouse to Daniel's Cee-Lo in a sense. "Straight Lines" is an audacious further step in Silverchair's evolution, seen largely through the eyes and epiphanic experiences of Johns that are ably supported by bassist Chris Joannou and drummer Ben Gillies, but his collaboration with Mac was an important proving ground for the new (somewhat streamlined?) model, preparing more receptive 'Chair fans for the forthcoming effort Young Modern and what will likely be a considerable change in musical direction.

The duo's eponymous debut and only studio release to date mostly eschews the carbon-steel, occasionally atonal rhythm guitar slabs that have been for so long Silverchair's stock-in-trade but the band itself really began to move away from on Diorama, its justly-lauded last album, to arrive at something both graceful and grand, less bombastic. Like the late virtuoso Jeff Buckley, Johns isn't given to indulging in intricate solos - changes in texture and instrumental focus are merely used as dynamic accents to powerfully punctuate songs - and has become far better at his songcraft as a result, nominally mentored by arranger extraordinaire Van Dyke Parks of Smile fame. Their favored source for inspiration is late Seventies and early Eighties progressive pop from artists such as the Electric Light Orchestra (evidenced most thoroughly in leadoff single "Somewhere Down The Barrel") Supertramp (second single "Young Man, Old Man....." is heavily evocative of Breakfast In America and The Wall) as well as Split Enz, Tears For Fears (a shiver-inducing but gently strummed, intermittent single note not so immediately calls to mind "Pale Shelter") and Drama-era Yes.

But Dissociatives production values are still very much associated with the present; generous sprinkles, patinas and washes of clearly modern electronic tones color their soundscapes throughout. This approach makes the truly haunting Beach Boys and Radiohead echoes of first track "We're Much Preferred Customers" seem entirely logical, a more fully realized blend (similarly used to outstanding effect on "Straight Lines") than the tenuous suspension one might expect with such an attempt, and it's primarily the 26-year-old Johns that makes it work so effortlessly, with an at-once ethereal and soulful, even bluesy, voice, not unlike Buckley's lower register, Sting at his most forceful (again, most noticeably on Young Modern's infectious lead single) and, believe it or not, Terence Trent D'Arby in places. As Daniel says in a Dissociatives promotional interview, the prevailing mood is refreshingly whimsical - and with a touch of melancholy, as Mac is quick to add - especially felt in "Forever And A Day", a lonesome rhumba, and closer "Sleep Well Tonight".

While it would be slightly premature to judge Young Modern solely upon "Straight Lines", it couldn't be a more effective clarion call to inform the world that Australia's apparent favorite sons are back and they are continuing to evolve - dramatically so. It's also worth remembering that, five years ago, Daniel Johns was so crippled by degenerative arthritis he could barely be out of bed, let alone play guitar or tour, for extended periods of time. "Straight Lines" is assuredly a multi-format Top Ten smash if a savvier Stateside label can make amends for truly egregious lapses in Diorama-related marketing decisions. I haven't been able to stop playing the kinetic clip for this song (and cautionary tale, perhaps) of resurrection, and oh how I want to sing it along with the band soon. Daniel, Ben, Chris - that world may be yours if you want it. WE ARE READY.

This is my first review for Amazon.com, and what not a better way than to begin than with a review of The Dissociatives?

Simply put, this album blew me away. I love Daniel's songwriting and uncanny knack for catchy melodies, and Paul has contributed so much to just make this album (and the band, really) what it is. I just bought this record today, but I know that I will most definitely be keeping this one close at hand for a looong time to come. I love all the songs, though "Somewhere Down the Barrel," "Lifting the Veil from the Braille," and "Thinking in Reverse" are my favorite tracks.

As has been stated, this does not sound like Silverchair (especially not like Frogstomp-to-Neon Ballroom-era Silverchair, though it is different from Diorama as well), so if you're looking for that, you're not going to find it here. What you are going to find is an amazing band with a lot of potential, even if they just started as a side project.

The record is a great combination of Johns' lyrics and rock sensibilities with Mac's expertise in electronic beats and whatnot. Definitely worth the money!