Customer Reviews

Divided By Night

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Sure, Divided By Night is something different from TCM, however that being said it is still good. I bought the MP3 version this morning and have been listening to it all day since. This is not Vegas, Tweekend, or Legion of Boom, but it has brought together elements from all 3 previous albums and added some new flare. Many of the tracks have guest appearances and don't sound like TCM right away but they will grow on you including Dirty Thirty, Drown in the Now, Black Rainbows, and Kling to the Wreckage all of which are very enjoyable. Most of the guest tracks are much more vocal then previous albums, and that may throw off some people.

Beyond guest appearances this album has many other gems including the title track Divided By Night, Smile?, Double Down Under, and Blunts and Rainbows. There was only one track I was not a fan of and that was Come Back Clean, a little too poppy for me. Other than that TCM delivers from beginning to end. Don't judge this album on a 30 second preview or even you first listen through, it is a good album and deserves at least a second listen. I know I will definitely be listening to this album for years to come, and will gladly await for more new material from TCM.

This is nothing like TCM's previous albums except for a few select songs. If I would have rated it after the first couple times through I probably would have given it 2 stars, but after about 15 times through it deserves a 4.

I was hoping Divided By Night would be like Tweekend (my favorite album of all time) and I'm sure others were hoping it would be like Vegas (the most popular of all the TCM albums) but it's not. This is TCM trying to reach a new crowd, and you can't blame them, all artists do this. Look at The Prodigy. Before Invaders Must Die, they went away from their original style and produced two okay albums, but with Invaders they went right back to their old school stuff and it's an unbelievable album. I just hope Ken and Scott do the same in the future.

My favorite tracks on Divided are Drown in the Now, Blunts and Robots, Black Rainbows, Falling Hard and Sine Language. Out of the whole album, I think that Blunts is the closest to their old stuff; few lyrics and some ridiculous beats. But the most TCM-ish part of the album is 3:29 in Drown in the Now. Every time I hear that breakdown it gives me goosebumps, just insane...

Either way, just don't judge this album before you've given it 10 runs through. If you don't at least enjoy it a bit, you aren't a true Method fan.

When Amazon offered me a pre-sale on Divided By Night, I ordered it without hearing a single track. Crystal Method is my favorite band and I like every CD they've ever made. Until this one.

If I may be so bold as to document what I think is wrong with it....

Crystal Method has always used vocals. Usually, they use vocals much like instruments, weaving them seamlessly into the fabric of the music. The music comes out as a whole, holistic entity, pure Crystal Method all the way.

But this cd.... Oh my god! Crystal Method has taken the role of backup band or studio musicians to a bunch of unknown rappers and aspiring song birds!

Make no mistake about it, there are maybe two traditional Crystal Method songs on this cd (that's what the two stars are for). The rest of the songs are totally different and from different genre's.

You'll not be playing this CD at any Frat Parties, not if you want to have any friends left.

I'm not saying that all these songs are bad, they are just all over the place. No one person listens to this many different types of music, especially in one sitting. I've never used my Next-Track button so much on a Crystal Method CD before.

Disappointed guys. So sorry.

The aging electronic act dilemma: Your once trendy and relevant sound has been bypassed by new trendy and relevant ones. Do you maintain your base and play to those loyal subjects who have stuck by you through album after album of increasing mediocrity or do you make one last grab for relevance and either connect with a new generation of electronic music fan or embarrass yourself in the process completely alienating your die-hard fans?

I feel at odds writing a serious review of a Crystal Method album. I have been of the aforementioned loyal subject base since `Vegas' but have never really turned to the duo for substantive music. They've always been my go-to group for mindless, big-sounding, soundtrack-my-life music that wasn't so mindlessly constructed. And though nothing they've made since 1997 holds any real weight (as an album or otherwise), there have always been those two or four per album tracks that make it on to a personal compilation here or there.

With `Divided By Night', The Crystal Method have disguised a serious identity crisis as their fourth album.

While the title track and five others are standard TCM fare, the rest `kling' too much to pop-oriented vocal appearances rather than the actual music backing them. Having said that: the `standard fare' are solid, but sound too tech-heavy and over-produced to really leave any impression. The hooks are very few. The sound is very middle-of-the-road and ultimately unimpressive. I find myself wanting to like this album due to the great shows I've made it to and the memories I have of the old. That is not a good place to be with a new album

I'll take `Vegas' and the eight or so songs I really like from the following three albums and leave The Crystal Method to their own un-doing. They've done a great deal for me but it's time to part ways.

May 12, 2009

Bummer. That's all I can say. No serious killer cuts. Only a couple good tunes. Did someone just pick stuff out of the archives and spin some new loops into an "album"? Guys, c'mon. Put out something that either rocks our world with its progress, or does credit to past hits.

would have been a great album, if it was just the music without the vocals...
This is so much different from the other The Crystal Method albums

Does TCM do anything original anymore? This album is not working for me. There might be a few songs that are somewhat decent but not enough. Please TCM do your own stuff.. Or have you lost touch?

THESE BEATS WERE OK...BUT THE BIGGEST LACKING ASPECT WAS THE BASS...WHAT HAPPENED GUYS? THE MUSIC SEEMED A LITTLE TO FUN AND BUBBLY, I PREFER THEIR HARD DARK EERIE BEATS THAT THEY DROP WITH HEAVY BASS AND DRUM PATTERNS...BUT WHERE WAS ALL THAT THIS TIME...I STILL THINK THAT VEGAS WAS THEIR BEST WORK.

My choice in music is typically all over the place, so I am surprised that this album strikes me as only worth 3 stars. I found a couple of winners on this CD, but I found the overall album to be tough to listen to in its entirety. There is so much inconsistency that the album has trouble feeling like it flows. Kind of like when you shuffle through your favorite songs list and hit a few songs that you wonder how they got on the list.

That being said, the top tracks IMHO are:

5. Smile? - great to blast in the car when headed home from a rough day
9. Slipstream - vocals really work with this song

Other interesting tracks are:
2. Dirty Thirty
6. Sine Language
11. Blunts & Robots

Like most people who bought this CD I thought it was really not Crystal Method's best work, but then I realized that the evaluation is based on what I've heard before. This new CD really breaks down some boundaries that the band seemed hesitant to cross in the past. After playing this CD on my iPod a few times through, there are definitely some five-star tracks on this disc. I'd have liked to hear more instrumental electronica, like "Defective" from the London Soundtrack, or "Acetone" from Legion of Boom. I'm missing those multi-layered electronic progressions of buzzes sweeps and synths. Most of the tracks have vocals. They've collaborated with a lot of other artists on this album. Definitely do a preview before you purchase but all things considered, Divided by Night does grow on you despite being a bit too experimental.