Customer Reviews

Don't Be Afraid of Love

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What happened to the Allstars since "How to Operate With a Blown Mind"? What happened to the overwhelming fast, intense, dark, futuristic sound of this band? Why have they gone soft? I miss the lyrics most of all, they were a huge part of this groups sound. I mostly listen to electronic, mostly breaks and drum + bass, and just hate the mellow soft stuff, too boring. I wouldn't say that this new cd is bad though. I am just disappointed, and compared with How to Operate I think this cd is definetely lacking.

for the last three months, i have not been able to remove this album from the cd player. this album is a testament to the diversity and skill associated with this group. no other group can successfully blend r&b, rap, funk, and various forms of techno/electronica as well as the lo-fis. 'What You Want' is a song that embraces the new lo-fi attitude... youve got to keep on keepin on... 'Deep Ellum...Hold On' makes you look around for a phone (listen, you can tell) doing a wonderful job of mixing funk and r&b, 'Don't Be Afraid Of Love' is the epitome of what this group is today, as "we hit the ground running with the new found sound", 'Feel What I Feel' reminds me of daft punk's 'digital love' track. a peppy 80's, disco-ish, clubbish, what-were-they-thinking type track, but makes you want to get up and move. 'Cattleprod' is by far my favorite track on this album, not a sophisticated song, but has all the elements of a get off your [butt] and do something attitude. 'Sleeping Faster' is just downright chill, its not hard to hide yourself in the bass-line and miss out on the world for seven solid minutes. the only complaint i have with this album is the placement of 'just enough' didnt flow at all where they put it. bottom line... excellent sophmore album (the boutique mix album doesnt count), taking some of the old lo-fi and adding a new taste to it all. extremely diverse group, 'i just cant stop this....'

Lo Fidelity Allstars' latest work "Don't be Afraid of Love" is an incredible CD with all kinds of great sounds in it. Some tracks are mellow and laid-back; like "Just Enough",which will have you paralyzed with its chilled-out beautiful music and fuzzy voiced lyrics...after that,you're back on the dancefloor when the next track "Cattleprod" starts blowin` up. Every song on the album has something worth listening to. Even the secret unlisted 13th song(that starts playing about 30 seconds after track 12)is great. Some pretty awesome stuff here...check it out!!

It's almost as if "How to Operate With A Blown Mind" and "Don't Be Afraid Of Love" are made by 2 different artists, or at least thats what it sounds like. There are probably only 2 keepers on this whole cd, and they are still light years away from any song on "How to Operate..." The only reason I am giving this cd 2 stars is because of songs 3 and 11. This is one of the very few cds I have purchased in the past 2 years that I regret my decision afterwards.

I'm serious. I love this CD and I don't exactly know why. Maybe its because the Lo Fidelity Allstars were able to bounce back from the loss of their lead singer after "How to Operate with a Blown Mind". Maybe its because I just picked this up off the music store rack for no apparent reason and happened to like it. Maybe its because the Lo Fidelity Allstars have such a good way of creating atmosphere with their music. Could be because "Don't Be Afraid of Love" seamlessly blends rock ("What You Want" and "Cattleprod"), soul ("On the Pier"), funk ("Deep Ellum...Hold On") and out-and-out dance music ("Lo Fi's in Ibiza" and the awesome "Feel What I Feel"). Great music! Keep listenin'!

So wrekked train is gone. Their 'morbid' poetry is gone. Their mindless rough beatings of musicality in general is gone. What Lo fi replace it with, however, is something so diverse one can only respect them. Critiquing this album would be simple and worthless - but so would be critiquing the first album. Honestly - what made the Allstars allstars? Their difinitive style... and it's still here, folks. Quality artists will always be quality artists. The Allstars will always rock out to anything they can get their greedy little fingers spinning. The hardcore hip-hop edge is gone from this CD but it is replaced with an eclectic blend of dance, R & B and funky grooving action that will leave you in a stupor. Wipe that drool off your chin, junior, Lo Fi's still got it.

Wow. ok. where to start? With the last CD? ok... this album sounds almost nothing like "How to Operate..." well.. thats sort of a lie. the killer bass and guitars are the same mostly, but the rambling vocals, dark poetry, and drunk beats are gone. Not that the first album wasnt great, it was. But like another reviewer said, it was a personal experience (except for Battleflag and 1 or 2 others).

This album is nothing of a personal experience. This is music to be enjoyed by all very VERY loudly. The first track took some getting used to, as did track 8.. the rest were first-time-listening HITS.
This album goes from funky, to bouncy, to clap-along, to chill, to sing-a-long, to giggle, to GET-...UP-AND-DANCE, and back again. and does every single one of them with grace and style.
if youre willing to give music you havent already heard on the radio a chance, this album is for you.
As for the tune "Cattleprod".. well.. as the fatboy track goes "if this dont make your booty move, your booty must be dead".
thats my favorite track, but that same catchline goes to tracks 2,3,4,6,9,10. the rest are a bit chilled. they RULE.. but theyre chilled.

ok, i'll stop. lol.
BUY NOW (sooner if possible)

The first real follow-up to their 1998 smash hit album How to Operate with a Blown Mind sees the six-piece electronica group Lo Fidelity Allstars emulating a similar style of music that, obviously influenced from their remix recording On the Floor at the Boutique, has the band mixing rock & roll beats along with their usual fare of vocal renditions in a compilation that in the end is only hit-and-miss. Opening with "What You Want," the London natives aim to start off by bringing in fans of their first release with stereotypical scratched tunes that you can hear in practically any club nowadays. It, however, jumps to the ghetto-like "Deep Ellum...Hold On" featuring experimental DJ Jamie Lidell. The tune combines hip-hop aesthetics and what sounds like a blaxploitation soundtrack into a fantastic tune that's just plain cool. Greg Dulli of the recently disbanded Afghan Whigs contributes on "Somebody Needs You", sounding just like it should: a remix of an Afghan Whigs tune, take it as you will. Titular track "Don't Be Afraid of Love" substitutes good riffs for chill-out tunes and will be enjoyed by some, and loathed by others, while "On The Pier" with funk master Bootsy Collins feels like a reggae tune on weed. And while "Tied To The Mast" hints at an interesting end to the album, it's ruined by the extremely slow 7-minute tune "Sleeping Faster," and then "Dark Is Easy", clocking in at almost 11 minutes by itself, which made us wonder whether the Allstars think length makes them talented. If you're a fan of the Lo Fidelity Allstars, you'll probably enjoy their newest release, but casual listeners will be left in the dark as to what they were really aiming for.

This album reminds me of Cake's "Prolonging the Magic" not in the way it sounds, but in the method they use to try to rebound from a vital blow. Cake used a bunch of guest guitarist (after Greg Brown left to form Deathray) to fill "Magic" which turned out to be slightly disappointing. The Allstars use a wide variety of vocalist to futily try to fill the void of Dave (Wrekked Train) Randall's exodus. To make matters worse, Randall was the mastermind of the "viscous demented" lyrics that made Blown Mind such a masterpeice. The allstars do shine here and there though as they assimilate American R&B in "Deep Ellem" and "Lo-Fi's in Ibiza" which actually works well if you listen to them a few times to get used to the two tracks. "What You Want" serves as a good intro, and "Cattleprod" and "Sleeping Faster" are also very easy to get into and reminescent of Blown Mind. If the the rest of the album where as good as the afformentioned tracks this would be an easy 4 star album, but Amazon doesn't offer a 2 1/2 star option which this album deserves. Reason being are tracks 5 (and possibly 4) through 8. Two tracks I have big problems with are "On the Pier" which starts off w/ promise but ends up being downright cheezy, and "Feel What I Feel". This song is an insult as the Allstars expects their fans to automatically start liking bad 80s pop. "Tied to the Mast" is just another mindless dance song which never would have passed the scrutiny of the departed Mr. Randall. In a way this album is a response to Blown Mind's "I used to fall in Love". Well they may not be Afraid of Love anymore, but they have lost their abrasive, and for that matter their poetic edge in the process.

Not as good as the first. it is a bit more poppy with less if the "im totally wasted" feel to it.

its worth 10 bucks.