26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an ear-ful of the eye, February 22, 2004
This review is from: The Eye (Audio CD)
Being a long-time Yello fan, I am always eager to absorb the latest work of the Swiss band, comprised of Boris Blank and Dieter Meier. Of course, those of us in America have to wait for the imported music to drift into the country, but the wait is usually more than worth it.
Classifying Yello into a music category is almost pointless, unless the category were "Yello." They have given fans everything from synthesized and sampled electronica to lyrical ballads, from dance/trance club themes to pure unabashed entertainment. Boris Blank's talent as a composer is the key to the richness of Yello's music, and his skill in engineering the finished product is unmatched. Many of Yello's music is "re-mixed" by a variety of engineers and the re-mixes always lack the life-blood that pumps and bubbles through Blank's work. The only exceptions would be, of course, those re-mixes done by Blank and/or Meier themselves. The counterpoint is provided by Meier's imaginative lyrics, some of which are little more than fragments of words twisted and contorted by Blank's design. Other lyrics can be as full as miniature stories or simply a few phrases inspired by Blank's framework.
The most important guide for a reader of this review would be this reviewer's opinion of other Yello work. Yello's best work to date is undoubtedly Stella, their fourth album published in 1985, which is the most consistently fluid and cohesive album Yello has ever fabricated, and included their most popular hit "Oh Yeah." Stella is seconded by the band's next album, One Second, which came out in 1987. Of course, the American printing of One Second jammed "Oh Yeah" between two songs on the side two due to the increasing popularity that same song received through Ferris Bueller's Day Off and other commercial and film spots. Can't trust my fellow Americans but to screw up something that was already perfect. If you are looking for the purer One Second, do not settle for anything less than an import that is without "Oh Yeah.".
1987 to 1997 brought several more albums which are enjoyable, but truly lack the complexity and charisma of the two mentioned above. 1997 saw the release of Pocket Universe, which easily claimed rank number three for Yello's albums produced to that point, but Pocket Universe had it's flaws. Most notable was Stina Nordenstam. Stina's vocals on the track "To The Sea" simply created a gaping chasm in the entire album. Unfortunately, that CD also includes a bonus track of the same awful song pitiably re-mixed by Steve B-Zet. Never should an artist include a second-hand re-mix on one of their own albums. The other flaw would have to be the track "Resistor" which is basically a re-mix of Yello On 45s, or Boris Blank combines all of his favorite samples into a trippingly fast dance track. How unimaginative and a waste of 7 minutes and 13 seconds.
The Eye marks one of their most successful albums in recent years. The success comes in the freshness of the work, the range of themes and moods presented, and tightness of the package as a whole. Every song is fresh and new, with a huge range of styles and moods, enough to satisfy any Yello fan. The Eye easily boots Pocket Universe out of the number three position. The album begins with it's fastest dance track, "Planet Dada", but quickly shifts gears to a more lyrical and atmospheric feel for the rest of the album. Rather than call out each track and highlight it's feel, let me just say that it is the smoothest and tightest album since One Second, maybe even closest to the completeness of Stella. Five tracks include the additional haunting vocals of Jade Davies, who provides some of the strongest vocals to grace a Yello album since Billie MacKenzie and Shirley Bassey in the old days.
The obvious comparison band of late would be Garbage, with their extreme engineering. Yet Garbage choked on their third album; compare that with Yello's eleventh to see where the true mastery and talent lies.
Those of us who have followed Yellow for 20+ years will no doubt recognize some rhythms and lyric repetitions resurfacing from other albums, but they are packed into a complete and fresh spice. The spice makes up for more than 95% of the album with perhaps 2-3% of recognizably familiar Yello. Any true Yello fan will not want to pass on this album, and any first-time Yello buyer should be pleased with this newest work.
An update: I've been listening to this album non-stop for about a week now and It now shares the #2 spot with One Second; this album really shows the best work Yello has produced in over a decade!
Update #2: A few more days of listening and I think this one may be just as good as Stella, or almost nearly as good! Go Yello!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dish-- This Is THE Version To Get ! :-), February 22, 2005
I bought The Eye as an import as well as the "planet dada" single and checked out this version for the video. For the price and the fact that you get the bonus CD that has every song on it that the "planet dada" single has but the "planet dada(original version)" which means it won't be redundant if you decide to play both CDs back-to-back (It's the first track on the main CD), I would recommend this over getting the import full CD and single or even just the import CD at all.
As for the video, it plays nicely on Quicktime. It wouldn't play on my Windows Media Player. It has a ".mov" extension. It's title is "Planet Dada Video." It is icing on the cake!!! It's a fun and visually interesting video-- much better than the usual fare out there. If you liked their "Squeeze Please" video that they used to have on their web site, you'll LOVE this! :-D
As far as the music goes, it ranges from jazzy dance to a sort of trance and back again. It is ve-e-e-r-r-r-y-y-y-y DADA!!!!! It's a brain twist to a beat. To it you can comfortably swing upon your feet. I personally have painted on canvas large and small. And when I'm into it, I haven't a care at all. It's happy, fun, and a nice surprise. It might not make you practical, but it could make you wise.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best!, November 23, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Eye (Audio CD)
This is some of the best modern music to come out of Europe this year. The three track sequence of Time Palace, Indigo Bay, Unreal is among the very best material Yello have ever produced. A classic, buy it now.
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