Customer Reviews

Faso Latido

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Sony's copy protection scheme installs harmful rootkit software on Windows machines. This software can crash your machine, and make it easier for viruses to infect you. It also causes a small but constant drain on your processing power - even when you're not listening to music. By design, it is impossible to uninstall without advanced technical skills.

Sony recently released a patch to mitigate these concerns. However, the patch only addresses the issue of potential virus infection. Uninstalling the software is still nearly impossible, and if attempted incorrectly can render your CD drive unusable.

For more information, search for "sony rootkit" on the sysinternals web site.

yeah ill admit the first time i started to listen to this cd about half way through i turned it off and yelled what the hell is this (...) then a few months later i decided to give it another shot and i actually found a lot to enjoy in this album. they still have most of the elements they had in their first cd, which is a true classic in this genre of music, just a lot more clean singing added to it. if you actually listen to the music in itslelf it is so much better than dont forget to breathe, the guitars on this cd are really well done as forthe drums too. even the clean singing is a lot better on this than their last cd, not better as in superior but it just sounds cleaner very well harmonized. now i absolutely loved their first cd and i didnt really expect them to release another one just like it and not because of their signing to a major label either. these guys were so young when they recorded that first cd and its been a few years so obviously they are going to grow and mature as musicans and people. anyway im not going to change anybodys mind cause hardcore and dont forget to breathe fans that are dead set on hating this will never change but for anyone who is looking for a solid record from a great band this is a great choice. i really liked the song shotgun not sure if thats the exact title but you can tell which one im talking about.

Congradulations, these guys made my WHAT THE F*CK HAPPEND?! list. (Which seems to have been growing lately..) Why am I writing another review on stuff that has already been said? Well why not... Basicly, everything that needs to be known about this album in extensive detail is written below. If you want a not-book form of it all:

This album blows. Get their first one.

This record is fantastic and a great followup to ...And Don't Forget to Breathe. That's the first thing. The second is that Columbia Records is atrocious and I will never buy from them again. The album is set up with copy protection and completely incompatible with ITunes. It doesn't even play on my home stereo. I literally had to download the CD after I bought it just so I can actually listen to it on my computer in ITunes and on my Ipod. I think that's just terrible. I won't recommend anyone steal this album, but I certainly don't recommend purchasing the CD if you have an Ipod. You'll be pissed off and frustrated. The album is truly good though, so one way or another, hear it.

From the introduction straight through to the end, Faso Latido just kicks you in the face and makes you wanna scream and nod your head. The cd is filled with epic singing that harmonizes about half the time and usually finishes with screaming that carries the sound to a higher level. The bass takes off a lot and leaves the guitars intertwining or alternating or both. Theres a few solos here and there that just rock. Overall the songs are very happy and UPLIFTING with some deep slow parts that grab a hold of you and take you for a ride. I love when bands slow the singing down, as ASL does, while everything behind them keeps going. Finch does this in their new album. If you like Faso Latido then check out 'Say Hello to Sunshine'. Its funny, one of the reviews said the only song they liked was radio flyers because its the closest song to the old ASL. That happened to be the one song i didnt care for on the album and i like the old ASL. Just goes to show, people hear music completely differently.


When i saw that this album was given 3 stars, I was a little shocked and disappointed. If your a fan of Don't Forget To Breath, and who isnt, then maybe your looking for the old hard fast ASL. But as its been said many times, bands have one by one been moving from their traditional roots to more of a toned down sound; blindside, avenged sevenfold, and underoath to name a few. They may have gotten softer, but theyve all grown in many ways. When youre listening to music, listen to it until you UNDERSTAND it before you decide you dont like it. THIS USUALLY TAKES AT LEAST 2 OR 3 LISTENS!!!!!!!!! this is so crucial. youll find so much more music you wouldve passed over.

Ive been listening to this cd for months now and it just keeps getting better and better. Definitely one of my favorite albums.

As many people may know by now, Sony was recently caught with egg on their face when a security specialist found out that a recently purchased CD (Van Zant: Get Right With The Man) from Sony music not only installed DRM software (digital rights management, to limit and outright prevent copying music to certain devices), but it did so in such a sneaky way that it hid itself entirely from Windows, and opened the system up to security issues such as viruses.

This CD has the same copyright protection, called XCP. When installed, Sony hijacks your computer and installs custom software which:

1) Hides itself entirely from Windows by installing as a rootkit
2) Hides itself in such a manner that any files begining with $sys$ are also hidden. For example, if you install the XCP copy protection software on your machine, and rename "document.doc" to "$sys$document.doc" it then becomes invivisble to you forever.
3) Installs its own custom CD-Rom drivers to hijack your system. It also sneakily names these drivers "Plug and Play Device Manager" to seem as if it's a part of Windows. Trying to delete these drivers manually will disable your CD-Rom drive entirely.
4) Offers no uninstall option until you manually contact Sony

As of my writing this review, Sony has "apologized" for this incident, and claims they will "re-evaluate" this copyright protection software on their CDs in the future.

In the meantime, a virus is currently running wild, which names itself begining with $sys$ in an attempt to hide from the user and virus scanners.

Several class action lawsuits are also pending against Sony right now.

In summary, as you can tell from above, Sony's actions here are absolutely horrible. This is your music. You purchased it, and they should not have any right to dictate how you can use it, let alone install software which compromises your system security.

This is one of the CDs with Sony's XCP copyright protection software on it, and as a result, you should not buy it to send a message to Sony that this will NOT be tolerated in the future.

And I say that with the utmost confidence. A Static Lullaby's sophmore effort (and first for Columbia Records) "Faso Latido" is a huge departure from the A Static Lullaby you knew on "...And Don't Forget To Breathe". I won't be the one to point the finger, but I will say I'm pretty sure it had to do with their move from Ferret to Columbia. The truth is I wanted to like this album. I tried hard to give it the attention I should before I passed judgement on it, and I just couldn't. This album is just not at all what I expected, and in this case that's a very, very bad thing. Compared to ADFTB, this is almost a completely different band, and I'm sure after listening to it, you'll be saying the same thing.

The cd has a lot of major downfalls. The biggest being Joe is virtually taken out of the music, and Dan is pushed forward as the main vocalist of the band, which I can't figure out at all (except that Dan does melodic singing, and Joe only screams, so go figure.) Now don't get me wrong, I liked Joe and Dan's trade-off vocals on the last cd, but this time around it's a lot different. Joe is pretty non-existent, which is fairly weird. I don't understand how bands who have a vocalist that only screams (and usually another member who does the melodic singing) can write music where they are not incorporating their singer. Joe doesn't do anything else, he doesn't play any instruments, he only has the mic. I wonder what he does live when they're playing these new songs. I can't really imagine. Not that Dan's vocals are bad on this release, they're just way too overdone. My thoughts have always been that if you're band uses this popular sing/scream technique, that less is more, meaning that if you focus primarily on screaming, the less melody, the more effective it is (and vice versa if you mostly rely on singing.) But there's no middle ground here. Most songs find Dan doing most of the singing, Joe occasionally throwing in a scream in the background of the chorus, or maybe at the end of a verse. It just doesn't work well, because ASL was always based more on screaming than singing. Another thing is Joe's screaming is pathetically weak on this cd. I mean what happened to the painful, throaty screams of the last record? Most of the time Joe just sounds like he's doing spoken word, especially on songs like "Stand Up." His vocals just do not compare with the amazing job he did on "...And Don't Forget to Breathe." Vocals aren't the only problem here though. The music is also sub-par compared to what you would expect from the boys of ASL. Songs like "Cash Cowbell" and "Faso Latido!" just go absolutely nowhere, and are totally boring. Songs that have some decent chance, like "Stand Up" and "Godbless You (God Damnit) end up being ruined by the end. The speed and feeling seemed to have been absent from the recording, making most of the songs a tiresome listening experience. I can't help but want to skip songs constantly. What upsets me the most however has got to be that you just don't get the feeling that this is genuine. Like they just went in a recorded a cd and said "hey here it is, buy it, we're A Static Lullaby." Nice try. The cd just lags on because the songs are so long. At least if they were going to make a bunch of slow boring songs, they could have capped them at about 3 minutes each. Maybe then I could have standed to listen to some of the stuff on here. However the fact that songs on here run anywhere from 4:00-5:00 in length (some longer) doesn't help their case.

Some things about the record are likable. Not all songs are complete garbage. "Smooth Modulator" leads off the cd, and is by far the best song the record has to offer. In fact it's the only songs I believe that Joe and Dan actually have balanced vocal parts. "Marylin Monrobot" and "Modern Day Fire" are decent attempts to recall the stylings off the last record (although they are nothing compared to any song off ADFTB). They also re-recorded "Radio Flyer's Last Journey" (which was on their first self-titled EP), and it had my hopes up. What could have easily been the best song on the cd though, just lacks the feeling and intensity the original had (I recommend downloading the original off some p2p program, it's widely available.) Still the song is better than about half the cd. Dan's vocals on here are more mature and grown up than the last cd, which is a plus in some places. The guitar work is pretty intricate on here in some pieces, and makes for some good moments on tracks like the afformentioned "Marylin Monrobot" and "Modern Day Fire". Overall though I don't find very much about this cd that will command your attention.

It really hurts me to give A Static Lullaby a bad review, because they were one of my favorite bands. I always thought they were one of the premier screamo bands, but this offering is just not up to their standards. I really don't understand the motivation for this cd, other than Columbia's hopes of cashing in on the screamo trend that's booming right now. Everyone wants a screamo band on their label. Too bad one of the first and best ones has been ruined. Maybe they will rebound from this on their next attempt, but we can only hope. I would only recommend this cd if you're a die hard A Static Lullaby fan. Otherwise I'd just stick with "And Don't Forget to Breathe" or any of their ealier eps and remember the good times you had.

This is what happens when a band gets signed to a major label. They go into the "mainstream". However, for as many people who hate this CD...I actually enjoyed it. Sure, it isn't the ASL we remember, but I still think it's a good attempt. These guys are talented like whoa, but it doesn't show too well here. And, there is A LOT less screaming...something I loved about them. I guess if you like what's generating the airwaves, you'll like this CD. I like it a lot. Recommended tracks include Radio Flyer's Last Journey, Smooth Modulator, Faso Latido, and The Jesus Haircut (my favorite on the CD).

Okay...There have been many negative comments about this album floating around the internet, but I think before anyone has the right to comment on it, they should first give each and every song on this album a fair, and open-minded listen. I would be willing to bet that half of the negative reviews about this album were made by people who simply listened to the 30 second clips found on their website. Yes, they have changed...No one can deny that...Yes...this album cannot compare to ...And Don't Forget To Breathe...But no, Faso Latido does is not a horrible album.

They have indeed renovated their sound, switching from more of a post-hardcore/emo/screamo sound to a more rock based emo/screamo sound. But people need to have a more open mind. Bands change. You need to realize this. ...And Don't Forget To Breathe came out over 2 years ago. In that two years, the members of the band have obviously been changing (as this is reflected in their music)and they have obviously picked up a whole new set of influences. Think about yourself two years ago. Are you exactly the same way that you are now? I doubt it...

Now, with all that set aside, it's time to talk about the album itself. Devout listeners of the first album (such as myself) may be surprised at the first time listening to this album, as they have changed. I'm not sure if "poppy" is the right word to use... It seems as if they have just decided to abandon the full-fledged chaotic screaming for a more melodic clean sound. However, fans of the screaming on the first album (like me) will not be dissappointed...this album is still packed with Joe's screams, however, they are toned down in the mix and more in the backround. In my opinion Dan and Joe's vocals have changed quite a bit. (In some parts Joe relly sounds like Spencer Chamberlain from Underoath, which isen't a bad thing, because Underoath are amazing)and Dan's vocals are are less raw...cleaner and more mature sounding.

As far as instuments go...the guitars, and bass seem to have the same style as that found on the first album. The same goes for drums.

Lyrically I would say their style is still the same, however their themes seem to have changed a bit. ...And Don't Forget To Breathe was a steady collection of heart-break, misery and hatred, and all of these elements can still be found in Faso Latido, however they seem to aimed at different places rather than just at ex-girlfriends and other relationships. However, this album is undeniably emo, so emo fans will not be dissapointed.

All of the songs on this album are pretty solid. Stand-out tracks in my opinion are Smooth Modulator, Radio Flyer's Last Journey, Half Man Half Shark Equals One Complete Gentleman, Shotgun!, Faso Latido and The Jesus Haircut.

I normally would break down each of the songs individually and review and rate them, but I feel that I have not given this album enough time to fully grow on me and make it's impact on me. I think that everyone else should do the same before writing a bad review. Give it some time. Some albums just take a little while to click. (i.e. Brand New's Deja Entendu)

So in conclusion, this album is NOT better than or even as good as ...And Don't Forget To Breathe, but it is still great. It's different, and to those who can't except it, just go buy another copy of the first album, because that's obviously what you want. The same exact songs over and over. They are not sell-outs...they have simply matured and changed. Give it some time...Listen to it with an open mind. If you honostly don't like it, that's fine, but give it a fair chance. In my personal opinion it's great and therefore I award it with 4 stars.

Oh my god, what happened to this great band. Static's first cd sounded GREAT, but this just plain SUCKS, the only good song on this entire cd is "Radio flyers last journey" which sounds like the old static and "stand up" is JUST good enough not be called sucky. "The Jesus Haircut is without any doubt one of the worst songs EVER. Static do us all a favor. Either release an album EXACTLY like your first one, or dissapear from the music scene.