Customer Reviews

Fuzzbox

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

 

 

Do you want a huge endorphin rush? Buy this CD, put it in your stereo and play it REALLY LOUD! Don't worry about pissing off the neighbors, 'cause they'll rock to it and get goosebumps too.

If you like Muse, Queen's of the Stone Age, The Strokes, Postal Service, Radiohead, David Bowie, Tool, Led Zepplin, Sound Garden & the Yeah, Yeah, yeahs, then you'll love The Section Quartet's Fuzzbox.

The production by Linda Perry brings out top notch performances and dynamic soundscapes. This band (String Quartet) is powerful, sexy, virtuosic and artful. This release will evoke admiration from fans and fellow musicians alike.

Opening with "Juicebox" prompted my enthusiasm immediately, not because I love the Strokes (which I do), but because the stringed instruments were made into percussive gadgets of sonic brilliance!

And "Heartbreaker" has a standout solo performance too. If you have cultivated taste in music, or like the delicate balance of edgy pop, or need to be seduced by a collision of genre, then you must have Fuzzbox by The Section Quartet.

There have been quite a few attempts over the years to marry classical instrumentation with popular songwriting, ranging from the very good (the Hugh Marsh track mentioned by reviewer Robert Alan Bryan) to the awful (David Palmer's prematurely-aged Muzak), with lots of Kronos, Bang on a Can, Ensemble Modern, Feinsmith, and Harmonia Ensemble recordings somewhere in the middle. Mostly these only serve to highlight the vast chasm between the two parallel but nonintersecting worlds. Certainly the fusions going the other way -- rocked-up classical music -- have been much more financially and artistically successful.

The Section Quartet are the exception. These tattooed and spiked conservatory students know about tension and attitude, and their transcriptions do not dilute the originals. Most of the songs covered here (Strokes, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead) are from a different generation than me, so I can't say I'm familiar with them. However their vitality and virility comes through loud and clear, and boy is it refreshing!

The only misstep on the album is the Led Zep cover, which to my ears is embarrassingly obvious and literal: merely an excuse to recreate Page's solo note-for-note on fuzz violin (which IS rather impressive...) It's a rare low point on an otherwise stunning album.

As the other reviewers both note, this is an album that begs to be played loud and nasty.

In the 80s I heard Hugo Marsh do a version of Purple Haze with his wicked violin. That album (Shaking the Pumpkin) had some good--if flawed--ideas.
This album goes more of a distance; a rocking string quartet playing some Very LOUD covers from a wide assortment of artists.
The Section Quartet is composed of violinists Eric Gorfain and Daphne Chen, violist Leah Katz and cellist Richard Dodd.

1. The Strokes "Juicebox"--I even scored a limited edition 45 of this-- Cool beginning to the CD. I'll admit to not having heard the Strokes version of this very much, still this really rocks.

2. "No One Knows"--I am not a Queens of the Stone Age fan. I prefer Josh's Eagles of Death Metal. I liked this anyway. Good.

3. "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service happens to be a favorite pop song of mine. I was surprised to find it here. You recognize it right off and the song really works in this format. Very Good.

4. Muse's "Time is Running Out" is next and since I don't know the original very well I am not sure what Muse fans might think of this.
Good.

5. When the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released "Show Yer Bones" everyone raved about "Gold Lion". Well "Phenomena" and "Fancy" are my 2 fave Yeah Yeah Yeahs tracks. "Phenomena" is one of "those" tracks which I can put on repeat in the car and never turn it off (see also "Bad Houses" by Big Black).
So the Section Quartet pretty much pulls off an amazing cover of "Phenomena". It's pushes different buttons, but it works for me.
I am quite impressed. I am not an expert or even a real fan of string quartets but they get the sound of "Phenomena" right. VERY GOOD.

6. Paranoid Android. I KnoW nothing of Radiohead and will not comment.

7. Bowie's the Man Who Sold the World. Here's a version I can enjoy (unlike Nirvana's). I do like this. Top Notch!

8. Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun. I liked early Sound Garden then they morphed into something very bland. I couldn't like this song if T.Rex covered it. Boring. Black Hole indeed.

9. Led Zep's "Heartbreaker". Different. I've heard Dread Zeppelin and Heart and now this. Hey, this ain't bad. Watch for this in a movie soundtrack somewhere down the road. [It's got that direction]
The violin does mimic the guitar solo. It's Great!

10. A Perfect Circle's "The Nurse Who Loved Me". Another band(s) I am not fond of...Tool and/or a Perfect Circle. That being said this wasn't too bad. It's mellow and Very Good!

and now the shocker. this disc is produced by Linda Perry. Yes. That Linda Perry.
Handled right this album could go Gold or Better. It's a solid 4 Stars.
Try It. Play it LOUD.

I would recommend this CD if you like any one of these songs, because you won't be disappointed. Even if you don't know any of the songs it's worth a shot because the Section Quartet can hold their own. Personal faves include covers of The Strokes and the Postal Service.

One of the few CDs I have of which I like all the tracks. Its all instrumental, heavy on the strings. Not that thats a bad thing.

The Section Quartet is unique and may not be suitable for everyone, but if you enjoy the songs and enjoy listening to string instruments, this is perfect. I would definitely recommend this if you are a fan of Apocalyptica.

This CD wasn't as promising as the samples of their music I listened to. All the selections were very repetitious and monotonous. I look for music that is either comtemporary, played by classical instruments - or classical selections played in a comtemporary mode. This CD didn't do anything for me.

Yet another attempt to rationalize, intellectualize and otherwise sanitize the pure animal vitality of rock 'n roll. As usual, this particular classical/rock fusion, like so many in the past, fails in every way--except technically. Why is it that some classical musicians persist in the misguided notion that physically performing a piece of music is equivalent to "playing" it? Especially embarassing is the group's attempt at Zep's "Heartbreaker." Draining it of every ounce of its former sexual energy and pure rock bravado, the Quartet's version sounds like what you'd expect from some conservatory nerds trying to be hip and cool. Buy this only if you still yearn for the muddled classical rock excesses of groups like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Gentle Giant.