Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genre bending jump cut hip hop., March 16, 2005
This one is really intriguing-- vocal acrobat Mike Patton goes to war, sometimes literally, with turntable army The X-ecutioners. I'm a big proponent of turntablism, and I enjoy the fusion of Patton's avant-garde and rock sensibilities with the the X-ecutioners.
Much of this is scratches, screams, yelps, effects, noises, etc. interspersed with bizarre commentary about war, there's precious little in the way of songs. Its more often genre bending/blending, "Precision Guided Needle-Dropping and Larynx Mutations" in less than two minutes manages to bounce between California-esque pop music, organ drones, swing, and scratches before fading into a bizarre banjo piece that ends with a hip hop take on a marching drill. All this is followed up with "Battle Hymn of the Technics Republic", which is roughly what its title sounds like, scratches over a dark march. Some of the jump-cut pieces also bring Patton's singing (rather than vocalizing) to the forefront, including the rather familiar rhythms of "Take a Piece of Me", it never ceases to amaze how he can sing in the most pop-oriented styles over the most dense hip hop and somehow make it work, and we even get a straight lounge style croon (if only for 20 seconds before it cuts styles again) in "We'll Paint This Town". In many ways, its like Zorn's Naked City filtered through Patton and hip hop, some tracks, like "Modified Combined Obsticle Overlay", bounce through half a dozen genres in the first 45 seconds before settling into a funky groove, only to switch gears altogether and start bouncing through genres again. It can be frustrating at times, because just as you start to really enjoy something, it switches gears, but somehow in the end, it all fits together.
The structured songs that are there are of remarkable quality-- "Get Up, Punk!" is a good example of this early on in the record, with a droning synth line, hip-hop beats, and Patton's growled vocals, its superb. Perhaps even better is the mighty "Fire in the Hole", more turntablism and hip hop beats, with a crooned vocal courtesy of Patton. Also a more concrete song form is the near-alternative/industrial "Loser on Line", probably the closest thing to a commercial song on the record (which is to say its only moderately bizarre).
I suspect this is a first listen thing for most people, either you get what they're trying to do and you think it works, or you think its a mess. I personally loved it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible, December 25, 2005
This is an incredible, and a very underrated Cd. It is important to bear in mind that there are very little stand alone tracks on this cd. There are only three or so tracks that are listenable apart from the rest of the cd, those being Get Up Punk, Fire in the Hole, and L.O.L. The three songs are all great in their own respect, but what really makes this album shine is everything put together as a cohesive whole.
The tracks flow from one track to the next so smoothly it is almost difficult to distinguish the change in tracks. In it's utter chaos, there is always, even if difficult to pinpoint, order. It is orchestrated chaos, and it sounds and works phenomenally. The cd will jump from one genre to another, almost before you can take notice. I can listen to this cd over and over again, and it never gets tired. Each time I relisten, I hear something new. To get the most out of this cd you should listen to it with headphones or with surround sound. The album loses a lot of glory if done otherwise, and will be much more difficult to appreciate.
I am familiar with some of Pattons other works (faith no more, mr.bungle, his collaboration with Dillenger Escape Plan), and this is my first exposure to the X-ecutioners. Both artists put alot of the muscle into the album, and I don't think either one of the artists carries the other. Regardless of your past knowledge of either artist, I don't think any pre-exposure is neccesary for someone to enjoy this album. Anyone with an interest in unorthodox and seemingly crazy, at times "trippy", music will enjoy this album.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I LOVE SIR MIKE PATTON, February 11, 2005
Man, Pinch my nipples and turn them counter clockwise I love Mike Patton. This cd is totally awesome. He is a brilliant brilliant man. I was scared because im not a hip hopster kina nutsac, but this is the best album ive bought in a long time. Hes got good noises.
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by General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners 
