Genetic World

Telepopmusik | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 21, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000060K0H
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,136 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop
  • #19 in Music > Dance & DJ > Trip-Hop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars That Song from the TV Commercial, January 7, 2003

By 

Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Genetic World (Audio CD)

Okay, at this point in the album's lifecycle, a lot of buyers that have made this release so popular have bought it simply to hear "Breathe", which was showcased in a frequently aired car commercial. So it's very likely that a lot of these folks have not received much exposure to chill or trip-hop or electronica acts or to other groups that are difficult to categorize into specific genres. Comparisons to Hooverphonic or Air or Sneaker Pimps or whomever might be lost on many buyers.

So let's just talk about the music. Of course, most will be pretty familiar with "Breathe", an excellent number with those weirdly filtered but smoky female vocals. Another version of this song closes out the album (not the fast-paced beat-filled dance version heard on some radio stations or in some clubs).

The songs in between are not quite up to this standard of excellence. A couple of them play around with hip-hop notions with mixed success. Several are drenched in a noir atmosphere and sound as if they were pulled from the soundtrack of some lost existential European spy movie from the Sixties. Or perhaps they're updated for a post-modern cyberspace Edith Piaf. (This may or may not float your particular boat.) There's also a lot of interstitial material that comes from the producers just goofing around with samples and little themes and quirky ideas.

I have to laugh at one song, "Let's Go Again", which basically sounds as if it was sung by the late Paul Lynde, the embittered and snarky martini-swilling staple of "Hollywood Squares" and various sitcoms from the Seventies.

If you dug the song from the commercial and you're not afraid to admit that some of your CD purchases are based on what you hear on TV ads or in Starbucks or the Gap, then this is not at all a bad choice. You won't end up hating most of the rest of the material and you might be prompted to explore similar acts. But if you consider yourself to be a hipster who's in the know, then this will probably miss your mark.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good but I've heard better, January 28, 2003

By 

Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Genetic World (Audio CD)

I must admit that I bought this album because of the song "Breathe" which is heard in the commercial for the Mitsubishi SUV. I loved the gentle yet danceable beats with the lush female vocals. The song almost reminded me a bit like Dirty Vegas, another dance act who Mitsubishi used one of their songs for a commercials. I wasn't really sure of what to expect from the rest of the album. It definitely wasn't anything like "Breathe". Certainly different. I liked what I heard but I can't say I really flipped out over "Genetic World" when you got other electronic acts like Massive Attack, Dirty Vegas, Hooverphonic, and Underworld who does a much better job at producing laid back dance music. I thought the first half of the album were really solid and had a nice groove going but the last 3,4 songs (except for the extended mix for "Breathe") on the album left me unimpressed. I definitely enjoyed the extended mix for "Breathe" which the tempo was slightly more upbeat than the original version. Overall, I can't really say that "Genetic World" is one of the best dance albums I have heard in the past two years but at the same time I don't think it is all that terrible as some people might think it is. "Genetic World" could have been better that's all.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not surprised..., April 26, 2005

By 

Ian Kelleigh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Genetic World (Audio CD)

That most of the negative reviews are because people were expecting a CD full of "advertising jingles."

I'm a fan of chill and ambient musics and I heard this album a few years ago and liked it very much. I've never seen the TV commercial so many have talked about, so I can't say that I'm jaded. And I also heard that some other company used an Air song and one of my favorite songs from Modest Mouse... so glad I cut TV out of my life so I don't have to go through what some of these folks do.

I do like Breathe, but there's more to this album than one song. Smile is a really good tune as well, and L'Incertitude is good listening. Here's a hint... listen to the clips here on these web sites before spending money and then crying about how you were "duped" into something from a car advertisement.