Customer Reviews

Gorgeous

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

 

 

Gone is the aggressive nature of past albums, though some tracks do retain a hint of edginess.

On the whole a very melodic album, full of beautiful sounding electronic songs which manage to utilise other rhythms rather than sticking to a 4/4 beat all the time.

All of the tracks make the album a great listening experience and as such there is no real highlight, all songs are of equal, high quality. (But do check out 'Southern Cross' and 'Nimbus'!)

808 State went through the early stage of their stardom as a perfect band...they had innovation, and a sound that no one else had cultivated in that way up to then. They had perfect ambient noise, and perfect hardcore noise, all at the same time. And they had success in the singles chart to boot. But with the release of Gorgeous (and its aftermath), the band took a downturn in popularity, and it's obvious why. Unlike several of their other albums, one cannot sit and enjoy the whole disk without the temptation to skip stuff. The clear standout track would be "Black Morpheus", a highly unique ambient piece which leaves you wanting more...but most of this material has nothing memorable about it.

Shame....because 1996's Don Solaris was a refreshing new sound...such a lush return to form, but would have been overlooked because most people had forgotten who the band were by then.