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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
finally!!, September 5, 2006
I got an advance copy of this and having been playing it nonstop for 3 days, and waiting to be able to post a review, so without further ado...
Jucifer fans (like myself) have been waiting 5 years for another full-length, and I have to admit that on first listen... I was disappointed. 2001's Destroyer is, to me, their masterpiece, both musically and in the way it's put together, and this didn't live up to that. But as I've listened to it more and gotten over the original dismay, I do actually really like this CD. If I could give it 4 1/2 stars I would, but I can't and the first few tracks and my first impression keep me from giving it a 5. So let's go through song by song.
1. She Tides the Deep: 2/5. Why, why, WHY is this the first song? Slow, repetitive, pretty in places but 4 minutes too long, and why the hell would you start a CD with a 7-minute track? It's not a horrible song I guess, it was good for driving around at night listening to music, and it'd maybe be fine for an opener if it was shorter, but a lot of the time I skip this.
2. Centralia: 3/5. I remember this from a concert. It's okay, the main guitar pattern is kinda catchy, but again, really not something that belongs at the beginning of the CD. Especially not after Tides the Deep -- after 7 minutes of that, I want something faster. It was these two songs in the first listen that really made me almost give up hope for this CD.
3. Lucky Ones Burn: 5/5. This was what first started to redeem this CD for me. Faster, catchier, more fun -- which I know isn't what Jucifer is completely about, but it's something they CAN do and I desperately needed it after the first few tracks.
"some of us just rust, but the lucky ones burn"
4. Hennin Hardine: 5/5 This one's been out on Myspace for a couple of weeks so it's not as fresh to me... love the chorus though, uptempo and fairly happy (by their standards) with lyrics like "watch darkness bloom/here in my room" contrasting, and delicious crunchiness in the post-chorus bits.
5. Antietam: 4/5 This song? Creepy. As. Hell. Fairly obviously about the Civil War battle, which is neat. And I love the banjo bits. Only thing knocking this down are the vocals on the chorus -- they're obviously for effect, but they kind of wear on me. Amber can do a lot of awesome things with her voice, and this is nooooot one of them.
6. My Benefactor: 5/5 Lyrically I LOVE this -- there's an evolution to them, from trusting in the beginning to bitter by the end. And it's short. Which is good, because the sound doesn't change much in it, something that her vocals can redeem, but if this were 5 minutes instead of 2 1/2 it'd get old. As it is, though, it's a delicious little emotional and sonic morsel.
7. Four Suns: 4/5 The verses of this song really don't do much for me, they're ploddy and repetetive and just kinda dull, especially vocally. I'd give them a 3. But what I'd consider the chorus and the bridge absolutely blow me away, in lyrics and in sound -- poignant and beautiful. So it averages out to a 4... it starts iffy, but by the end of the song you've heard enough awesome that it's quite worthwhile.
8. Pontius of Palia: 4/5 The best way I can describe this is "catchy". I wasn't impressed by it on first listen, as structurally it's quite repetitive -- verse, verse, verse, verse, verse, come on guys, throw me a bridge here at least -- but then I found myself singing it to myself at work for 5 hours. So who knows.
9. Backslider: 6/5 Love. Love. LOVE. This song. Absolutely my favorite on the CD. Just... the guitars, the tempo and the tempo change, the lyrics....ohgod. My only complaint about this is that it ends WAY before I want it to.
10. Luchamos: 5/5 It's in Spanish, which I don't speak a word of. Not that that's a problem, I just can't quite.... connect to it. I love the abrupt sonic shift at the chorus -- something this CD doesn't do enough is change from soft to loud or vice-versa mid-song, and this song does that very awesomely. For some reason the chorus guitar crunch makes me think of Rammstein, which is odd, but hey.
11. Ludlow: 5/5 I like the quiet of the verses compared to the wall-of-sound crunch that functions as a chorus. This a very simple song, a little creepy and nice. I didn't notice it my first listen or two, but it's grown on me.
12. The Plastic Museum: 5/5 Pretty and simple (kind of like the people it's talking about, I suppose) and sad. And gorgeous. I can't quite describe why I love this song, but I do.
13. In a Family Way: 4/5 Not bad, at all, when I notice it, but I usually don't -- it's kind of a throwaway song. Very short. Kind of reminds me of the good bits of Four Suns, which may be why I don't notice it, because it's something I've kind of already heard. Plus I'm too eager to get to the next song.
14. Medicated: 6/5 My next favorite after Backslider. And I don't quite know why, but the acoustic bass makes me all happy, and I like the slow, then not-so-slow shift from quiet to loud that it goes through. This song is just.... gorgeous.
15. Led 4/5 Not bad. Pretty simple and dreamy... it's an excellent ending song.
Overall... I do love this CD. It starts off iffily, but give it a chance and it'll blow you away. Jucifer is an amazing band and this is a great CD. Like with Destroyer (although not to the same extent), the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the way the CD flows, even the songs that are weaker individually fall into place.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simply rad., January 9, 2007
The above review of this album is extensive and detailed and, well, not completely right in my humble opinion. I would agree with the first impression, though...it just seemed lacking on the first listen. Then again, this album was recorded 2 1/2 years ago. One thing I keep in mind is: would I have thought differently of it then? The answer is: I would have loved it, because I love this band's creativity. Is every song a winner? That's your opinion. Now let's get to mine...
First of all, the first track is AWESOME. It's got all the pummeling, crushing power and melodic subtlety that I crave in a Jucifer song. As a fan of the Melvins before this band I have a soft spot for lurching crunch-a-thons like this. And what song on this album would be a better opener? None come to mind.
True, the second song is more of the same. But wow! It's the way they make these concepts they're own--Ed's tinkering in between the beats on this song are really unique--that make the songs stand out. I, too, recall seeing them play this song live and was struck by it's intentionally jilting beat.
As the disc moves on we get more variety in tempo and texture, more hooks are introduced that get stuck in your head. 'Lucky Ones Burn' and 'Hennin Hardine' are just, well, kinda poppy--but in a good way.
When I heard 'Antietam' and 'My Benefactor' back to back I started to understand the album more as a collection of songs that sonically hang together because of their diversity. I've never heard Amber's voice more chilling than 'Antietam', and yes, I love the banjos too. Then they turn right around and come back at you with a ballad...good sequencing.
'Four Suns', 'Pontius of Palia' and 'Bachslider' start to slip into the 'Nirvana riff territory' part of the album. This seems a bit too pedestrian for such a killer band, but the material is still good. I have a feeling they're good live songs.
'Luchamos' is a fun little rocker that rhythmically calls to mind 'Run to The Hills' by Iron Maiden. 'Ludlow' offers more loud/soft/loud dynamics with a great lilting verse. The advantage of most of these middle tracks is that they are shorter than the sludge-factory numbers at the beginning. I agree that most of them would suffer from more length.
'The Plastic Museum' is a nice piece that offers a different arrangement with simply a guitar and vocal track. This song is really well written and produced. I always love to hear the ambient sound of a guitarist striking the strings on recordings, and it fits in perfectly here.
One of my favorite tracks is 'In A Family Way'. The way Amber mutitracked her vocals on this song, and the album as a whole, is beautiful. This song finally allows Ed to pound out some of those machine gun fills I love to hear, too.
The last two songs are most impressive in the mood they project. Somber, quiet and pensive, but never too slow in tempo. Again, the melodic structure of these tunes get caught in your head and you'll find yourself humming them all day.
Yup, I love this album. I love this band. I can't wait to hear the next one.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful conflict, November 28, 2007
On the cover they reccommend Jucifer to fans of the white stripes and sonic youth, among others. I disagree. The heaviness in the music would make jack and meg run and cry to their mommy, and the lyrics could not possibly be compared to anything the white stripes has written, as they are not pop fluff in the least. As enjoyable as this catchy album is, it is still very dark, yet not dark enough to take too seriously. The combination of the vocalist's soft voice, with the heavy riffs is something we rarely see in metal, but creates a great atmosphere. I think it's more appropriately compared to ... maybe Battle of Mice or Made out of Babies. Live they must be as hypnotic as Boris, but that is just a fantasy...
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