Customer Reviews

Unknown

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

 

 

Ok....first this cd/single is really good, clearly you can heard the new sound of IRIS. The vocal always at a perfection, the lyrics are so powerful that gives my the chills; there are some awesome remixes too.

Now if you haven't get the "Awakening" album there's omething wrong with you! I reather talk about it more than the single.
Every song is so good!!!!! great lyrics about love, lost, lust, very romantic. It's is hard to rate each song because all are amazing, the biggest suprise is the remake of SEVEN RED SEVEN "your're the answer", the electronics are out of this world! The album has a progressive pop sound, with great ballads too. For me IRIS is the best American electropop, and this should be the best of 2003!! don't wait buy it! or order from their site, you won't be dissapointed.

I'm not a synthpop junkie, but I purchased this disc anyways with no expectations whatsoever. The minute-long clip they'd posted seemed cool enough.

The album mix is perfectly clear on my main setup. Sounds excellent in every aspect of the word. The track itself is addictive as hell, with well-defined rhythm, awesome textures, an awesome lead vocal (including the melody) of ambiguously great lyrics. Some of your friends may laugh at the intro the first time they hear it, but play it a few more times and they'll have some part of it stuck in their head. Overall, excellent.

Matt's sub rosa mix is the one I'd play for my friends if they listened to anything like this type of music---which none of them seem to do. Nice placement of the vocals, and just a general club groove feel. Definitely a keeper; made me want to buy a sub.

The spatial dub mix rocks. Loaded with effects and atmosphere. In-your face, aggressive, and a great listen on a pair of nice speakers. All sorts of stuff going on here.

Everlasting love mix takes things back a notch. Classic tracker-style arpeggios a la stuff like Andrew's (the producer's) track Point of Departure. Almost brings back memories. Not my favorite mix, but it'll find it's way into quite a few playlists.

Datguy's mix dances around the core of the song, which may be a good thing since he posted it on his site well before the album came out. Fitting end to the disc, with almost a liquid texture going throughout. Lots of delay on the channels in this mix. Probably the one that I could most easily get away with playing to my hallmates, who are relatively accepting of downtempo music.

I sent the album mix to a friend who said it was 'devoid of musicality.' Oh well. Doesn't know what he's missing, I really doubt your reaction will be the same if you're into anything along these lines. It's damn good stuff. Overall, a great track spread out amongst 5 diverse and well-above-average mixes. This is the first time I'm actually awaiting future single releases from a group. If you -are- into synthpop, I'm quite shocked you don't own this already. Seems like you're missing out on something completely different that just plain rocks. 9/10

This review was originally written by my husband, Daniel Aeschliman, who has given me permission to post it here:

Iris is an independent synthpop band that first broke on the US scene in 1994 with a song called "Annie, Would I Lie To You." Five years would pass before their debut album, Disconnect, would be released. Before releasing their second album, Awakening, Iris unleashed the lead-off single, "Unknown." The first version of the song is a perfect addition to their catalog; a seemingly effortlessly flowing track, from its airy opening to the catchy pop feel of the chorus. The Sub Rosa Mix, by Iris' Matt Morris and System 22's Cody Williams, pumps up the energy of the track a bit, making it more of a club track, with stuttering synth fills. Iris' new member, Andrew Sega, produced the next two remixes. The Spatial Dub Mix is more of a breakbeat treatment than one would expect on hearing the original mix; the truly surprising thing is simply how well it works. The Everlasting Love Mix, on the other hand, is more of an instrumental track than anything else. While the music is quite good, it would have been better either as a full vocal track or a full instrumental; the occasional snippets of vocals which have been scattered throughout the track are an infuriating tease (after a single run through the first verse, the remaining vocals on the track focus on the line "There's been talk about us"). The final remix of the song sounds at first like it might be intended to be simply an extended version of the original mix - until the drums kick in at a much slower tempo than the original track. The mix feels a little too slow musically - while the vocals do work with the music track, it's not as strong as the Sub Rosa Mix or the Spatial Dub Mix. The single is definitely recommended.

Scorching, at least that's what I'd call track #2 on this disc. A must have, especially if you already have the album, Awakening. The other mixes are OK, some good thoughts put together... but nothing as complete as track #2 - the best remix of 2003.

So it looks like 2003 is the time for the resurgence of electro pop, the single is fantastic, the album is brilliant and hopefully they'll head over to the uk soon for a tour.

This CD is one of the best I've had. The single is a great preview of how their next CD will sound. With songs like Unknown on there it will have a place in my collection. It's better than their first CD even if it only has five songs. Unknown is one of the best single's I've heard in a long time. I hope the next one is Sorrow Expert.