Odyssey

Fischerspooner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0007VZ97G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,716 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Much has happened since 2002, when Fischerspooner released their breakout record #1. If that album’s computerized fine art was a trip back to the '80s, another time warp might be necessary to sustain any momentum for Odyssey. The dance music muse, always in motion, has backed off on the electro/new wave sound that Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner used as a platform for their experimental live shows. Upon first listen, it sounds like the duo has chosen to ignore this; if Odyssey isn’t a clone of #1, it’s at least a close relation. There are, however, crucial and clever differences. The record is much friendlier for one thing, a result of warmer sonics and an unclenched pop sense that was only hinted at previously. "Just Let Go" starts off with a familiar Human League keyboard, but right in the middle of the chorus a jagged, garage band guitar riff smears the song’s makeup. Suddenly you don’t recognize them anymore. Where’s that sexy, but vacuous pose Fischer and Spooner used to lean on? There’s no pretension in a song like "A Kick in the Teeth," with its layered and lovely vocal line. Our cheese is now served straight up. The result? Tasty. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definite contender for Album of the Year, April 5, 2005

By 

R O C K E T (The Twin Cities, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Odyssey (Audio CD)

I loved the first album when it first came out... But then the whole electroclash thing got pretty stale pretty fast. I credit Fischerspooner for being one of the forerunners of the genre, but I was very relieved when I heard this album would be a pretty big departure. I was even happier when I bought the album and listened to it straight through. Though many signature Fischerspooner sounds remain, these guys have definitely moved out of the electroCLASH genre and into the electroPOP arena. Most of the tracks have semi-standard structures and there are guitars aplenty. There are some obvious comparisons to be made here: "Just Let Go" to The Faint, "Never Win" to Pink Floyd, "A Kick In the Teeth" to The Postal Service, "Ritz 107" to AIR, and "All We Are" to Alan Parsons (and is that the bassline of Duran Duran's "Girls On Film" I hear in "We Need a War"?). There are a few tracks that are inferior to the others ("Everything To Gain," "Wednesday," "Ritz 107," and the final track), but overall this is an incredible album. It's tough to pick favorites at this point, but right now "Cloud," "Never Win," "A Kick In the Teeth," "We Need a War," and "Happy" are topping my list. Highly recommended to every fan of electropop and/or The Postal Service.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I were not me, I would hate them, too... just like you do, November 4, 2005

By 

REX (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odyssey (Audio CD)

I was never a fan of electroclash - too old, too jaded, alternately too indebted and too disgusted by early '80s synthpop.

I didn't care for #1 all that much - I bought it out of curiosity (as a Wire fan who wanted to hear "The 15th") after its 3rd (??) release, sometime in 2003, when the fad had just hit American shores but hipsters were already long done with the record.

I got this right away back in the spring of 2005 because I thought it might justify the fact that I bought the first one. I'd watched the video for "Just Let Go" on iTunes a few times and found it... okay.

Somewhere along the line, though, this album BLEW MY MIND. All those people who are saying this one grows on you are the real deal. Odyssey doesn't simply prove that Fischerspooner are more than a fad, it proves that they are simply brilliant. Brilliant at what they do, and brilliant at navigating pop culture.

Start with "Never Win." A great pop song and a great dance song with deceptively simplistic lyrics and a layered coda that will knock you flat on the floor. Move on to "Get Confused" (which sounds almost alien, like Mirwais's first work with Madonna) and the stunning percussion in "Everything to Gain." By the time you realize the awesome thematic connection and musical congruity of "All We Are" and the trippy Boredoms cover at the end of the record, you will be questioning what was so great about "Emerge" in the first place.

Fischerspooner - so hip, so memorable, and so ultimately necessary. This is the closest thing the U.S. has to the ironic, intelligent, world-conquering Pet Shop Boys.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MUCH Different Than #1, April 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Odyssey (Audio CD)

(i'm not a kid i just didn't feel like logging in)
I have to comment on this album since I was anticipating it so highly. #1 was a great but flawed record, and I thought this one would patch some of the holes. It does, in a sense, but this is clearly a genre change for the band, and it may leave some fans of #1 underwhelmed. The at times harsh basslines and in-focus drums that characterized the first album have been replaced by a pop sensibility, which produces songs that are catchy but to me not as compelling. Another point of disagreement I have with the album is the overly concrete lyrics - "We Need A War" is the most egregious example of this. The first album used its vocals more sparsely but to me, also more artistically. And although the introduction of guitar is not bad, its not used nearly as effectively as the keyboards, which are definitely still the band's strong point. What I'm trying to get at is that this is a good album, but it isn't like #1 at all in the mood it evokes or the style it uses. Approach it on its own terms and you'll almost definitely like it, just don't think of it as being in the same genre as #1.