Customer Reviews

One

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Following a huge dance smash (2002's "Days Go By") and a Top Ten debut album, Dirty Vegas finally returns. With little fanfare they release their second disc, "One," which abandons their club/disco roots in favor of mild adult contemporary pop. But in pursuit of musical maturity, Dirty Vegas has lost much of its edge and the promise it had on its superior debut. If the inoffesnive blandness of, say, Savage Garden is your type of groove, then this CD is right up your alley. Steve Smith sings without much in the way of emotion, and much of the songwriting comes off as flat and trite. The sole track bearing anything smacking of inspiration is "In This Life," an acoustic-electro mid tempo number that'll probably sound great at your local cafe. But the rest of the CD comes up way short. Hence the title, "One" gets one star.

As i read over many of the reviews for "One" I was wondering if I would like this album at all. Personally, I enjoyed the electronica feel of the debut. Fortunately, the reviewers were not totally correct about the album. This album does refer back to its electronica predesessor if not only through hints. To say that none of these songs could make it to the dance floor scene is actually also a bit off. "A Million Ways" is quite danceable with a very upbeat array of drums and keyboards. There are some nice songs on here as well... "In This Life", while seemingly upbeat also offers some touching lyrics. "Walking Into The Sun" sounds familiar to me, but decent just the same. Steve Smith, who provides the lead vocals, is not a power belter of a singer but his voice suffices on this collection of songs. Surprisingly, it provides a soothing effect. "One" isn't a great album, but it is a good one. Hopefully, these artists will get their due and keep on making music.

I have given this album ample chance to grow on me, but like most other reviewers, I just can't get into it. I really wanted to like this album as much as I did their first, but "One" is a huge letdown. Gone are the cool electronic sounds and everything else that made their debut album unique and exciting. What we get instead is an album full of bad generic sounding adult-contemporary pop.

The two exceptions to "One's" overall blandness are the songs "A Million Ways" and "In This Life," they are both great songs, but I'd recommend picking up those two at iTunes and saving some money. Or if you're really curious, pick up one of the hundreds of used copies for five or six bucks!

If you have been reading the other reviews it should be apparent to you by now that a lot of people find this album very different than the last. So is it really? Well... yes and no. If you have the first album and really soaked up all the music and not just "Days Go By" then the album isn't all that different. If you're just into their electronic dance music stuff then you will say it's way different.

The boys have gone more acoustic. That's the only real difference here. The singing style. The music structure. The feel and look of Dirty Vegas hasn't really changed. Just how they arranged it. Instead of a lot of driving electronic beats and deep electronic basslines you get more acoustic guitars and not-so-heavy rhythms. I guess for some that's the deal breaker. For me it's still all good. Listen to about half the tracks on their first album (NOT Days Go By, which I personally feel is the weakest song of that CD but still like) and you will see the songwriting hasn't changed. The boys still have a knack for catchy melodies and nice musicial arrangments. It's a shame a lot of you are dissing them just because it's no longer club sounding.

I will say this little nugget of negative truth about this album, and that's their writing style. On their first album they did explore more into different moods and ideas than they have on One. I am noticing a lot of the songs now have an almost identical song structure. The grooves, tempo and feel of these songs are different, but just about any music theory student will notice definite similarities in almost every song in that album (and in songs from their first album). The average user will probably only notice it in a subtle way. Like they are hearing nothing new but can't put their finger on it. While I happen to like the structure they use, repetition is still repetition and it starts to grate on your after a while. This album is probably best served by separating the tracks and putting on a mix tape with some different stuff in between.

The main mood I feel of the album is kind of laid back. Althought that's not really being fair. Tracks like HUMAN LOVE and GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING are powerful and aggressive. WALK INTO THE SUN and A MILLION WAYS also perk up the ears (with the latter being more EDM than the rest). I guess the first two tracks set the tone for me with their peppy and cheerful grooves. I swear HOME AGAIN would make a perfect song for a car commercial.

This is a great album. It shows the group is willing to stretch out of their boundaries a bit and not be pigeon-holed as "the Days Go By" band. They didn't depart that far from their own style, but apparently it's enough to ruffle more than a few feathers. If the only song from Dirty Vegas you ever heard was their one club hit then pass on this one if that's all you expect. If you have enjoyed their last album... all of it... then this one should make sense.

Still if I have to say which Dirty Vegas album I like best it will still have to be their debut album. Not because of "that song", but because of all of the other songs on that CD. They just had more variation in their song writing style on their first album. However One is a close... very close... second and is a purchase I'm very glad I made.

Dirty Vegas, who scored a mild 2001 hit with "Days Go By" (largely because it was featured in a U.S. Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial), try their hand at "songs" this time around, not just dance club beats. Their "mature" move means aiming at catchy electronic pop like New Order, but New Order A) knew how to write juicy hooks, and B) knew how to milk those hooks for all their worth. The tracks on One all drag; the melodies often meander for more than five minutes. Even when DV turn up the beats ("A Million Ways")--perhaps in an effort to show loyal fans that they still know how to lay them down--the beats sound like background noise--easily ignorable, like an air conditioner's whir or the chatter of children playing in the park outside your window. Sometimes, Dirty Vegas fool you into thinking that there might be a chewy payoff to their seemingly radio-ready tunes ("Roses" and "Home Again" both sound promising at first), but these radio-ready tunes are the sort of tunes you tune out to.

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This CD has received some very mediocre reviews, but I can honestly say that I totally dig this album. The songs have a sort of ethereal quality to them, which the songs from their debut had as well, although they were more rooted in dance, and this album is more rooted in rock. I even think that the vocals, which have also been subject to criticism, only add to the songs' general otherworldly effect. And it is rare and refreshing to hear male vocals that are not R&B, alternative or country...there is something sincere and humble in his delivery. All in all, this is one of my favorite albums of 2004. Forget the naysayers!

I bought this on the strength of the single "Walk Into the Sun" but this CD does not contain the radio edit thereof. So I also bought the CD single of that and I have played it to death. "One" is pretty good. The strongest cuts in my opinion are "A Million Ways" and "Given You Everything". I'd like to see these guys minimize the whimp factor in future efforts and concentrate on rocking/trancing out. The intro of "Closer" made me double check that I hadn't put on my Bread's Greatest Hits CD. With apologies to David Gates...

Dirty Vegas was most noticeable for their hit single "Days go By" featured on their debut album. It was on the popular car commerical and was played on the radio numerous of times, and won a grammy for their #1 hit song. Now with Dirty Vegas sophomore effort "One", it's more laid-back and more stable then their debut album. One represents love songs, & emotions. The songs are orchestral going strong with vocals, and not so much electronica than the debut. I prefer this album over the debut because this album was more put together vocally, lyrically and musically than the debut. With tracks like "Home Again" is produced by an eight piece orchestra. The vocals are way stronger than ever before, and is professionaly done. "A Million Things" reminds me a song from their debut "7 AM". That song is closest to the electronica genre that it gets. Both albums are excellent, but this one places 1st in my book because the album has more meaning and more definition and is more radio friendly with potential singles. This album does lack the electronica genre and focuses more on the orchestral-lite pop-lite rock line. I absolutely love it. Buy it for yourself, and listen to "ONE".

Contrary to popular belief, Dirty Vegas was never really about dance or techno, that's simply how their songs came out in the first album. If you listen to the entire album, however, you see that much of the album has a more rock/pop quality to it. That is not to say that Dirty Vegas was pop either, they just do their own thing,and that's what makes them good. Their music still has that ethereal ballad-like quality that it had in the first album, and most of the songs have their merit. Just because Dirty Vegas didn't do the same thing they did before doesn't make their music bad or boring. I like it.

Simply put: this album is just like classic New Order, with a dollop of U2 thrown in for epicness...

Now, I wasn't expecting much when I heard this album. I know the debut with "Days Go By" (who doesn't??), and it's drancey, trancey, and honestly more than a little boring, in my opinion, although a coupla tracks weirdly remind me of Squeeze (??!!??), so really, when I read about this new album and some negative reviews, I basically shrugged my shoulders and wrote this album off immediately, thinking it would be even more boring and even worse!!!

That is, until a friend had it playing in his car...my ears immediately perked, and I asked "WHO IS THIS??? It's really good!!" He said the new Dirty Vegas, and I was like WHAAAAATTTTT???!!?? No way!!! I then heard all the songs, and I was completely stunned!!! I thought they were anonymous dance/trance people, not a COOL 80s new wave-influenced dance/modern rock hybrid BAND!!!!!!!

Simply put, this is THE stunning shocker surprise album of 2004, dammitt!!! Even if you were not impressed with the debut, like me, thinking it was a novelty/throwaway trend, throw that thought in the nearest trashbin and give this a listen...you will be stunned. GUARANTEED!!!

"Walk Into The Sun" is a contender for finest single of 2004, bar none. Play this after New Order's classic 1987 hit "True Faith", and it works perfectly. Hell, even singer Steve Smith is a dead ringer for NO's Bernard Sumner, it's scary!!

This should be promoted along with the other 80s-influenced dance/rock bands/artists that clicked this year: Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Scissor Sisters, The Faint, Le Tigre, Morel, Esthero, and more...

NOT anonymous DJs/remixers!!!! Nothing wrong with them, but Dirty Vegas doesn't belong there, mainly cuz they use vocals and are a proper BAND, but among the above-mentioned artists...but I have a feeling their label is mismarketing Dirty Vegas...the proper crowd is not hearing this masterpiece...

Consider it my mission, dammitt...