Customer Reviews

Popaganda

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well, it wasn't long, but Head Automatica have re-emerged with their second album, "Popaganda." For fans of the first album, "Decadence," there is a remarkable difference. A first listen impression would indicate that they have lost their funk, but look further. Head Automatica have simply expanded, creating an album that is complete and unique. There is less of a hip hop and dance vibe here, but rest assured, Daryl and the boys have delivered.

The album gets instant momentum going with the first single, "Graduation Day." Featuring unneccessary background vocals from Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, "Graduation Day" is a cliched but gorgeous summer anthem, kicking the album off with the right mood. As the album progresses, each song blends into the next, creating a cohesive listening experience. True, this album is pop-rock at it's core, but songs that step out of the norm like "Shot In The Back" "Egyptian Musk" and "Cannibal Girl" are the best of the album, and sound closer to "Decadence" than the rest of the material. Even still, straight-forward material like "Laughing At You" and "Lying Through Your Teeth" show that Daryl and company are good at adapting to virtually any style. However, the inclusion of "Beating Heart Baby," a song that the group are "beating" to death is kind of a cheeseball move. Sure, it's an alternate mix, but it's not much different, and they've been leeching onto this song for too long (especially with three (?) music videos for the song).

A lot of fans could easily criticize this album as "selling out," but come on. The title is "Popaganda." They aren't hiding anything here. Head Automatica obviously intended to make a great pop-rock album, a bit different than the first, and they succeeded. It's not a perfect album, but experimentation rarely is perfect. Hopefully when album number three comes around (hopefully we get a new Glassjaw disc before then), Head Automatica can combine the elements of not just this album, but their previous as well, into one big masterpiece.

Great album! Worth the wait. Cant say there is one song on it that I do not like. Not sure if I would consider it better than their first album but it definately lives up to it.

Best track: Cannibal Girl

i've been a fan of head automatica ever since they put out their first album and i must say that this album exceeds any expectations i had for their sophomore effort. its just an overall amazing cd. the best songs on the cd are ones that they didnt prerelease on itunes like khorse and cannibal girl. go get the album!

I have heard of Head Automatica but just never ventured to listen to either their first album or this album. I read an article about the band and was intrigued by listening to what some of the band's influences are. I have always loved Elvis Costello and this has a certain feel and sound like early Elvis costello. If you are wanting to know if this album sounds like the first album Decadence no it really doesn't because this album is more band driven as the album Decadence was more beat and dance driven since Dan the Automator was involved with that album. Dan is nowhere to be found on this album though and it is a very different direction that they have went to this time. Definitely one of the best albums from start to finish I have heard in a while. There really is not a weak song on here. Standout tracks are Graduation Day, Nowhere Fast, Laughing At You, Egyptian Musk, and God. This is a really good record.

Anyone expecting a repeat of Decadence will be disappointed. But if you keep your mind open, you'll find something equally as unique. This album isn't really a danceable record, but in many ways, its just as fun an album to listen to.

And for anyone who's heard Graduation Day and are wary, take heart: it's probably the second worst song on the entire album.

I'll be honest with you that I was dissapointed with this album. I'm a big Glassjaw fan, and I loved Decadence, so I was excited about this album, but I honestly can't get into it. I don't know why. Its not that its a bad album. It does sound pretty good and Daryls voice sounds as good as ever. But it just doesnt draw me in, and I never feel compelled to listen to it. If I want to listen to some of Daryl's music I pop in Glassjaw's "Worship and Tribute," or "Popaganda." Listening to it right now, I admitt that it really isn't a bad album, I can see why many are giving it 4 and 5 stars. But I can't get into it, there are only a few tracks I really like, and considering how good Daryl is on his other records, I'm going to give this one a low 3 stars, or high 2. I guess that's what happens when you set the bar that high. You do have to admitt that he has alot of talent, and this album does show another side of Daryl that we havn't seen in Glassjaw or the other Head Automatica album, so it is refreshing from that perspective.

Gone are the beats and dance feeling that came with the first album, being produced by Dan the Automator (who is a genius btw). and entering its place is a much more pop album. Hence the name "Popaganda." So is it bad? No. I will continue listening to it and it might click with me at some point. If your interested in it, I would recomend checking it out, it is good, and you might love it.

A lot of people are criticizing 'popaganda' because Head Automatica have somewhat changed their sound since the last album. I'm all for bands evolving their sound, which leads to overall improvment. As long as they keep some of their original sound, which this band has. Obviously one album is not going to sound like the last, that would be pointless. The band's definatly not hardcore rock, but to call it 'pop'... yeah i dont think so. Sure it's totally different from Glassjaw but I believe that was the point when Daryl started Head Automatica. I've never really been a fan of Glassjaw and much perfer this band, however I don't think either one of them show how much the other sucks. They both appeal to all kinds of people with different music taste. It's true that they just show how versatile Daryl's voice is.

I loove all the songs on the record but if I was to name the ones that most stand out, in no order except for first one:
1.Beating Heart Baby (always loved the song)
2.God
3.Laughing At You
4.Cannibal Girl
5.Lying Through Your Teeth


*** a fun listen and always cheers me right up! .. also great to dance crazily to when home alone and bored one evening :)

I love This CD... I think it is better than Decadence. My friend got me hooked to this band an d i am way excited to get this CD so i can listen to it all summer

Note that electro is the last part of the hypened words in the review title... and it is fitting considering the electro sound that seemed scattered through Decandance is simply tacked on with the last few songs. It isn't bad though... I think it closed the album out in a good way.
This album is pop driven... and to some that may be a problem. But, I enjoy music like this. It is energetic... and it is like a sugar high... good while it lasts but it hardly lingers afterwards. The lead singer continues to tear it up... this time vamping through guitar riffs and melodic lyrics. Most of the lyrics are sugar coated tongue-and-cheek... and it gives the album a kind of... sarchastic feel. It is most evident in "God" which declares God has a weird sense of humor... which makes God seem somewhat unheavenly. Bold, yes... funny... sure... interesting? I thought so. In all honesty, form "God" on, the album truly is at its best. Head Automatica had a formula... start with the weaker (albeit, still good) songs and end with a bang (and even though the bonus track is a song from their debut, it is still a bang none-the-less) I oarticularly like the off rythum flow of "She's Not It" which is a silly-good-time song. "Egyptian Musk" is my favorite though as it is a reminder of the Decadance of yesterday... it is a good, dark, electro-rock-pop song... and catchy to boot.
I am so happy they are back.

Does this look like a bowling match, HA? Does it? Well, it seems that Glassjaw side project is treating their musical projects like one. Their first album demands peoples' attention mixing club and dance and the rock music. You'd almost think that Decadence was made to take over the ears of the public. Well, Popaganda is their way of saying "you set it up, we'll just knock them down again". This time they are dropping disco for a while, and adding a bit of McFly British Invasion into the deal. (Don't worry. The angst is still there.)
"Graduation Day" already reaches that goal. They sound nothing like the sneering Glassjaw; instead, they sound like the album made for the summer with a twinge of Rooney turned up. The album also sounds rightfully young for high schoolers listening. "Laughing at You" is one of those cases in points, taking on either his targets or the longtime target just betting the message. "Lying Through Your Teeth" had a chance to be vague like any other song about a liar, but more this song is calling the bluff of a soon-to-be former lover, all while smacking her with the line "Girl, your love's so cheap" and "I always knew you were a fraud".
"OxyContin (Nowhere Fast)" is a dark story for those doing OxyContin, and a line saying "I got away with murder last night in the parking lot". Never has there been a song about drugs that is so straightforward anyone listening to this CD could possibly get off of OxyContin fast, before they hit the gutter. The love carvedown doesn't end as "Scandalous", one of the best songs of the album, proceeds to call off the bluff hard. "Curious" first crushes on a girl, then feels and element that the crush of love may just crush his dignity for life (sample line: "The things I do for you will lead to my breakdown"). "God" takes Fall Out Boy's likely sound as adds a little more groove and the need to criticize God, even on his "strangest sense of humor" and calls him "too funny to be so heavenly". "Shot in the Back (The Platypus)" takes Incubus' musical formula and contemplates what trouble his fear just might get him into.
"Million Dollar Decision" has Daryl questioning whether the chance to let go was right for him and his life. "She's Not It", the ponder-off song that tells off the woman he just doesn't appreciate, will first get you thinking it as all about a relationship, but the woman he is telling off "quit her job when she was 45 years old". "Egyptian Musk" pulls a Cyanide Valentine while flapping off about the "suicidal taliban", and discusses politics. "Cannibal Girl" continues the romantic disappointment, all while mentioning what you could have guessed a mile away: "you've been eating me alive". "K Horse" brings you right back to the sound that you loved from Head Automatica: disco dancing rock music with angst the size of a watermelon dripping from between his grinding teeth. What to do to end the album? Bringing back a facelifted "Beating Heart Baby" expressing a mix of love and lust for a woman who wants nothing to do with him. Well, at least I can say I've heard some parts of the song. And it is a wonderful closer, in my opinion.
Head Automatica's album doesn't quite disappoint. In fact, to hear an album. There still is a bit of cynicism, but this one is really the album that kids like me are going to enjoy in full rotation. I guess they are right. As long as Head Automatica is there to help it, "it's going to be a crazy summer".
Rating: 7.75/10