Customer Reviews

La Roux

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want something very fun, electronic, pop with a heavy 1980s vibe, La Roux is for you. What I enjoy most about La Roux and her debut album is that it is unlike anything on the radio today. She is not trying to follow any popular music trends; she clearly knows what genre of music fits her best and this album feels very retro while feeling very futuristic at the same time.

The Good: I loved the instrumentals/beats. When I first listened to the album, I thought this was some forgotten 1980s album. The vibe of the album sounds retro but doesn't seem dated at all. It's an odd blend of what made 80s music so fun while somehow keeping its hand and eyes set on the future (perhaps with the use of the computer to alter the voice, giving the album an at times robotic/electronic vibe). The music is carefree and the lyrics are also interesting; nothing entirely deep but at the same time, not frivolous and without a message. I also felt La Roux's vocals stood out on the album. While some of the vocals are processed and run through autotune and computer tweaks, La Roux does sing in a very raw, organic manner on other tracks and is able to really communicate emotion and depth while many artist don't seem to give any thought to what they are singing or how their voice can change the entire tone of the album.

The Bad: With all the synth and electronic treatment is what gives the album its flair and attitude, it also gets somewhat repetitive after a few tracks. This is the style carried out not on one or two tracks but on every track. In a way, it distracts and makes the tracks blend into one and makes some tracks fade or retreat into one another rather than standing out as they should.

In all, La Roux's debut album does what few are able to do; she leaves a lasting impression and has the listener wanting more by the end. The music is addictive, fun, carefree and La Roux herself has a very unique style and her vocal style and musical preferences definitely give this album a lot of feeling and character. Definitely worth purchasing.

Listen To These Tracks: 'Cover My Eyes', 'Bulletproof', 'Tigerlily', 'I'm Not Your Toy', 'Fascination'

I cannot stop listening to this album. I am crazy about La Roux! A friend told me to check out the track "Bulletproof" and I have been hooked since then. There are only a couple of tracks that I don't really listen to and that is very rare for me. Very heavy on the 80s instrumentals and Elly Jackson's voice is incredible. Probably my favorite song is "Going in for the Kill". I'm also very fond of "Colorless Color, "I'm not Your Toy", "Reflections are Protection" and of course "Bulletproof". I haven't found an album that I've liked this much in years. These are songs that I don't mind getting stuck in my head.

La Roux is simply amazing! The songs are soo catchy with the great lyrics and tunes. I simple can't get enough, there is not one song on the CD that I will skip when listening which is very rare these days. Very similar to an underground Lady Gaga, no she is much better than Gaga. I expect to hear much more from and about La Roux in the near future she is an extremely talented artist with such a beautiful voice. A must have CD!!

Duffy came out sounding like she could have been from the 60's. La Roux sounds like she is direct from the 80's. A perfect blend of the Human League, OMD, and early Erasure, with the attitude of Pink thrown in to spice it up. The albm has remained in my listening rotation since I downloaded it. Catchy, memorable, easy to sing along to. Love listening to this album, especially Tigerlilly, Bulletproof, and In for the Kill.

One other reviewer said she hadn't heard an album she liked this much in years. I feel the same way! Someone sent me (ironically on my birthday) an email with La Roux's 'Bulletproof' video attached. I was blown away! I got the whole CD on import the same day (this was last August) and have not stopped playing it since!

I have always loved Yazoo (Yaz here in the states) and Eurythmics, and La Roux is somewhat similar (as far as being a synth-pop band with an amazing female singer). Some people can't handle there being absolutely no acoustics, but I have always been a huge fan of synth pop, so naturally this is a total thrill for me. We've been suffering SO LONG with such crap music all around us, that this CD is like rain on a dry, cracked desert!

There is a beautiful track called 'Armour Love' and another called 'Cover My Eyes' (I am not sure why I get the distinct feeling these two songs are being sung to another girl). There are also completely brilliant dance tracks like 'Bulletproof', 'Quicksand', 'In For The Kill' and the very underrated 'Fascination.' Do you know how rare it is to have a CD with almost all great tracks!?

Elly Jackson (the singer in La Roux) has at least three different voices and all of them are great! I totally recommend this album.

I purchased this on a recent trip to the UK, because I heard and loved Bulletproof, a single that hit #1 there. In my opinion, 9 of the 12 tracks are five-star standouts, and Tigerlily is epic. It stalks me. I can't get it out of my head.
The entire album is artistically brilliant synthpop. My least favorite track, Armour Love, is still very nice, but it reminds me of some TV commercial from the 70s, so that's somewhat distracting. I have been listening to La Roux nonstop for the last two weeks and I LOVE IT. This is probably my favorite album since Upstairs at Eric's.

What can you say about La Roux except this is the start of something special... we'll all be listening to them for years to come.

Clearly influenced by the sounds of the 80's but at the same time fresh and modern and genuine sounding. Great vocal and songwriting abilities across all the album tracks. I can see their songs catching the attention of the industry and predict they'll be penning music for many other artists as well.

Anything else than 5 stars for an album with this many original, brilliantly catchy and heartfelt songs would be underrating the album.

Weak points? That we may have to wait a while before their next album of new music is released since they'll be busy touring and promoting this one. When you hear a debut album from an artist with this much potential you want to hear more to see how they develop and see if it's possible that they can get even better... which would be amazing.

I'm really not a pop music "fan"... but I am a fan of great music produced by talented artists who "feel" the music they create... that sums up La Roux perfectly.

This is a special album and I can easily see this winning awards for best new artist and best album of the year.

This is the most bouncy, fun and important record of this era. I thought In For The Kill was a long forgotten single from the early 1980s! Then came this full album, full of bouncy, retro modern electronica from a very promising new talent. Its as if Elly Jackson is single handedly reviving a lost genre-the pop single! Its now outdated to put out a record album, much less by one. Well, thankfully here it is!

Every song is good. If this was 1985, it would produce a chart clogging plethora of #1 singles-Quicksand, Bulletproof, Im Not Your Toy, Facination and As If By Magic. Here in the U.S.A., it will be largely forgotten, lost by our paranoia of British imports. If our now dead music industry would reinvent itself and discover new music, maybe radio(it was once used for something other than talk) could start playing tunes that get people singing along once more.

When I heard `Bulletproof' I was in love, instantly. It was fun, fresh, funky and totally what I needed to break through the monotony that can become modern top 40 music. Someone was finally doing something different, making the 80's synth heavy pop music cool again and I, for one, was ready to take a big ol' bite out of La Roux.

So I did.

While this album is definitely a breath of fresh air when you consider the Miley Cyrus / Britney Spears / Black Eyed Peas mediocrity that fills the airwaves (I like `Party in the U.S.A.' but, I mean, how much of it can you take at one time) I have to say that I was letdown a tad when listening to the album as a whole. I found that the songs began to run into one another, with no real distinction and no real diversity. There are a handful of spectacular tracks and then a slew of what appears to be `filler'.

I hate filler.

There are only two songs that I don't like; `Cover my Eyes' and `Reflections are Protection'. For me they are boring. `Cover my Eyes' isn't `bad', but it just isn't anything I want to listen to again. `Reflections are Protection' is just plain horrible.

Songs like `In For the Kill' have a lot going for them, but the lack of musical fluctuation leaves the track rather redundant feeling, which is sad in this case because the initial beat laydown is one of my favorite on the album, and with some color it could have been the album's biggest standout. `Colourless Colour' is soft yet maybe too simple, and songs like `Growing Pains', `Armour Love' and `As if by Magic' sound great but also sound too much like other songs on the album.

I know this sounds like a weird comparison, but you know how all of Godsmack's songs sound the same (regurgitated chord structure, repetitive lyrics)? That is the feeling I got when listening to half of this album.

I wanted more variety.

When she hits it hard though, she hits it out of the park. Homeruns on this album include the aforementioned `Bulletproof', `Quicksand' and the brilliant `Tigerlily'. These three songs stand out as `best in show' and encompass all that I want La Roux to embrace on her sophomore attempt. `Bulletproof' is just fun, spunky and hip. `Quicksand' has a sensual vibe that reminds me of Prince in a way; that slinky R&B presence lacing every second. My favorite track here is `Tigerlily', a song that personifies perfection for me. It has a brashness about it that I adore. La Roux almost sounds as if she is attacking every word, and that aggression is a welcome twist to her delicate softness.

In the end I give the album a B-, but I see a potential to deliver A+ material in the very near future.

Am totally hooked on this fantastic synth-pop album - the songs sound oddly familiar and yet brand new... It's progressive in a throwback-to-the-80s kind of way.

Frontwoman Elly Jackson croons in her lilting falsetto like some space-age oddity, which works amazingly well in the opening track 'In for the Kill'. Other gems like single 'Bulletproof', 'Quicksand' and 'I'm Not Your Toy' keep the party spirit up. Not a single dud track in this album.

This is what pop music should be - stock-full of irresistible hooks and beats, fun and not taking itself too seriously. They should collaborate with other 80s synth-pop giants like Pet Shop Boys, Human League or Erasure, like what contender Little Boots did in her duet with Philip Oakey off her debut "Hands", another delicious electro-synth offering.