Customer Reviews

Second Grand Constitution & Bylaws

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is sheer brilliance. If you love Bungle's "Desert Search for Techno Allah," then you'll blag your pants over this! It's far more compressed and tight than other Secret Chiefs releases. Thematically, each track builds and refines and improvises upon each other, reinforcing the intensity.

Tr 1 is a straightforward, Middle eastern/Spanish sounding melody of lament. So Morricone that it hurts. Also calls to mind (the horn and cello?) the melody line from the 2nd move of the concierto de aranjuez- at least to these ears. lasts about 2.5 minutes. Great intro to what folllows!

Tr 2 is a thrashed out charging attack on the same melodic idea, with a throbbing surf-backbeat. Nuts!!!!

Tr 3 twitters and squeaks and then a twangy reverbed surf guitar and drum beat pick up where 2 left off. MORE NUTS!!!!

Tr 4 begins with more twang and also soft middle eastern type instrumentation in some kind of odd (harmonic minor???) key, then slips into a rather poppy rock beat with a skankin rhythm. neato! It scrambles about for awhile before the distortion and thrash comes back in towards the end. The longest track thus far...

Tr 5 is where things get kinda weird, sounds like a video game at first, or an arabian version of the william tell overture. dense electronica with more mid-east instruments and thick breakbeats colliding! Crunch bang boom! This one also lasts awhile building up to a frenetic propulsive conclusion!

Tr 6 starts out, again, ominously surfy- creepy Bungle-esque organs come in and out. This could have easily been on Disco Volante. hell's yes.

Tr 7: begins with (harpsichord?) and guitar, screechy cartoonish female vox soon slip in, (different language or possibly gibberish) followed by strings and harp- this one is soft and sounds so much like Ennio morricone's Spaghetti Western work that I thought maybe it was stolen. very pretty. Very spare. nice flute. Builds solidly. This one is around 4.5 minutes, not counting the random bubbly sounds at the end.

Tr 8 (maybe my fave) picks up the themes and motifs used earlier, and gets a bit funky, sounds like a Prince instrumental cover of either "Ars Moriendi" (the art of dying) or "Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy," from Mr. Bungle's 'California,' CD. The breakbeats kinda hit the jam!

Tr 9 Starts out with thick bass boom and odd jittery guitar. some background vox weave in and out. it gets very fast-paced and menacing. tautly constructed. The beats explode and teh song keeps building! more n more! It revisits its beginning and goes through again- ends with droning vox and same progression you've come to love.

Tr 10 starts out with wind howling. Instruments come in then go straight to noise rock hell. For a long time! Sounds like bees devouring someone up to the 3.5 minute mark where the clattering drums and squealing strings take over. this turns into a rain storm. More mid east stuff comes in the back door. About 6 minues of oddness.

Tr 11 tries to bring it all together. Easily the longest track here. the rain from 10 segues into wind and a tango-esque keyboard symphony that is quite brooding. Marching drums come in and visions start percolating in the mind of the listener. ruins. A vast procession of armies? A lone tent in a sea of dunes? A voluptuous waif dancing in a veil? Strings arise. everything builds wonderfully, thick guitar barely audible in the back. organ flourishes. more building- the guitar takes a lead approach blending with the other surging instruments. The wind comes back in and over the course of a LOOOOONG time (I won't tell how but it's well over 7 minutes) you get naught but near-silence. Then it picks up the same motif as Tr 9 and builds on it furiously.
I'll not reveal the ending!

Every song! EVERY SONG! Every song is my favorite song! This cd is tighter than "chilled monkey brains"! More twists and turns than the Autobahn! Goes best with a bed of rice.

It is maddeningly difficult to pidgeonhole or lump the Secret Chiefs 3 into any kind of musical genre or mere human description. 'Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws' is just as wild, unpredictable, challenging, and utterly satisfying as the first SC3 album. SC3's unique blend of Arabian folk, 60's surf, techno and death metal is in full effect on the record as well as a heavier dose of songwriting, with most of the songs lasting over three or four minutes, as opposed to the short, mystifying bursts of insanity found on the first record. Every song on this album must be heard to be believed. This record holds its own right next to the Beatle's White Album, Radiohead's OK Computer, Slayer's Reign In Blood, (insert favorite landmark album here).

Don't expect to hear bungle influenced music on this album; this is a whole new thing. These guys have many ideas of their own. There may be no vocals on this (except for #8), but that makes it somehow more atmospheric. Think Middle eastern music plus a little bit of trance and surf; that is what mostly makes up this album, and it's awesome. Any fan of Mr. Bungle should get this checked out (along with First Grand as well).

As I said for the First Grand Constitution, this album is simply great, all of the songs are well constructed. If you like SC3 this one will make you love them to death, this is a fantastic album that has it all without losing the essence of the Secret Chiefs: Waves of Blood, this one is a killer; Rose Garden, a very beautiful song; Jabalqa/Jabarsa, you'll be amazed by the percussion work; Mera Pyar Shalimar, simply great; Beyond the Mountain Qaf, gotta have patience with this one;

Hurqalya, it takes you to higher states of mind; Zulfikar II, maybe the best one, Excellent.

Don't doubt about getting this one, it is the best. (Until the Third Constitution). Also check them live.

Any Mr Bungle fans looking to explore more into the world of bungle I must warn you this album may not be exactly what you are looking for. With that said and done it is an absolutely incredible musical experiance. At first its extreemly heavy middle eastern influence through me off but after several listenings a definate good addition to a music fans cd collection. The reason for only 4 stars is do to the lack luster final two tracks of this disc that left me with a very bad taste in my mouth

If you want to listen to music with incredible depth, an eclectic style, and raw passion, buy this. I find that music these days are divided into three catagories.. 1. People who can sing (sometimes, not even), but don't write and play any of their music 2. People who can sing (sometimes, not even), and can write and play they're own music.. and 3. People who go above and beyond.. totally startling you from the everyday norms of Nickelback and other such music that makes me yawn. Secret Chiefs 3 is a great example.

Get this. It's beauty at it's apex, and perhaps the greatest beauty ever put into music.

Absolutely fantastic. Contains most of the members of Mr. Bungle --> that should be all i need to say. If you are open-minded enough to enjoy Mr. Bungle's music, than I know you'll appreciate this. A bit more melodic than there first record (which is very good to). Only complaint is the track "Beyond the Mountain Quaf" - What the hell is THAT all about? Sounds like a sitar being hooked up to like a million distortion pedals, which might SOUND cool when i say it, but it's just ANNOYING. A definate MUST-HAVE anyway, though.

2 1/2

SC3's special concoction can be fun, but more often then not songs do not go past mere experiment into the realm of involving music. Isolated, these elements can be indulgent, which is mostly what occurs here. It is only when everything is brought together in the rarely achieved fully-fleshed track that any potential is realized.

If you are even looking at this review, you probably now what to expect from this cd. It is ZANY CRAZY FUN. It is beautiful and violent and every other description. IT IS EVERYTHING.