Customer Reviews

She

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

....Is a typical question that any person at any given time might ask. If you just happen to have access to this CD and a CD player at the time the question is asked then go ahead and put it on. I guarantee the person that asked you will give you a rather strange look. I noticed that more than one reviewer on here called this "electronic noise." Well, that's what it is, plain and simple. This album is for people who have frequently ventured into the twisted realm of anti-music. If you are a fan of Merzbow then you will probably dig this album. If you are a fan of Mike Pattons "Adult Themes for Voice" and "Pranzo Oltranzista" albums then you too will more than likely find this album to be a worthwhile purchase. However, if you have never listened to Pattons vocal experiments or Merzbows tripped out noise then you will be utterly lost on this album. Cartoon sound effects, white noise and freaked out "vocals" is what awaits you on "She". I have a bit of advice for those who haven't yet bought this album but are planning to: Listen to Patton (solo) and Merzbow as seperate artists and if you enjoy what each of them has to offer then go get this album as soon as you can. I would like to close this review with a comment from Masami Akita (Merzbow).
"I have no idea what you term "Music" and "Noise". It's different depending on each person. If "Noise" means uncomfortable sound, then pop music is noise to me."--Masami Akita 1997

You are having a nightmare...but it's not too bad. You enter a spaceship and there are flashing lights everywhere...you are in dread as to what will happen...you fly through the air, through clouds and see lightning flashes and the occasional beauty of a planet...but the aliens you are with are schizophrenic and love to scream in your ears.
You have Patton's voice screams and warpings and Akita's electronic noise and chaos...yet it works.
NOTE: This is more of a noise recording (in the genre of noise) than any of Patton's regular works...because it's with Akita (from the famous Japanese noise outfit, Merzbow)...this is a duet of sorts...
There is a definite mood invoked here in each one of these songs. It just takes about 3 listens to notice something.
Here's the dilemma...this music must be focused upon and not used as background music...but some of the pitches of this album are so incredibly high, it will be hard for you to have the volume up at all...i mean physically, it will be hard for you to listen...but try to at whatever volume suits you. Be open to the atmospheres created...that's what this cd is doing...
it is mostly scary and dark I would say...but this is also this spaceship type atmosphere to it that you would hear as the soundtrack to a national geographic special on planets...mixed with Mike Patton's vocal terror.
NOTE: The artwork of this album is very explicit and can almost be shocking especially if you were not ready for it. It has very sexual imagery, but taken from the name of the project, it might make some sense...one thing to think about is how the artwork and the music go together...do they? and is that what they wanted?
You won't hear the same vocal focus as on patton's first solo album, and you won't hear the instrumentation of his second solo album...the only instruments here are voice (screams, laughs, etc.), elecrtronic noise, and some varied samples.
This cd is atmosphere, and there is obvious order amidst the disorder. But note: this might be one of the most challenging cds that you have ever listened to, if you are a mike patton fan.
enjoy the ride and watch your ears!

I know you're right there with me on this--as powerful as Patton has been in some scenarios, his long-awaited mind-melds with folks like Zorn and the Avant/Jasrac crew always seemed less than inspired. SHE is different--imagine a song-less Bungle via Adult Themes, with a heavy dose of spatial trippiness, and you're halfway there.....

Much on the same caliber as the Mr. Bungle/John Zorn freakout WEIRD LITTLE BOY - Maldoror "She" is less an album of songs than a collection of sonic collages that tell an theme or express some kind of feeling. This is all old hat to the Mike Patton fans who have digested his Tzadik albums and collaborations but it might be a tad too experimental for some holdout Faith No More and more traditional music fans. Merzbow, who is as productive as Patton and Zorn, is in rare form - melding a collage of noise in which Patton paints with raging vocals, reverbing last moans, and drowning it all in a wall of scattered noise. Much like the aforementioned WEIRD LITTLE BOY, this is an unabashed sonic attack at parts, broken only by moments of silence and welcome sweet points of clarity & beauty, though it is missing the jazz interludes of the former that helped bring things to a calming center. I deeply enjoy this album, find it at the same time incredibly grating and beautiful, usually alternating and sometimes at once. Mike Patton and Merzbow are masters at creating soundscapes unlike those ever heard and this is another wonderful creation from the masters.

I think the last reviewer, who gave one star, was possibly expecting something a bit more musical from mike patton, or perhaps has never heard merzbow. To those who think this is going to be musical, it is not. It is typical merzbow electronic overload, with mike patton doing a little bit of noise/samples and vocals somewhat like fantomas on almost every track. I would have given this five stars, but it is not something I will listen to every day, you know? and it's not the most interesting noise I've heard either.

Hmmm, another mike patton album eh? that crazy camper!! if you're reading this chances are you already know alot about ol' michael so i will not bore and patronise you with the usual faith no more/ mr bungle (...). right, if you like songs then stop reading right now. if you like that oh so sweet voice of the Easy sunday mornings then stop reading now. if you like early faith no more stop reading now. please!! This is exactly the sort of noise that will drive people who don't understand where mike is coming from up the wall. if you do like this stuff, if you like bungle and get off on fantomas this could be for you as long as you have a tough stomach. this is harsh "music" with no choruses, no traditional instruments and very little in the way of rhythm. to the untrained ear this will sound like electronic poo. but to the seasoned patton listener this is a surprisingly accessible slab of noise and beauty which is both enthralling and visionary. i love mike patton. that crazy kid. enjoy!!

This CD is just too cool. I mean, the artwork is just over the top, and the music... well, if you can really call this 'music'... is the perfect thing for writing in the early early hours of the morning. I've enjoyed Patton's other CDs, and its nice to see Merzbow doing something new even if he's already released something like a thousand CDs.

A warning straight out before I go any further into this album-- Maldoror is a noise album (and what else would it be with Masami Akita/Merzbow as one of its two principles?). It sounds nothing like Faith No More, or Mr. Bungle, or even Fantomas.

What it is, however, is a great slice of noise-- if you're familiar with Merzbow, or with Patton's more out work (Weird Little Boy and Hemophiliac with John Zorn or "Adult Themes for Voice") and you like it, this will be right up your alley. Lots of distortion,noise, feedback, cartoon samples, screams, wails, moans, grunts, whispers, etc. The range of noise and sounds these two coax out is downright stunning. The only downside is that it feels a bit too well put together-- there's a really tight order and structure to this material that, while not obvious at first, takes away from the feeling of spontanaiety I like in music like this.

But still, if you like the really out/noise stuff, you'll probably like this, check it out. If you'll complain that there's no singing on here from Patton (and there isn't), skip this one.

As expected, a wonderful and fierce music experience. One of my favourite albums. Thanks a lot for making music interesting again.

This album's pretty sweet. I had just started getting into Patton's solo/voice stuff (I bought Adult Themes last week) and Merzbow's work when I read about this. So I picked it up. Might take a few listens before you really start getting into it. But it's good stuff all in all.