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46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Worth the Wait... but what a wait!, May 18, 2005
To be a Team Sleep fan is to be a frustrated fan. Since the amazing concert tour with Phallucy in 01/02 and before, Team Sleep fans gathered before their computer monitors to eagerly await even the slightest hint of news. Occasionally we would be blessed with 7 second electronic loops. More often we were smacked in the face with yet another postponement. It was a joke amongst my friends and I that the next Deftones album would come out before Team Sleep. Whoops.
During the tour four years ago, Team Sleep skillfully executed an entire album's worth of music. When most of these songs leaked on the internet, front man Chino was reportedly very upset. This is ridiculous. The entire White Pony album leaked on the internet and that went on to reach Platinum status and win a Grammy. If anything, the eagerness of the mp3 swapping shows just how rabid and anxious Team Sleep fans were for the music. To respond to this, Chino punished the fans by delaying, delaying, delaying. Now the CD is out - a feat many were beginning to doubt would happen. One thing I can certainly say is that Team Sleep definitely sounds different today than they did five years ago!
The CD is a lot less electronica and a lot more indie in its feel. The themes are more personal (still fantastic) and less epic in scope (no Jonestown Massacre commentary.) The songs are often more guitar driven than beat driven (maybe Todd didn't have enough to do?) The truth is - I love it! The CD is absolutely wonderful and it is a work of art. The sounds are thicker, fuller, more textured, and lusher than they were before, but they are also qualitatively different. Many of the original songs had an almost dance-like electronica feel to them - now only retained by King Diamond. The vocals of Rob Crowe help to differentiate Team Sleep entirely from the Deftones... indeed there is little comparison (never mind the Deftones songs Teenager and Lucky You.)
Another plus is that the CD flows together like a Mars Volta album, as one long stream of consciousness. You really can put this on with the lights out. You can even go to sleep, although then you'd be missing some good stuff. Decidedly moody music! A lot has changed in five years, in the world at large and the world of music, including the release of two Interpol and two Postal Service albums. I just can't help but feel that Team Sleep has changed dramatically in this time. Some would say "evolved," but it is just as good now as it was before, only different. Originally it was just DJ Crook, Todd Wilkerson and Chino.
Still, it stings to have some of the all-time fan favorites left off the CD. Some of theses songs were synonymous with Team Sleep in our eyes (and ears.) Indeed, not only some of the best Team Sleep songs, but some of the best songs ever made in the history of mankind were left off. Natalie Portman, Mercedes, Iceache, Appollonia, Death By Plane, All I Saw, Kool Aid Party, etc. Why not make the CD 20 songs long? Why not have a double CD like the Smashing Pumpkins did? At least I hope they release some of those songs on various soundtracks in the following years. Otherwise, Chino's suggestion to burn my own CD of those songs just doesn't cut it.
The CD is transcendentally wonderful... but like heroin you can't get enough. Buy two copies of this CD and give one to a stranger. Light some candles and turn the lights low. Let this ambient, flowing collection move you. And it goes without saying that Chino is the best male vocalist ever to walk the earth.
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Ataraxia: Starts the CD off abruptly with a frosty electronic jam. Reminiscent of Feiteceria (White Pony 2000) for some reason. Stark and syncopated with some nice sonic guitar riffing.
Ever: Formerly known as Foreign Flag, even more formerly as Cambodia. This is an excellently put together song. Very sweet and lush, haunting and romantic: a perfect mix of all the TS elements.
Your Skull is Red: A short and sweet rock piece, dissonant churning guitars and rhythms over eight lines of subtle crooning mixed in with the music, as opposed to being showcased before it. It feels gold. A very sensual feel to it.
Princeton Review: Now we start off the more Indie feel of things. Lots of guitars and breathy, low-key vocals by Chino and Rob. Great use of sound in space, it would be a crime to listen to it mono - especially during the "unfamiliar, unremorseful" bit. I'm sure a lot of depressed boyfriends will be listening to this one on repeat.
Blvd. Knights: The most Deftones sounding song on the album. That's okay, considering two Team Sleep songs were put on Deftones albums. This song will blow you away - and it is even more amazing Live.
Delorian: One of the two instrumental songs that simultaneously fit snugly into the rotation and glue the album together. It is a great piece built around the guitar. Quite ambient.
Our Ride to the Rectory: A building, dramatic song driven by drums and guitars. This seems to be a favorite song of many with its subtle driving and dreamy thematics. Another one of the Indie style songs featuring Rob Crowe. Catchy and memorable guitar play - also great live.
Tomb of Legia: Previously known as Legia, this is one of the few holdovers from the original Team Sleep tracks. Finally DJ Crook is given a chance to shine in this song. The song, a nod to Poe, features Mary Timony on trial for the murder of her man. Haunting.
Elizabeth: A sweet duet between Rob and Chino. More guitars. Very subtle but brilliant use of DJ Crook for the later chorus. "These Robots" are cool.
Staring at the Queen: The second pure instrumental. It starts off with a very hectic, tripping snappy hi-fi programmed beat mixed in with a few random guitar notes and fuzzy scratches. Eventually... although the song is rather short... it devolves into a purely thick and soulful guitar part. This song serves as an introduction to the final stretch of the cd.
Ever Since WW1: Maybe my favorite song of the album. It is Indie-style, but features just Chino doing a very different singing style than he usually does. Very emotive and sorrowful. Very nice. Great lyrics. A captivating wail during the chorus.
King Diamond: Having grown accustomed to the original version of this song, it is hard for me to be objective here. A heavily beat-driven electronica piece featuring wailing and shouting by Chino. Very energetic and ethereal. The finalized version features a lot of intercut vocals by Mary Timony which I personally find distracted and unnecessary. Be your own judge.
Live From the Stage: When Team Sleep plays live... they usually do a song that begins as Natalie Portman and ends as Live from the Stage. Now we have Live from the Stage on CD, but no Natalie Portman to be found anywhere. Sigh. The main thrust of this song is the rocking, swelling music, and not the severely understated vocals. Crank up the volume on this one.
Paris Arm: Short and sweet. This song begins with a woman speaking in sultry, dreamy French. I could translate here, but I won't. We soon get a buzzing, peppy beat going with the machine and the drums. This song really puts you in the mood, if you know what I mean. It could have easily been a minute and a half longer!
11-11: The last of the Indie style songs! Oh yeah, and the last song on the album. This song reminds me a lot of how the Smashing Pumpkins used to end their albums, with a downbeat sing-along style chorus. It also reminds me a bit of Buffalo Springfield. The last couple songs on this album fly by really fast, most unlike the long epic outros that the Deftones often use. It adds to the stream-of-consciousness style flow of the CD, and quickly loops back into track one. Bravo Team Sleep!
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Surprising, If You've Been Listening. , June 9, 2005
Well, it took half a decade to come out, but finally, we can all enjoy the debut effort from Team Sleep, the side project of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. It seems like forever that we've been all waiting for this softer-side of the Deftones to be released. Aside from a little bit of touring and a spot on 2003's "Matrix: Reloaded" soundtrack, it's been a dire situation for those interested. To be honest, with all of the bumps in the road and conflicting news, I am very shocked that I am able to hold this album in my hands and listen to it. But oh, how it has been worth the wait.
If you've been following this project since it's inception -- roughly around the time the Deftones released "White Pony -- you know what to expect here. Team Sleep is, essentially, the side of the Deftones that Chino Moreno can't really express without alienating some of his fanbase. For those of you who enjoy Deftones tracks such as "Teenager," "RX Queen" or "Lucky You": Welcome. This album is for you. Team Sleep is less riff rock, and more emphasis on ambience and electronics. Hell, some of this doesn't even sound like it came from Chino at that. Aside from songs like "Ever (Foreign Flag)" and "Blvd Nights," which will appeal to all or most, this is a very unqiue and challenging experience. Comparisons to The Cure and the Smashing Pumpkins have been made, and even noted as influences, but Team Sleep manage to find their own niche. You never quite know where this album is heading, and that's a good thing.
The most important thing, aside from the fact that this album, even upon first listen, is better than the last Deftones album, is that it was worth the wait. It's definitely different, and it takes a while to sit, but those who have an open mind will be rewarded. Just be warned: This is an album that's more directed at fans of "White Pony." For those who think Chino's vocals go best with Stephen Carpenter's hypnotizing riffs (and I agree), don't go looking for the next Deftones album from Team Sleep.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I shouldn't like this album but I do, June 6, 2005
Typically this is the kind of album I would hate. I am an ex-metalhead turned Blue-rock, Jazz, prog-rock fan who plays guitar and thinks that just about anything electronic equals zero authenticity. OK, I dont mind a bit of electronic music here and there but I definitely don't take to it like a duck takes to water.
There was really only two reasons why I bought this album, 1. Because of Chino Moreno (like I said I used to be a total Westy Headbanger type) and 2. The album cover seemed kind of tragically cool in a sad, going nowhere kind of way (I have really got to stop making album purchases based on their cover art, totally stupid thing for an otherwise intelligent person to do).
And so I took it home and gave it a spin and sure enough I encountered music that seemed to me to be a dreary, electronic insomniac cure. But like all subtle, nuanced music that creeps up on you like a creeping death chilli dish (You know the kind of meal, at first you say, "Hey, this aint that hot" and then by the end of it your crying and sweating and screaming for yoghurt, "Somebody, anybody, get me some bloody yoghurt, I'M DYING HERE"), it started to grow on me.
Sometimes it takes a confluence of emotion, environment and music to really make a special moment and this happened for me the other day. I was passing over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on an overcast day looking out at the mist over the water, feeling as dreary inside myself as it was outside and I had Team Sleep playing on my discman and it all just came together. The perfect melancholic moment.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are feeling a little sad, if you are feeling a little lonely and it is a cloudy, gloomy day, whack on some Team Sleep and surrender to the groove of melancholy until your ready to slip into something a little more cheerful. You may as well make the most out of your moodiness and make an experience of it.
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by Team Sleep 
