Customer Reviews

Three Cheers For The Newly Deads

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Ashbury Heights are one of the fastest signings in music history: Outofline Germany signed them within an hour of receiving their demo. I'm therefore very surprised at their lack of recognition within the US. John Freyer, who has produced such great albums as NIN's Pretty Hate Machine (arguably the best American debut of the 1980's) helms this dense and addictive first album. It shows. The sound is rich, thick, and powerful, complimenting the stellar songwriting quite nicely.

The album has a strong club current running through it that propels the music, but Three Cheers For The Newlydeads (horrible title, by the way. Who chose it???) succeeds largely because of the terrific hooks and fantastic vocal range of the male singer. The female vocals are largely uninspired, but add a bit of sex appeal to the music, as well as some real chemistry (most of the songs feature vocals by both members, and they play off each other really well). I don't doubt that the two are romantically involved.

Great cuts include Waste Of Love (with it's irresistable verses, which happen to be even stronger than the chorus), Smaller, Derrick Is A Strange Machine, and the lead single, Cry Havoc. I find myself humming each of them at least once a week, even after 3 months of having the album. Derrick Is A Strange Machine is particularly good, being the slowest and most ironic song on the album. Shame it's not the lead single, but I guess it's a tad moody.

My only complaint is that sometimes the album is too thick. The breakdowns and slower songs are the best moments, because they're so refreshing. I'd love the next outing by this duo to be a little more stripped down. The hooks and vocals are strong enough to stand on their own.

That's not much of a complaint of course. It just means the 60 minutes are brimming with ideas.
I recommend picking it up, if you like synth music (especially Yaz, or Depeche Mode, hell, even A-Ha or OMD). It's on metropolis mail order for about 18 bucks new.

Upon discovering Ashbury Heights I didn't have sound on my computer, therefore I couldn't listen to samples. However, I was immediately drawn to them for some strangely compelling reason so I decided to download the song "Illusion" from iTunes and was instantly hooked within a matter of seconds. The beats and wonderful play of male and female vocals was so incredibly sexy and darkly enticing that I couldn't resist the urge to hear more, and luckily the rest of the album did not disappoint the vicious appetite it left me with.

They oftentimes remind me of Blutengel, only with more of a Gothic new wave/non-sugary synthpop sound, and without the vampire theme. And though it is nearly impossible to pick favorites, I am especially partial to the aforementioned "Illusion", as well as "Derrick Is A Strange Machine" and "Swansong".

Sometimes I feel as if music chooses me, not the other way around, and THREE CHEERS FOR THE NEWLYDEADS was one of those times.

Simply put, music doesn't get much more addictive than this. These 15 tracks are like an aural explosion of absolute bliss. I am definitely impressed and look forward to hearing more from this group in the future.

I first heard of Ashbury Heights from one of the social networking websites earlier this year. I was immediately hooked the moment I heard samples of their music. Their music is an addictive mix of past and present synthpop with elements of goth and electro thrown into the mix. Their music is definitely more synthpop than EBM. Anders H and Yasmine U play off their vocals reminiscent of Blutengel and Suicidal Romance. I only had this cd since yesterday and already have been playing it quite a few times on my stereo and ipod. Every song on the fifteen track cd is filled with addictive pop hooks that makes me want to get up and dance. I really hate picking out favorite songs since they are all wonderful, I have to say that the one song that really stands out with me is the possibly offensive "Christ". I just love singing along to the chorus to that song. Another song that stands out with me is "Smaller" because of Yasmine's vocals. I personally like Yasmine's vocals. Why Ashbury Heights isn't more well known in the US is anybody's guess. THREE CHEERS FOR THE NEWLYDEAD is a pure ear candy. I look forward to hearing more from this talented Swedish band.

This cd is one of the best synthpop cd's put out in recent yrs. Some of it is more harder techno , dance. Very good all in all, with a unique sound