Customer Reviews

Two

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

 

 

As many have said already, in terms of style this CD is all over the place. Many different types of styles, mostly sampled in LoFi. While I do agree that this CD's sampling/production style seems the same as Utah Saints' first Album in 92', I simply don't see how can that be "dated". Music is like art, it really shouldn't be "dated" unless the listener judges music by current music trends. Just because Dream Trance (Robert Miles type) came and gone, followed by Anthem Trance (System F), followed by progressive trance, house, and progressive house, does not mean that any of these types of music somehow lack quality because clubs don't play them anymore.

Back to the Two album, my favorite song on the CD is Lost Vagueness, followed by Massive. Both of these songs are very moody and have a slower tempo but they are powerful pieces. Power to the Beats has a very catchy beat, yet somehow I feel like this song is made to be put into a videogame. Morning Sun does sound like something from Underworld with the continuous synths, a great song. The rest of the songs on this CD are not bad either, but they don't stand out as much as the songs I mentioned.

Overall I would say that if you still listen to the first Utah Saints album from time to time, you will definitely like this Album. If you are into techno you will certainly like some of the songs here. If you are into what is hot in the dance scene today, you probably will be disappointed in this album.

I was rather impressed with the changes from the Utah Saints over the almost 10 year span from the first CD release. The music
has a much more "techno" type feel, but is mixed well, and you can tell alot of work was put into the album. The album is a great addition to any techno music fan's collection!

I thought Utah Saints were a one-hit wonder when they had the single years ago, but this album is outstanding. The first half-dozen tracks unleash the bigbeats with a joy I find reminiscent of the Chemical Brothers Surrender. Mixing tribal throat-warbling, Chuck D, and spoken film-esque dialog, the album ranges in style and quiets down a bit in the latter half, which is fine.

All in all, a very surprising and powerful disc.

...this is one sensational cd from start to finish. i completely forgot about them until TWO came out. their 2nd cd since 1993? too long a wait. very danceable. a lotta fun and "morning sun" is the biggest winner; it kicks...! sounds like it should be in a 007 soundtrack to an action scene. welcome back for the utah saints! they rule!

This CD is great! I loved their debut CD and I'm glad to hear some new music. I wouldn't say the music is 'dated' it simply sounds like Utah Saints. It's nice that some bands try to keep their original sound.

The Utah Saints clearly have a lot of talent, but they fail to utilize it in "Two". The track "Three Simple Words" especially proves that when they try hard enough they can create a GREAT song (this track is one of my favorite electronica songs ever). Unfortunately the rest of the album is noticably worse than this song, though a few good songs are scattered about. Their biggest downfall is when they have a good sounding song and either add in a voice sample that messes it up or when they let a song run on for too long ("Massive" for the first example and "Power To The Beats" for the second one). If they had gotten rid of the voice sample and shortened the other song then they would've been much better. For 15 tracks, the album is, on a whole, not that good. It's not "horrible", but it's not that good. It *barely* earns itself its "3.5" (mostly due to "Three Simple Words"; this song is AMAZING). Electronica fans might be a little satisfied if they ended up with this album, but not greatly. Only recommended if you REALLY like "Three Simple Words".

Highlights include:
"Sun"
"Massive" (sort of)
"Power To The Beats" (sort of)
"Lost Vagueness"
"Punk Club" (sort of)
"Morning Sun"
"Sick" (sort of)
"B777"
"Three Simple Words"
"Love Song" (parts of it)

Simply put, a fine electronic album -worth buying for the track "Lost Vagueness" alone. Emotive moving electronic music,crossing genres with ease and entirely written and produced by Utah Saints themselves, this album should have more promotion to do it justice. Listen to the samples and hear for yourself!

Not a great album. There are a few wonderful songs, however, I think the others suck. Too bad I didn't just get the individual songs off of iTunes and saved my money.

The good? It's nice to have Utah Saints back after a lengthy absence on the album scene. If you dug how their music was, to some degree, all over the techno map, you will probably enjoy the disc. The songs are quite varied, and some guests like Michael Stipe and others pop in on some tracks, and do a good job of spicing things up without taking over the whole disc. It's a mark of good core musicians when you can use guest artists as varied as Stipe and Chuck D effectively without having them hijack the song theyre on. 'Funky Music' is the highlight track for me. It's kind of like a gospel house music track on crack. 'Two' also earns points with me because it's nice to get an actual techno *album* from someone, rather than a mix disc. The bad? To my ears, this album already sounds dated. Maybe it's something in the programming or synthesizers, but if I didn't know that this had just come out, I would place it as 97-98 era techno, right at the start of the whole big-beat craze. Maybe the songs are older, I'm not sure. But somehow, even though the compositions are varied and complex it doesn't feel "fresh". That doesn't make it bad necessarily, it just feels strange to buy what should be a brand new album, and have it feel like older music immediately. And while some songs really take advantage of the wide-ranging Utah Saints style, there are also some terribly yun-of-the-mill songs like 'Power To The Beats' are not really going to draw much attention these days. Still, if you liked the first Utah Saints disc, this is a decent followup, and quite enjoyable in it's own way.

Overall it seems like Utah Saints are trying to see what sticks when they throw a potpourri of styles at the wall. Songs range from a definite Moby-esque style, complete with gospel vocals, to a definite Underworld track; "Morning Sun". "Techknowledgy" is Utah's attempt at a Prodigy/PrimalScream style.
The digital soundscape is somewhat dated as well. Old, over-used Roland drum-loops and other sample-loops a la mid-90's don't do much to inspire the listener.
A few songs may shoot up the charts, but this album will be forgotten, unlike their debut many years ago.