Customer Reviews

Unsolved

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of these amazing albums which you discover over a couple of hearings and which grows on you to a point that you could never get bored of it. The tunes are all finely composed, with subtle complexity, allowing all instruments enough space to be heard and enjoyed. It has to be mentioned here that the album has the crispest, most delightful sound (the vintage (Leedy) drumkit, with that distinctive Gretsch Broadcaster snare sound, the perfect bass and guitar sound), due not only to the instruments themselves but also to some great sound engineering work. Being a long time Karate fan, and having listened to them since their first album, I must say that I am delighted to hear Karate evolve in such a way and that I strongly recommend giving this CD your full attention; and if you like it, work your way back to "The Bed Is In The Ocean", "In Place of Real Insight", and their first album "Karate".

If you've seen Karate live, especially in post 2000 shows, you'll have noticed that there seems to be a lot of improvization happening, even occasionally drifting into avant-garde. On several occasions, I have confronted them with this point after shows, and have found that all of these "improv" sections are actually all planned out, like a Rush concert.

I would assume the same for "Unsolved" on which almost every song has some sort of jazzy guitar solo by Geoff Farina. But bear in mind that this is not a new direction for Karate, it has simply been exploited far more on this album.

Generally, the songs are slower, some of them swing, there are a couple of true rockers ("Sever" is as impressive on album as it is live) but all in all less yelling and a more conversational tone to the lyrics. Confusingly, there are also some delay/feedback Thurston Moorish soundcapes in many of these songs, which are often coupled with some fancy drum work. And speaking of fancy drum work, check out the tension/release coda of the album, the 15 minute "This Day Next Year" which next to "Diazapam" from The Bed Is In The Ocean is one of my favorite Karate songs.

One last thing: The sounds on this album are all crisper than crisp, which goes against the scratchy indie-rock aesthetic. Another rumor I heard was that G. Farina, unsatisfied with his guitar sound both live and in studio, took some time off from recording and touring to study the mechanics and electronics of amplifiers, so that he could better fine-tune his sound. The result: Unsolved is perhaps the best mixed album I have ever heard, though some might hear it and claim it adds to this albums supposed wimpyness. Well, this album has its dull moments, but all and all it is an enthralling album.

i recently saw them in san francisco just like one of the other reviewers, and i thought it was astonishing. i know a lot of people got mad cause they didnt move around or anything, i mean it couldn't be because they were trying to concentrate or anything like that! the great thing about this album is that all the instruments standout at the same time. farina(the lead singer)has calmed down after the last couple of albums and often times speaks his lyrics in a soft and heartfelt way that make you wish you could get into a conversation with him right then and there.and his guitar playing has even matures after the bed is in the ocean. the drummer just flat out rocks. his punctuality is a lot of the reason why these guys are so tight. the bass speaks just as well as the guitar does and sometimes takes over as the guitar holds it together and the bassist go off on his own little excursion. well, if you have a problem with a band not rocking out, i dont know what to tell you. it is jazzy, but let me be the one to tell you this is the best jazz i've heard. i think this is the only path they could of taken. you got to evolve. sometimes that cant always be a good thing but in this case ,karate is the exception. love this!

Karate is tight. Geoffs lyrics are awesome. Don't expect punk, this is jazzy rock, pretty mellow. The best way to describe it is like jazzy- Slint.

Few discussions about karate don't have the term "emo" in them. it seems like every time they release a record, they have the fight off that label, like a medieval peasant must fight off the plague. hopefully,the band's fourth album, unsolved will stop all of the "emo" discussion. The element that takes them out of the "emo question" (and the problem on unsolved) is that karate forgot how to rock. The only song that reminds a listener of their '98 release "the bed is in the ocean" is "sever," and that song would probably have been cut off of "the bed." The rest of the album contains all the essential karate elements (strong jazz influences, abrupt stops, and poorly played guitar solos), but lack the rhytymic shifting that the band is known for. They usually go slow, and come back fast, but fail to do it here. On Unsolved, evertyhing seems to be at one single tempo. It sounds like the band has done some growing, as well as some sedating. Geoff Farina's vocals always seemed to be themain reason that karate was called an "emo" band. He sang with a passion, with a fruvor that really transcended his storybook lyrics. The album is filled with description as vivid as the "failed pedsetrian dreams" he speaks of in "sever," the album's strongest tracks. With lines like "confidence- it drops like filth on bathroom stalls," farina exaamines his own word definitions on "one less blues." He keeps with the same beautifuk imagery that seems to always be a constant. This maturity really contrasts the usual "get up/ring/june" lyrics of high school topics. Farina is a grown man, an educated man, and the music shows it. This is another reason that Karate could NEVer really be called an emo band. and finally, the music has caught up his lyrics. Farina shows this maturiyu can finally pay off.

i recently saw them in san francisco just like one of the other reviewers, and i thought it was astonishing. i know a lot of people got mad cause they didnt move around or anything, i mean it couldn't be because they were trying to concentrate or anything like that! the great thing about this album is that all the instruments standout at the same time. farina(the lead singer)has calmed down after the last couple of albums and often times speaks his lyrics in a soft and heartfelt way that make you wish you could get into a conversation with him right then and there.and his guitar playing has even matures after the bed is in the ocean. the drummer just flat out rocks. his punctuality is a lot of the reason why these guys are so tight. the bass speaks just as well as the guitar does and sometimes takes over as the guitar holds it together and the bassist go off on his own little excursion. well, if you have a problem with a band not rocking out, i dont know what to tell you. it is jazzy, but let me be the one to tell you this is the best jazz i've heard. i think this is the only path they could of taken. you got to evolve. sometimes that cant always be a good thing but in this case ,karate is the exception. love this!

This is their best album to date hands down... the bed is in the ocean was phenomenol but unsolved takes a step beyond both in complexity and musicianship... best album of 2000...

If you've been following the works of Karate over the past few albums, you'll know that they seem to be moving away from the herky-jerky post-rock of 'In Place of Real Insight' to a slower, calmer style of post-rock, as in 'The Bed is in the Ocean'. The trend has definitely continued on to this record.

At first I wasn't even sure I was going to like it -- the loads of jazz-style guitar/bass noodling wasn't really what I expected, even though there were tinges of this sort of thing on the last record. After a few listens, though, I got over it. It's definitely true that just because you liked Karate's older stuff, you won't necessarily like the newer stuff, but it's worth checking out.

While I can't really pick one or two standout songs on the record, as a whole, this is a great piece of work. G. Farina's vocals are extremely gripping; the lyrics meaningful. Extremely introspective.

If you feel you can handle a bit of improvisational jazz guitar noodling, longtime Karate fans (as well as fans of bands like June of 44, say, or Papa M) should check this out.

"The bed is in the ocean" is Karate's previous album, and it was awesome. So I was disappointed with this. The lyrics have veered into the land of pretentiousness and, except for a few songs, the music is closer to a jazz odyssey than a good rock song. I guess they deserve credit for trying to move in new areas, but it just seems like the spark is gone. I saw them in concert recently and it was the same thing. Come on! Rock a little! I know you got it in you!!

This could well turn out to be one of my favourite albums of all time. There's simply not one weak track on the whole album. The three of them seem to gel perfectly together. I'm not going to pigeonhole the style as I think it should be heard on it's own merits, regardless of which vogue of music you are into. This is as timeless as jazz, to which it most closely resembles. Oops! I still however, havn't got even close to understanding the lyrics yet, and I can add that for me anyway, it took many listenings to fully appreciate it overall. Every instrument seems to be playing independent of each other, and yet, in perfect harmony with the others. Please make this album known to others as it rightly deserves. I give this a rating only because i'm required to.., I think that the words should be read first, and not the rating.