Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A much-deserved reissue, December 8, 2000
Ahhh...Magnified...the sophomore album from the Greg Edwards/Ken Andrews vehicle known as Failure. I was actually introduced to this band from a magazine article, in which Maynard Keenan (Tool) tells of a discussion he had with Ken Andrews way back in 1994, involving dark tonal styles in music. Intrigued, I purchased Magnified on its original release date...thus beginning my love affair with the "word-of-mouth" band, a band whose popularity actually increased following its breakup. While not as intricate as the group's masterpiece, Fantastic Planet, Magnified provides a exceptional view into the early days of this fine ensemble. The production quality of this release far exceeds that of the band's debut, Comfort; this is probably due to the fact that on that release, producer Steve Albini had been trying for his trademark unpolished sound, which did not seem to fit this group, and which ultimately resulted in a flawed album. Magnified succeeds where Comfort did not, still giving the listener a taste of the raw sounds heard in the debut, but expanding and improving upon them with excellent production values and a heightened sense of craftmanship. I mentioned tone earlier in this review; I have always thought of Failure's sound as "happily melancholy", and indeed, every song makes you feel just a little sad, but at the same time makes you feel extraordinarily good about this sadness, especially on the songs 'Bernie' and 'Empty Friend'. 'Frogs' is urgent and driving (my favorite); 'Small Crimes' is the exact opposite, while matching its intensity, and all the other songs fare just as well. Ken and Greg performed most of the songs on Magnified themselves, and they complemented each other so well in performance that you could close your eyes and never tell who was playing what instrument. The crunchy basslines, the crystalline high guitar riffs - all would become characteristic of Failure's sound. As of this writing, Amazon hasn't added a songlist or samples, so trust me on this. The one nice thing that has come of Failure's dissolution is that its members are able to lend their creativity to other efforts; Ken Andrews has formed a new project, On, with a more synthpop-type sound, and produces and guides other groups like Blinker the Star and Annetenna (Ednaswap), and Kelli Scott now drums with the aforementioned Blinker; Greg Edwards has played with Lusk and is working with a new group, and of course Troy is with A Perfect Circle. I was horrified when Magnified went out of print, and snatched up as many copies as I could for friends and for posterity. Many kudos to the folks at Rhino who recognized the importance of this album, and allowing those who missed it the first time around to experience the inimitable sonic wonder that was Failure. My highest recommendation.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Failure's finest moment, February 12, 2006
Yes, you heard me: this album surpasses Fantastic Planet. This album has an extremely unusual mood which I haven't found anywhere again. It has intriguing lyrics with unusual, provocative imagery and bizarre themes layered over some crazy flanged, distorted water guitar tones. I honestly can't do this album justice with words, but I can tell you that it is cohesive, mysterious and scary yet humorous and carnival, sociopathic, twisted and lost. It contains unusual imagery and themes, and is very reliant on the disorted bass chords of Greg Edwards.
It amazes me how they managed to create such intricate feelings and moods in such a simplistic way. Failure knew how to utilize subtlety and dissonance to an extreme that made them better than Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam - they surpassed all of those '90s bands, yet no one knew of them. Fantastic Planet might make a better starting point, as it's a bit more conventional and accessible but also very epic and diverse.
Oddly enough, the album begins with its weakest track but arguably ends with its strongest. Songs like Moth and Frogs not only showcase their mood-creating ability and lyrical uniqueness, but also show how good they were at creating music that fit the lyrics: Frogs really sounds amphibious with its chirping guitar effects, and the beginning of Moth sounds like a moth flying in an awkward fashion. The b-side 'Golden' sounds like a rusty bridge swaying, and 'Another Space Song' from Fantastic Planet sets a black background with its distorted bass fifths and the treble guitar line creates stars in the foreground. You'll know exactly what I mean when you hear these songs: this band knew what they were doing.
'Bernie' is an oddly trippy mellow song with a bizarre guitarline. 'Magnified' shows a more extreme side of them, with sociopathic lyrics that abandon all rules. One of the biggest highlights of the album is 'Undone', which revels in its own detatchedness and brings you with it. In 'Small Crimes', you will find yourself hypnotized and lost in a tangled forest.
Overall, this album reveals itself to be much more than a normal '90s rock record, always intelligent and often nearly brilliant. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite records, and I listen to a very wide variety of genres. Just a warning: give it a chance. Failure will seem dull at first, especially if you start with Fantastic Planet, but soon reveals itself to be much more.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
underachiever and proud of it, November 30, 2004
Under the dark shadow of "grunge" rock major labels snooped around in hopes of finding the next Nirvana. Failure was not one of those bands. THANK GOD... Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards were original and not afraid to find a sound true to their inner feelings. Now anyone who's starting to hear about year of the rabbit or autolux and has never heard failure...(probably not too many of those people but anyways) you must locate all failure albums... and amazon may be one of the only places to do so
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by Failure 
