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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pushing all the Right Buttons, November 16, 2000
When I first put this CD in the player at home, my roommate's initial reaction was "This sounds just anything else they do." While not entirely correct, that *is* kind of the point of listening to Pizzicato Five, isn't it? At the risk of sounding like I'm downplaying their abilities, most of their songs are just scads of major seventh chords thrown together in a variety of combinations, with (slightly) different lyrics, orchestrations and beats. This album is no different, but that's why I love it so much. Last year's "Playboy & Playgirl" record saw Pizzicato Five reaching for a broader, more sophisticated sound. After Konishi's breakbeat-happy, DJ masterpiece "Happy End of the World," "Playboy" seemed almost distainful of such childish antics. The beats were less erratic, the melodies were richer and more complex, and Konishi's penchant for throwing snippets of this and that together was almost unnoticeable. While the songs were extremely well-crafted, they just weren't quite as much, well, *fun*. Fortunatley, "The Fifth Release from Matador" is sort of a happy marriage of both sounds. While not as hyper as "Happy End of the World," it doesn't try to be as serious as "Playboy," and the formula still works like a charm, pushing all the right buttons. The opening track, "A Perfect World," is the most goosebump-inducing romp they've splashed through since "It's a Beautiful Day." "Roma" sounds like a jazzy, big band number on speed, complete with sampled record scratches and audience "ahh"'s. "LOUDLAND!" opens with a gorgeous snippet from track six, and then for the next four minutes sounds as if the CD player is skipping (in a good way). "Room with a View," with its energetic harpsichord and horns, crashes into the mellower "La Guerre est Finie," which sounds a bit like the previous song *after* the frantic high has worn off. The perky woodwind arrangement evokes springtime and blossoming romance. "Wild Strawberries" is the perfect groove, this years answer to "Rolls Royce" and "Porno 3003." The only real misstep on this album is when they stray too far from their formula, as they do on "Tout, Tout pour ma Cherie." The comical dance beats and irritatingly high-pitched melodies sound like something straight out of an Aqua song. Thankfully, "Serial Stories" picks up with the mellower vibe, and its loungey atmosphere removes any remaining trace of the previous song. The last track, "Goodbye Baby and Amen," is the perfect finish to this terrific album, full of everything that makes this group so fabulous. Let's hope they keep on doing what they do best.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Do these guys ever make an album that DOESN'T sound great?", February 28, 2002
By A Customer
I got my nephews hooked on Pizzicato Five three years ago after I discovered them myself, and whenever we travel together (which is a lot, as I babysit them often) they request this band's albums more than any other group besides The Beatles.So as soon as I bought this brand new (as of this writing) release, my nephews got all excited--I put it on in the car, and as they heard it for the very first time their jaws dropped and asked me, "Do these guys ever make an album that DOESN'T sound great?" Enough said. Pizzicato Five is one of those rare musical acts who keep getting better and better with each album, who continue to persistently produce music that is nothing but outstanding, who are completely incapable of creating "filler" junk. And, like a lot of such acts, you can actually hear them developing on and expanding ideas from their previous projects--you can musically "connect the dots" here, so to speak, with the experimentation that occured on the previous album "Playboy & Playgirl" just as you can hear the connections between that earlier title and its own predecessor. Indeed, P5 don't appear to really be a pop band, really, so much as an ongoing music conceptual art project. And after the particularly bad year we had in 2001... isn't it wonderful to have a band like this in the world who can create such wonderful joys in life for us all? P5 continue to remind everyone what is truly important in life. Thank God there is still at least one band around who still cares enough about people to do that.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps P5's best US album, ever, August 16, 2003
The beauty of this album is how it jumps all around on the music scene. It blends the sounds together nicely. So what if they don't speak English! This album did everything right.
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