I
got this record on tape 3 month�s before the official release, so you can tell
that I was really happy about that. I�ve been playing this record for 3 weeks
straight after I got it, and even now (in November 2001) it�s in my
cassette-player very often. No wonder why, since this album, the follow-up to
their amazing Tooth & Nail-debut �Understand This Is A Dream� is another
master-piece of this band, that quickly became one of my favorite bands. They
released
2 split-cd�s on other labels, which was okay, but this band is really
destined to release a full-length-album, because this album has some kind of
�concept�, just like the first album. Again, they focus on Emotion, as they
see a lot of fake-emotions in today�s pop-culture. Emotion Is Dead, but on
this album it�s alive like never before. This album just grabs the
listener�s attention with difficult yet catchy song-structures, based on both
acoustic and electric guitars. Other important elements, showing the band�s
change in musical approach, are a sampler and some keyboards. Some songs are
almost drum&bass / triphop, while rock-music is still the base for this
band.
Just like the Get-Up-Kids they�re more experimental now, and I consider this as a good thing, since it�s really improving the sound of these bands. How experimental and mystical this album might be, I think it�s still clean and commercial enough to get a lot of props from the so-called �music press� and they truly deserve the attention of more listeners (outside the emo / hardcore-scene), because this stuff is so intense, pure and artificial that it can�t be neglected. Anyway, this album really enlightened the fall of 1999 for me and I�m sure it will return to my cd-player very often, at least the next ten years. I just adore this band and I�m dreaming about seeing this band live�
<<Do you understand... the dream is over>>
Karel
Smouter