Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Generation: Faithless!, 31 Jan 2007
As a huge faithless fan, i was suprised when i heard this album- its completley different to thier other stuff:
Unlike thier older albums, it dosent boast huge dance tunes like Insomnia, and Salva Mea- but its still a fantastic album, and heres why:
This is a very 'Grown Up' album from Faithless- they have come so far since 1996 when 'Reverence' was first released- at the time they were unusual, ground breaking, and people didnt necessarily know who they were. They defined the 'trip hop' genre, and Maxi Jazz' amazing vocals really defined trance, dance and everything inbetween...
11 years, and a platinum selling greatest hits album later, and here is Faithless' fifth studio album. Dedicated to the children which Sister Bliss and Rollo (speratley) brought into the world- 'To all new arrivals' boasts fantastically laid back beats, with a sophisticated over tone. The lyrics are typical of Faithless- deep and meaningfull- except on almost every song are about becoming a parent- something which does the band a huge amount of credit...
The album kicks off with 'Bombs' featuring vocalls from Harry Collier- a fantastic laid-back-trance style song, which i would LOVE to see a 'Monster Mix' of.
The second single to be released from the album will be 'Music Matters'- a slightly slower song, featuring vocalls from Cassandra Fox (who features on 'Rui Du Silva': "Touch Me" )which will undoubtedley be a huge sucess.
'Nates Tune' is one of the catchiest songs on the album, and in many ways resembles 'Sweep' from 'Outrospective' as it is a continious loop of fantastic keyboarding by Sister Bliss.
'To all New Arrivals' has some 'informative' vocals regarding the state of the poorer countries of the world, but is without doubt one of the best songs on the album.
And my final favourite, is 'The Man In You' which every father would understand and may even bring a tear to the eye!
This is a very sophisticated sounding peice of Dance music, and is also
a very different look at Faithless, they have grown up, but are still the original band, to define dance music- and to define a generation!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A lost sense of direction, 24 Jan 2007
I understand as well as anyone that Faithless are no longer the club busting dance band that we knew in the 1990s. The band are maturing as musicans and taking their music into different directions from what they have achieved previously. However, and this is quite a big point, this album does not develop their style from No Roots.
No Roots signalled a move to a more melodic tone with more instrumentals and an increased participation from outside artists to the Faithless story. Different styles of music were experimented with and in my opinion they pulled off a change in direction with No Roots without losing what made Faithless popular. What I feel with To All New Arrivals is that they've lost sight of what they want to achieve: the album congratulates each band member on their own personal experiences too much whether from having a child to their views on politics.
Neither does the album move Faithless on musically. Nate's Tune which is a rare highlight on the album, could have fitted in on Sunday 8PM or No Roots, quite easily. Spiders, Crocodiles and Kryptonite is quite simply one of the weakest songs the band have ever written. Bombs goes back to the point I made above: Maxi Jazz congratulates himself on being right about Iraq but why does he have to emphasis this point? The early Faithless albums had a subtle and understandable point but it was not overtly political. I do not need Maxi Jazz telling me about Iraq; it's there for all of us to see with out own eyes.
However there are some plus points: A Kind of Peace is the strongest track on the album, deversedly so. Cat Power provides a beautiful, complimentary, voice to the music and sets a nice downbeat sound for the end of the album. Hope and Glory is more what I expect from a Faithless album as is Emergency.
To conclude: Faithless have not quite lost their way but they need to return to their roots if they are to continue to influence the genre. This album will be remembered as their weakest and is a poor development to the different and pleasing No Roots. Sunday 8PM is still the seminal work; a height which they have not scaled on this particular album.
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17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bring back the real Faithless please!!, 30 Nov 2006
After patiently waiting for the arrival of this much anticipated fifth studio album for several months I have to report that it was a complete anti-climax! The album appears to have been written to advertise the bands two new arrivals and the whole thing seems to be softened down from what we are used to from the worlds finest live dance act. The heart and soul of the group is Maxi Jazz and he simply doesn't feature enough, instead an array of guest vocalists dominate the album. Having said that, the album does have a decent opening with single Bombs but is followed by hideous track Spiders, Crocodiles & Kryptonite which not only contains farcical child-like lyrics and Robert Smith guesting which I hated, but ends with an annoying baby talking segment which is embarrassing to say the least. Music Matters is better but hardly sticks in the memory, this is followed by instrumental Nate's Tune and I Hope which has more references to children and seems to end just as it is getting going and then Last This Day which sounds like a lullaby and features Dido (Oh please let it end) Things start to look up when To All New Arrivals kicks in but again the lyrics are bizarre, Maxi reeling off facts about poverty and child diseases, its like a television appeal for help. Hope & Glory which is a far more memorable track in a more uplifting mood raises the tempo but once again has baby voices tagged on the end, why? A Kind of Peace features the albums sixth guest vocalist Cat Power and then comes The Man In You which in my opinion is the best track here, its original, funky and has Maxi's best vocals, I like this tune. Closing track Emergency is Ok too but again Maxi is missing. the album ends and I am left feeling empty and disappointed, where are the thumping dance tracks that I jumped to at Marley park in August? If you're new to faithless and want to hear what they are capable of, go out tomorrow and buy Reverence or any of the other albums since but leave this on the shelf. I am a huge fan of the group and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in March, I just hope they don't play too many tracks of this album and leave the baby noises at home!
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