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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Before I bought this cd I had not heard any of their stuff except for the samples you can listen to above, and I don't think they do the album justice. Highlights include Joy, Honour and Solitary, the only reason why some may not like this as much is the slight sense of repitition, but then I find that this makes the album flow without having one song that felt out of place.The monotonous volcalist is actually appealing as opposed to off-putting and links very well to the underlying theme of war within the album. I'm seriously considering Empires as a future purchase on the grounds of this album being so good alone. Now I listen to nearly all types of music (except counrty, folk or rap unless they are done in such a way I forget about everythng else in the world), but I tend to specialise in rock and industrial, this album is the only one I have without a single guitar in its entire collection of tracks, but I really like it. The spoken word intro that is Chosen sets up the war theme and eases the listener into the album and then Joy kicks in, and boy does it kick in, the bass booms away and the chorus is very appealing. The rest of the album continues with this upbeat appeal until PTF2012, this is more akin to classical music but still fits in the album with the war theme, after this there is a minute silence to allow you to come down off the high the album provokes (you can skip this silence if you wishas it is a seperate track) and the last track is very odd but grows on you after about 10 seconds. I played this to somebody who believes nearly all 90s music to be awful (he lives in the 80s) and even he likes it even though it is unlike everything he owns. "So why not 5 stars?" I hear you cry, well I don't think it would be right to give any album 100% because this leaves no room for improvement, and I haven't heard Empires yet. Nevertheless, this is definately one of the best CDs I own (quite good as I own roughly 50). VNV Nation deserve every bit of success they get. Industrial/dance at its best? As far as I've heard...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
EBM, or futurepop, call it what you will however VNV are up there amongst the best when it comes to this genre of music. Having heard Kingdoms (from the Empires album) I thought I'd explore a bit further by buying PTF. In my view a solid and highly addictive album.
Opening with "Chosen", a short monologue put to haunting music, it sets the scene for the album 'thanking their gods to the sound of cannon'. "Joy", whilst probably my least favourite track on the album, ups the tempo. The gutteral voice and slight distortions reminded me of the early Covenant, but the futurepop construct in the track is very much evident. This sharp electronic sound carries through the necxt two tracks (Voice being a great track to drive to!). "Foresaken" again drops the pace down with an almost dream like sound and not to think the ride is over, "Ascension" picks it up again with another pulsing beat (no lyrics in a number of tracks but I find it creates an entire package of the tracks on VNV albums rather than one off songs stuck together). My personal favourite "Honour" up next next with some excellent sound bites built in with the thumping beat, you can't help but get the power of the words and emotion of the song with the cadence of this track. "Burnout" has an amusing opening with some wonderful old movie soundbites as the intro before moving again into the distorted electronic sound VNV use regularly.
"Solitary" brings the tempo down again before settling into "PTF2012" which in my view simply serves to illustrate the versatility of the band. A classical track created electronically that would not have been out of place in the closing credits of a war hero film or even a hovis advert!
Opening with "Chosen", a short monologue put to haunting music, it sets the scene for the album 'thanking their gods to the sound of cannon'. "Joy", whilst probably my least favourite track on the album, ups the tempo. The gutteral voice and slight distortions reminded me of the early Covenant, but the futurepop construct in the track is very much evident. This sharp electronic sound carries through the necxt two tracks (Voice being a great track to drive to!). "Foresaken" again drops the pace down with an almost dream like sound and not to think the ride is over, "Ascension" picks it up again with another pulsing beat (no lyrics in a number of tracks but I find it creates an entire package of the tracks on VNV albums rather than one off songs stuck together). My personal favourite "Honour" up next next with some excellent sound bites built in with the thumping beat, you can't help but get the power of the words and emotion of the song with the cadence of this track. "Burnout" has an amusing opening with some wonderful old movie soundbites as the intro before moving again into the distorted electronic sound VNV use regularly.
"Solitary" brings the tempo down again before settling into "PTF2012" which in my view simply serves to illustrate the versatility of the band. A classical track created electronically that would not have been out of place in the closing credits of a war hero film or even a hovis advert!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
41 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Haunting and Beautiful
16 Feb 2000
Format:Audio CD
After the spoken prose of Chosen kicked in, I knew I would love this CD. I have never been a big fan of repetetive "4-on-the-floor" dance club industrial, but despite the club feel this album is far deeper than anything else i have heard in the genre. What makes the music stand out are the poetic, "painted" lyrics that push through the dreary sonic wastes in the background. The synths are lush and bright, always shifting, and the imagery evoked by the full experience reminds me of Ian Banks novel "The Bridge". As the last words unfold in the song "Solitary", the vision of man's futility stabs you through the chest, leaving you out of breath and appreciative of the anthemic memorial "PTF2012" and the one-minute-of-silence aftermath that serves as "Schweigeminute". Sufice it to say - this is a great album. Now.. if only Wax Trax can bring "Empires" to the states (the VNV Nation follow up to "Praise The Fallen") I will be set...
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Intriguing, although somewhat simplistic...
13 Dec 2003
Format:Audio CD
Praise The Fallen (PTF) is a very well conceived EBM album. EBM is basically a lighter and faster variant of Industrial music, and even though PTF is significantly faster than anything put out by that bunch of anorexic labradors (by that I mean Skinny Puppy), it is not that much lighter. The beats in this record are utterly ferocious, and this is not a bad thing. However, at times, the beats tend to overwhelm the melody.
The melodies, although at times complex, are subordinated to pounding drums during some of the tracks, and this seems to grate owing to the fact that the beats are as rough as a cheese grater. If the melodies in some of the songs were played louder and more frequently, this would be a brilliant album. However, the dark and haunting sounds are sometimes drowned in repetitive drumming all to often, resulting in a record that has less melody, and dramatic impact, than it potentially had. The only songs that really manage to strike the balance (and also be the best tracks on the album IMO) are Joy, Procession and Honor. These songs are so catchy, and awfully danceable, that they would turn a retirement home into a rave. Still, most of the other tracks can get too rough, or, suprisingly, too sedate.
This, however, doesnt mean that VNV's first big album is bad. In fact, it is very good! The lyrics, although sometimes too preachy, are quite intelligent and compelling, and the times in the songs where they allow the melody to shine through are utterly breathtaking. If you are new to EBM and want to start with the sound of the Berlin Philharmonic being ripped apart by chainsaw-weilding Nazis (which this album is wonderful at creating), then I would reccomend this. However, a softer (and more depressing) alternative for an EBM novice would be Failure by Assemblage 23.
Although this record is too polar (your choice between sheet-metal instrumentals or boring ballads, with too few 'middle ground' tracks), it shows excellent promise and a vision that was fully realised in VNV's next album, Empires.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
My first introduction to VNV Nation
10 July 2005
Format:Audio CD
'Praise The Fallen'is the title of this VNV Nation CD from 1999. And this is my introduction to this hardcore
electronica/industrial trance outfit. Being a Delerium/Front Line Assembly fan I saw VNV as my own personal progression to explore new music and new sounds. I basically came across VNV Nation through Amazon.com reviews and picks and decided to buy this album to have a 'little taste' of what VNV is. I am now a fan, this is a style of music that one can dance to, chill out too as well as have as background music for a party with friends. All the tracks are interesting to listen too, the drums are worked in well with the synths and industrial beats. The vocalist is dark and mysterious and for this style of music that is a underpinning success. 'Joy', 'Solitary' and 'PTF2012' were the picks for me from this monumental album. And I now will look out for more VNV Nation releases.
If you like the works of Leeb & Fulber you will enjoy this from the anthem sounding VNV Nation.
electronica/industrial trance outfit. Being a Delerium/Front Line Assembly fan I saw VNV as my own personal progression to explore new music and new sounds. I basically came across VNV Nation through Amazon.com reviews and picks and decided to buy this album to have a 'little taste' of what VNV is. I am now a fan, this is a style of music that one can dance to, chill out too as well as have as background music for a party with friends. All the tracks are interesting to listen too, the drums are worked in well with the synths and industrial beats. The vocalist is dark and mysterious and for this style of music that is a underpinning success. 'Joy', 'Solitary' and 'PTF2012' were the picks for me from this monumental album. And I now will look out for more VNV Nation releases.
If you like the works of Leeb & Fulber you will enjoy this from the anthem sounding VNV Nation.
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