Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The End of Music, 28 Mar 2007
I will cut to the chase here - `F#A#ooXxx' is a fractured, flawed, apocalyptic album of outstanding reach and vision.
Yes, it lacks cohesion, the beginning and end of three long tracks here seem quite arbitrary, but I believe this to be the whole point of the record. The cover photo gives a massive clue as to what you can expect - a blurred, desolate roadside snap taken on the move - for this album takes the listener on a journey through multiple segments of sound just like a long road trip through ever-changing countryside, towns and cities.
And what a selection of sounds they are. One after another come spoken word samples, a haunting late-night train, delicate melodies and full blasts of the band's unique guitar-driven `orchestral' sound. The highlight of the record is `East Hastings' the post-apocalyptic power and cinematic scope of which was used so effectively in the film '28 Days Later' as the camera pans over a deserted London.
The diversity of sound is so dizzying that admittedly listening to the whole album in one sitting is an emotionally draining experience. The mood is unremittingly bleak. Towards the end the quality drops a little and some of the idiosyncracies jar somewhat, for example the long, pointless pause before the final piece.
However, to summarise, this record delivers a unique listening experience. Sometimes when I listen to this I think this is what the end of music may sound like, and that is a compliment. An extraordinary achievement for a debut album and a broken landmark in modern music.
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189 of 230 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's OK I suppose., 21 Sep 2005
By A Customer
I've never wanted to get caught up in writing reviews on Amazon but I feel more and more compelled to these days, especially when people insist on giving everything 5 stars backed up with comments like 'this is my favourite album'. Also, before I go on, if you're new to GYBE and your thinking of ignoring my comments because above it says something like '0 out of 40 people found this review helpful' then that's up to you, but it's most likely just teenagers pushing the NO button below, furious that someone would dare expose their rock heroes to such scrutiny - as they have done with the only other sensible 3 star review here (good on you cptbeefheart).Right, I'll try and be brief. I once took a pal to a Mogwai gig; he stood around at the back complaining that 'it just doesn't seem to go anywhere'. Thank goodness I didn't take him to see this lot. I had high hopes for this album, excited about the possibilities of beautifully orchestrated 25 minute tracks where instruments weave in and out of one another through suspenseful crescendos towards mind-blowing peaks and heartbreaking troughs. What you actually get is a few 'bits and bobs' that no one has bothered to see through to a satisfying conclusion. Don't be fooled into to thinking that as there's only three tracks they must be operatic masterpieces with several movements carefully pieced together to take you on some supersonic journey. Take the 1st track where after each 'movement' there is dead silence before the next, which never turns out to be a logical progression from the previous - it's just four little ditties in close, not even close, succession. As for the crescendos that everyone raves about, there really aren't any. Occasionally a track will start to build but when the peaks are about to be reached the 'movements' give up the ghost - there's no flooring 'rock-outs' like with Mogwai's 'Rats of the Capital' or on Explosion's... 'Those Who Tell the Truth...' I could go on all day but generally speaking this is overrated, probably by people who've never listened to anything else. It lacks structure and showcases a band with few skills in composition. It's reminiscent of early Pink Floyd; the disjointed, pretentious 20 minute numbers that most folk dismiss these days. So why give it 3 stars? Well, because I like bits of it, it's just a shame that those bits haven't been developed and are all too often interspersed with dull samples and tuneless filler moments big on murk with very little substance. I've never heard their later stuff, maybe they improve but hardcore fans cite this as their best. Their last album got a hammering from these fans; I should imagine that means it's quite good. At least there're a few tracks on it, probably as a result of the band realising that juxtaposing 5 different tracks doesn't make a whole one. Why am I writing this? If you're anything like me you'll already be equipped with the good sense to ignore the majority of Amazon reviews, and have probably been stronger than me in managing not to write any. I'm wasting my time aren't I? The only people who are going to take note here are hormonal teenagers who are now going push the NO button below.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Renewed my faith in new music, 21 Sep 2001
By A Customer
Just when you think you've run out of CDs that do anything more than sound good, something like this comes along. Something that does what music is supposed to. Stops you. Right where you are. Makes you listen. Makes you wish you could do more than just listen to music. Gives you a stark, beautifully realised, dark world, full of urban despair and expertly mixed guitar, strings and cinematic prose. This is the best CD I've heard in a long time.
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