Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tweaker takes it up a notch..., 3 May 2004
By A Customer
This is the second album by Tweaker, aka Chris Vrenna (ex-NIN). Having bought the first album purely on a brief record company description and being blown away by its sheer originality, I pre-ordered this one without hesitation.However, I was surprised. I knew this was to be a 'night-time' album, about sleep and dreams, and that the title is inspired by Vrenna's wife having insomnia which led to him staying up with her at about 2am every night. What I didn't expect was that it is literally a wake-up call, it starts off serenely before kicking in with some heavy guitars. Then I remembered reading that Vrenna has been growing tired of electronica, that he wants to be in a band again; Now it all makes sense, he's kicked the electronics lower down the mix and created more of a 'band' feel. This album makes me really want to hear Tweaker live. The electronics are still there, but the whole album isn't quite as 'kitsch' as the first one - it is darker, more spacious, has more guitar and the drums have a new 'live' feel, not so processed. There are also fewer instrumentals, and more guest vocalists. All the vocalists are excellent, but Robert Smith from the Cure especially impresses, as he did with his guest vocals on the last Junkie XL album. The last track with Jennifer Charles is simply the most beautiful song I've heard in ages. Tweaker is still fiercely original - I'm finding it even harder to find comparisons to this album than I did for 'The Attraction To All Things Uncertain'. It sounds like nothing else but Tweaker evolved. if you liked the last Tweaker album you'll love it. If you like NIN, Radiohead, A Perfect Circle...any intelligent, dark, emotive music - you'll love it. This is an album you could live inside, I can't stop listening to it.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning!, 1 April 2004
By A Customer
2 a.m. wakeup call is the higly anticipated follow to the critically acclaimed tweaker (aka Chris Vrenna) debut The Attraction to All Things Uncertain. It is an organic and compelling album involving surreal themes alluding to sleep, nightmares, insomnia and dreams. Enhancing the lush instrumentals are alluring vocal collaborations with guests including Robert Smith (The Cure), Will Oldham (Palace), Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields), David Slyvian, Mellowdrone and others.tweaker is the brainchild of GRAMMY award winning artist Chris Vrenna. In addition to being one of the founding members of Nine Inch Nails, Vrenna is also renowned for his production and remix work with an impressive array of artists such as U2, David Bowie, P.O.D., Weezer and Nelly Furtado.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In the Meantime..... Tweaker., 12 Feb 2005
Whilst the world waits the next album from Nine Inch Nails, Former Drummer and founder member Chris Vrenna has pulled the proverbial rabbit from the hat and created, what is for me, the best album of 2004.'2am Wake Up Call', so titled due to Chris Vrenna's wife chronic insomnia, is at at times, haunting, menacing, uplifting and always enigmatic. Various collaborators make this a more solid work than Tweakers debut opus, 'Attraction to All Things Uncertain' which tended to veer towards electronica, without only a few vocal tracks. From the opening track, 'Ruby' with vocals by Will Oldham, to the final track 'Crude Sunlight' with vocals by the haunting Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) '2am' capitvates the listener, drawing them into a world of sleepless dreams. Other standout tracks include 'Its Still Happenning' with Walkmens's Hamilton Leithauser providing the uplifting vocals. This album has the potential to be a classic - and in Tweaker, Chris Vrenna has founded another genre breaking band.
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