Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius., 20 Jul 2006
This is the only album which has earned Hayes deserved respect from his peers and his industry.
This work is a far cry from his days as Savage Garden front man, and distances him even further from his intial solo effort 'Spin'. Whereas 'Spin' saw Hayes attempting to recreate the trademark Savage Garden sound, with an R&B edge, 'The Tension And The Spark' sees him soar as a singer and defines him as an astounding songwriter.
The album sees Hayes breathtaking vocals swim over a sea of elctronica which reflects the gritty emotional lyrics superbly.
The disc chronicles what has obviously been a difficult period for Hayes, with songs such as "Darkness" "Unlovable" and "Void" relating an acute depth unlikely to be found in most contemporary releases. However, the album is not bleak, and sees Hayes turning to hope in tracks such as "Feel" and "Light", commenting on modern day celebrity with the satirical "Pop!ular" and even the development of his own persona throughout his career in "Ego".
Long-term Hayes/Savage Garden fans should not expect to be disappointed, he retains his unquestionable vocal quality and furthers his range, higher and lower than ever, and still manages to include a heart-felt ballad in the form of "Dublin Sky". Even fans he won over with Spin, can expect to be entertained with the thumping throbbing beats of "I Like The Way" and "Love and Attraction".
The nature of this album's emminence is to be found in the bold change of direction for Hayes, and what is undoubtedly his best work yet.
This album is a triumph.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shockingly original and searingly painfuly beautiful, 21 Aug 2004
From the first few notes of the first song, Darkness, you know that this is totaly different from any of Darrens previous work both solo and in Savage Garden. However, this is most certainly a positive thing. The music is most definetely electronic, but this, rather than detracting from, adds to the deeply personal lyrical content of the songs and creates music which is very original and beautiful. Perhaps most suprising is the lack of ballads. However, this is made up by the multitude of beautiful songs such as 'Unlovable' which is almost an anti-ballad in its lyrical content but just as beautiful as a Darren ballad in the trademark Darren vocal. POP!Ular is the most 'pop' record on the album which eases the public into the new electronic sound but doesn't really prepare you for the massive departure which is 'The Tension and the Spark'. Any Darren fan will buy this immediately - but I'd recommend it for anybody who likes listening to deeply personal and beautiful music.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A journey out of darkness...., 27 Aug 2004
By A Customer
If you think you know this artist... think again. Now and then an album breaks the surface of your complacency and rattles your beliefs and shakes up everything you've previously held true... and this is such an album. Darren Hayes is not a "new" artist. You can't have lived through the 90's without being affected by his way with a ballad. And yet everything he does on this album IS new. It's electronic in inception...but not the chilly Euro-tech sort of electronic you may have come to associate with the term. Hayes proves that there IS soul in the machine. It's organic in performance (you may not recognise the name but you'll certainly recognise the voice) and unexpected in sound. The melodic turns and flourishes you might remember from his previous work are still there (but skewed and given a much harder, leaner edge), and all the lyrical depth... and more. Much more. Above all, this is a work of brutal honesty, intensely personal, inward-focusing, about the contrast between the light in our lives and the dark that sometimes eclipses it. Not an easy listen. In fact, there are parts that will test your tolerance, break your heart, and leave you questioning the very nature of happiness. Illusion? Disillusion? Impossibility? You'll be surprised, and reassured, by the end.
So, after all that... how does it SOUND? Like the album Darren Hayes was always meant to make. In other words... not like anything else you've ever heard.
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