Ah, Reef! You may be known to many for only Place Your Hands but to me you're one of the first bands I ever properly fell in love with. Because of that, I've eagerly awaited 18 years for this, the band's 5th studio album.
The album's title track gets Revelation off to a promising start. That raw live sound the band are known for is still there but musically it feels too much like Free (of which their name is famously an anagram). Even with Gary Stringer's Somerset accent sneaking through as always, it's as if he's trying to sound more "classic rock" than ever before. Similarly, songs like Just Feel Love and Precious Metal conjure up strong Zepplin and Sabbath vibes. They are still catchy and groovy, acting as nice homages to their musical roots, but it's all just missing that Reef "grittiness" that initially grabbed my attention.
As well as classic rock, Reef also revisit their more bluesy side. When listening to country ballad My Sweet Love (featuring Sheryl Crow), the soulful Provide and their cover of gospel song How I Got Over one after the other, it makes you think if Revelation is in fact a born-again Christian album. The songs' uplifting nature fit with organs, choirs, enticing rhythms and beautiful melodies are thoroughly exciting. In particular, Provide is quite possibly one of the best songs on the record, whether being with intentional religious undertones or not. It's sort of like a follow up to Sweety from third album Rides...and I'm totally down with that! Like A Ship (Without A Sail) is similarly a gloriously joyful and epic ending to the record.
Revelation, as interesting a collection of songs as it is, is not quite the album fans like myself have been waiting for. It's more what you'd expect a new Black Crowes' album to sound like (which is not necessarily a bad thing). It might just be one of those records that needs a few more listens to really appreciate it. One positive note is that Reef have at least stuck to some form of rough blueprint throughout their discography. The songs on here even feel like they continue on from the previously unreleased songs on the 2003 Together compilation. There's no pointless experimentation into hip hop or edm to "get down with the kids". The classic rock, the gospel, the blues...it's all been there in some form of another, only now they've been brought further forward. Reef are simply a band who have matured and want to write songs they themselves would want to listen to. You got to admire that!
3.5/5
Although I may have been briefly previously aware of tunes such as Out Of Space, No Good (Start The Dance) and Poison, it was really when Firestarter came out that I, and I'm sure a whole bunch of others, really started to take notice of British ravers The Prodigy. It was Keith Flint's new punk look that intrigued me as a 10 year old already interested in a little bit of 70s/80s punk rock but mostly 90s Brit pop and Brit rock. Whereas he was once really only a long haired dancer along with the giant Leeroy Thornhill, Keith was almost seen here as a frontman. It happened again with Maxim, although already been at the forefront of previous tracks, in the Breathe video, leaving brains of the outfit Liam Howlett quietly enjoying the success of his songs from behind the controls. This escalated The Prodigy from being a DJ led rave act to an innovative rock band of sorts. On top of that, the music was guitar sample led and quite heavy. Both Firestarter and Breathe especially can be considered by many musicians today as songs that got them into heavier music.
Over the years, the album that spawned those singles, Fat Of The Land, is still considered a classic and an almost revolutionary masterpiece. The band have kept their position as one of most beloved dance acts as well as a proud British export. Both ravers and rock fans alike have been able to enjoy the amazing live spectacle that is The Prodigy both at their Headlining shows and at festivals across the globe. Although later albums Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned and Invaders Must Die did not manage to beat Fat Of The Land's global success, they both reached number 1 in the UK. Tracks like Spitfire (which, at least when I was at University, was being played in rock clubs everywhere along with Pendulum's Tarantula), Omen and Invaders Must Die still kept longtime fans happy and gained them new ones. Everyone was of course awaiting new material and eventually 6 years later the full album has arrived and also hit number 1 in the UK. So....was it worth the wait and the hype?
Followers of the blog will be aware that I have been quite excited about this new release and already shared my thoughts on some of the tracks that were already released with lyric videos and/or actual videos. The title track and album opener The Day Is My Enemy is a great track to start off the album and a really good track in general. It starts off with some heavy thumping courtesy of Swiss drumming group The Top Secret Drum Corps which then gets used throughout the tracks while singer Martina Topley-Bird (known for her work with Tricky and Gorillaz in the past) sings the lyrics "The day is my enemy, the night my friend", inspired by Ella Fitzgerald's version of All Through The Night. The track has a slow pace and is generally quite reminiscent of Spitfire. Topley-Bird's vocals fit the sentiment of the lyrics perfectly and also compliments the dark mood of the drumming and main riff.
Tracks like Nasty, Rebel Radio, Get Your Fight On and Wall Of Death are the most rock-like tracks on here. Nasty starts off with a twangy riff which is so reminiscent of something it's killing me. It sounds like something you might hear in a martial arts movie, almost as if it's played on a Pipa (traditional Chinese lute). The track itself literally sounds "nasty", with Keith snarling the lyrics as per usual, heavy beats and some dirty fuzzy synths. There's a bit in the middle of the song where you hear someone say either "I ain't no tourist" or "I ain't no Taurus". I'm not entirely sure.That's going to bug me... Rebel Radio, after its robotic intro, is based upon guitar stabs along with synths, electronic bleeps and whatnot. Every now and again, you hear an uplifting calling of "That's the rebel radio sound" which makes you want to throw your fist in the air.
Get Your Fight On has some ringed out guitars played over some funky breakbeat for a majority of the track, accompanied by the lyrics "Get your fight on...here's something to bite on". Not really deep and meaningful, but catchy, nevertheless. The synth parts remind me of Invaders Must Die...but then again, synths would do that. This is definitely a song which will get your feet moving whereas the others are more for throwing shapes and jumping up and down.
Wall Of Death starts off with a riff that keeps tricking me into believing I'm about to listen to something by Lamb Of God or something. Then the heavy pounding electronic beats come in and we're back on track. This is pure Prodigy, with Keith proclaiming "Fuck this and fuck the cash! Fuck you and your heart attack!" Not totally on board with the latter remark. Who would you say that too? Although not lyrically challenging, the track itself is a slight return to Fat Of The Land and therefore a hit.
Despite also having guitar parts, the heavy synths and characteristically Prodigy beats on Destroy take us back and forth between the ...Jilted Generation era and what has been more common from them in later years. Rhythm Bomb similarly mixes guitar stabs with simple old school dance techno beats. The female vocal samples bring to mind No Good, which isn't a bad thing at all. Roadblox begins sounding a bit like an 80s new wave ballad of sorts, until we get to a little glockenspiel/music box melody which then leads to pure drum and bass beats. I love a bit of drum and bass so this perked me up a lot more while listening. I can see this track being a total floor-filler in the near future if it isn't already.
Both Wild Frontier and Rok-Weiler (this will soon be a whole new breed of dog) both have intros that make me think of classic computer games. Wild Frontier has already been released to the masses via it's creepy animated video but as a song it doesn't really do anything for me. Rok-Weiler, on the other hand, is a bit more up beat and has that slight drum and bass edge to it. Still, it reminds me of when I used to play something like Hi-octane back in the day.
For me, Roadblox and Rok-Weiler could be considered album highlights along with Ibiza, Medicine, Invisible Sun and even iTunes bonus track Rise of the Eagles. Ibiza, upon first listen, was just a total delight. With help from Sleaford Mods, the track has that proper British swagger and Prodigy snarl, with the "Eye-Beefa" mantra and "What the fuck is he doing?" parts burying themselves deeply in your brain. Despite written to be poking fun at the simple DJ culture of Ibiza, it musically has the magic to get people pumped on a night out. Medicine, which could in a way be considered the sister song to classic track Poison, has an Eastern feel through parts of it due to a flute melody. It might be slow paced like the title track but the "A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste..." chorus, along with guitar stabs and hype parts, all make the track a pleasure to listen to.
Although Beyond The Deathray is also a very unexpected track, with no beats, just an atmospheric soundscape, Invisible Sun stands out as being almost like a slow rock jam. I can imagine lighters aloft as people sway along to this. Beyond The Deathray has grown on me on further listening but did just feel like album filler. Rise of the Eagles is most possibly my favourite of the whole album despite only being a special bonus track. It has that feel to it that reminds me a little bit of Walk Like A Panther by All Seeing I mixed in with Cobra Style by Teddybears Sthlm.
On first listen, I wasn't taken to the album straight away. Maybe it was because of the mood I was in at the time, but some of the slower paced ones just didn't do anything for me. I felt at times that I had heard it all before; same old synths, noises and beats. I kind of felt that Liam Howlett had run out of ideas. Nevertheless, the more I listen, a majority of the songs still hold up on their own. Ibiza and Wall of Death especially are future classics. If you ever had a fondness for The Prodigy but haven't hear this album, I suggest you do but you will have to listen a few times for some of the tunes to really sink in.
4/5
Sometimes I'm a little late in finding a new single/video, sometimes I'm a little late on properly discovering a band and sometimes it's both. This post is the latter.
I have known OF London based indie-pop/whatever-one-wishes-to-call-it band La Shark since about their beginnings in around 2009 but I never really paid attention to them. This is made worse by the fact that their bassist, Louis, and I are old college classmates. Over the years, he has evolved from a spiky haired wannabe DJ to a full on hipster Jesus.
Anyway...the band itself has gained acclaim with their quirky and catchy 80s-like songs, which has lead to going on tour with the likes of Paloma Faith (lucky bastards!) Latest single World Wide Babes has definitely made me sit up and pay closer attention for two reason. 1) The song is pure cheesy pop sounding, with clever lines such as "Worldwide fame on the worldwide web gets you worldwide babes with held wide legs" getting stuck in your head and 2) the video is a funny send up of popular porn sites and series. For those who know me and know me well, it wouldn't surprise you that I recognise almost everything they are parodying here, such as Fake Agent, Money Talks (I'm guessing, unless there's another one I don't know about) and even Chaturbate. It's good to see that the band and the girls involved all have a sense of humour.
For those of you in London interested in checking these guys out live, you can see them on 1st May at The Bussey Building, Peckham.
That's not a question.
Legendary Brit rockers Therapy? release new album Disquiet on 23rd March and we have been treated to the new single Still Hurts along with a video. This is most possibly the most metal I've heard Therapy? sound in quite some time. Admittedly, I have been out of the Therapy? loop since I am, for some reason, no longer friends with the few people I know who are die-hard Therapy? fans. I'm now hoping to get back on board as this single proves promising.
What do you guys think?
