Blue Man Group - The Complex
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.84 You Save: $8.08 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.95 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for The Complex
Free Music Review: A great follow up
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great cd. So far my favorite tracks are probably The Complex and What Is Rock.Free Music Review: Excellent CD to listen to.
Hit: 5 Stars
I love the music and listen to it almost daily when I drive to work or any where else.Free Music Review: Uneven but enjoyable - no match for a live show.
Hit: 4 Stars
My first exposure to Blue Man Group was at the Luxor in Las Vegas in 2000. In many ways, that experience was more unique than the previous night's Cirque du Soleil performance. The Blue Man Group was part marching band, part dance troupe, part comedy, and part illusion - with no spoken words from the performers and a constant soundtrack of slightly minor-key, melodic percussion. While the music was certainly compelling and beautifully arranged, the primary attraction of listening to their first CD, "Audio", was that it called up memories of the live experience.I saw Blue Man Group a second time at Area2 in 2002, where they performed many of the tracks from "The Complex". That concert featured a Gray Man troupe of instrumentalists and vocalists. The three Blue Men were still the focal point of many of the visual stunts, but the show was definitely more about music and less about performance. Especially during the numbers that featured live vocals, I felt as though the Blue Men were relegated to the role of cheerleaders.
Sadly, this audio CD seems to lack the Blue Men altogether in several numbers. Though everything is catchy, most of the vocal tracks are unoffensive and simple. It is ironic that the one truly inspired vocal number is Esthero's rendition of "White Rabbit" - a song BMG played the Jefferson Airplane version of, and played drums over, at the Vegas show.
Many of the vocal tracks are straightforward tales of isolation, slightly maudlin - certainly not what I would have expected to come out of the mouth of a Blue Man, if one were ever to speak (which they do not). The Blue Men characters are curious, observant, enthusiastic, destructive. The lyrics of these songs seem to be more about the experience of being a person playing a Blue Man - the isolation and lack of identity. Dave Matthews, Josh Haden, and Gavin Rossdale all turn in good performances on their respective songs, but especially in the case of "Sing Along," I found myself wishing that Dave Matthews' voice had been used to sing his own poetry instead.
The title track "The Complex", though it features a vocalist, is much more of a Blue Man Group production, and it succeeds because the vocals are interwoven as a part of the musical fabric. Similarly, "What Is Rock" includes a unique and poignant turn of phrase - essentially, two lines of lyrics in the entire number - but it's good I had the liner notes to know what was being said. There are standout pieces here, including the opening two tracks, "Your Attention", and the closing two; "Piano Smasher" lacks the entertainment value of watching a Blue Man literally smash a grand piano with an enormous hammer, though.
While I don't begrudge the Blue Man Group their foray into the mainstream, and freely admit that my opinion of the music is skewed by my experience with the live shows, I feel "Audio" is a better album musically. I hold out hope the next release will be a DVD that allows us to recapture the energy of the Blue Men along with their sound.
Free Music Review: A Totally Unique and Complete Album
Hit: 4 Stars
As a huge fan of the Blue Man Group's debut album, "Audio," I eagerly awaited listening to this new album. I knew it would be a departure from their previous work, as the silent, blue men had never included vocals in their music before. I, and other Blue Man faithfuls, were skeptical about this approach, but luckily this album does not dissappoint! Contributions from artists like Dave Matthews, Gavin Rossdale, and Rob Swift give appeal to new listeners while the music has enough of the beloved "Blue Man Vibe" to keep the devoted fans happy.The album was written by the Blue Man Group founders Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink, among others, with its translation to a live rock show at the forefront of their attention. Therefore, many of the songs have concert-like crowd involvement features integrated into them. In some places this works, especially in the track Time to Start, but in other tracks, including Your Attention and parts of What Is Rock, I think these features would be better left solely to the rock concert arena. The founders also wrote the lyrics on the album save for the two covers, I Feel Love and White Rabbit.
I'll briefly point out some of the definate high points of the album:
Sing Along, featuring Dave Matthews, is the first single off the album, and is perfect for the airwaves. And its sound, featuring the Tubulum and Air Pole instruments the group is famous for, is unique enough for it to stand out on the airwaves. I look forward to this song coming up as a sleeper hit. The lyrics are simple but thoughtful and quite singable.
I think my favorite song on the album at this point is Persona, with vocals contributed by Josh Haden. The haunting beat of the music is perfect to drive the urban paranoia featured by the lyrics. Its quite a relevent song to the insecurities and loneliness that has arisin in urban life.
The Current, with vocals by Gavin Rossdale, is a throwback to 90s alternative with guitar that just makes you want to rock.
Exhibit 13, followed by Hidden Mandelbrot round out the end of the album. Exhibit 13 is a deep instrumental that was written as a tribute to September 11, 2001. It was inspired by the pieces of falling paper that littered Lower Manhatten following the collapse of the towers... and proves to be a touching but eerie rememberance of that day. For the Blue Man-committed, your favorite song will probably be Hidden Mandelbrot... it has all the rockin' goodness of the rest of the Mandelbrot pieces in the Blue Man repertoire.
An all around fun, ecclectic, and abnormally intellegent album in comparison to what's out there in the music world today... I highly reccomend this album to anyone with an open mind.
Free Music Review: Captures the essence of a BMG show...and then some!
Hit: 4 Stars
While the Blue Man Group's debut album, "Audio" was a good idea, "The Complex" is that idea put into motion. The addition of vocalists delievered a much-needed punch to the BMG's music. For example, "Sing Along" is a wonderful ditty featuring Dave Matthews, in which he sings the song's basic melody, then adds another layer of Dave singing scat to it. "I Feel Love" is a great remake featuring Venus Hum to full extent, giving the tune a rock edge.Which brings me to my next point in comparison with "Audio". "The Complex" just rocks harder than "Audio" ever could. Especially with tunes like "Up to the Roof", which has an excellent chorus as well as carefully subdued lyrics. Also worth mentioning is "The Current", which will appear on the "Terminator 3" soundtrack sometime soon.
Another thing that didn't translate well between show and album is how "Audio" lacked the Blue Man Group's trademark wit and humor, something that made up the bulk of their "Tubes" show in New York. Thankfully, "The Complex" rectifies this with hilarious romps like "Time to Start", "Your Attention" (which, unfortunately, is just a remix of "Synaesthetic" off "Audio", but still good) and my favorite track on the whole album, "What is Rock", a radio-friendly tune that rocks as hard as most great rock songs, but still finds time to make fun of it.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Blue Man Group album without some instrumentals putting the famous BMG instruments to the foreground. "Above" kicks the album into high gear and never lets go while "Piano Smasher" gives the group a chance to show some new inventions. Finally, "Exhibit 13" is a solemn tune paying homage to those who were killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (my pick for the best 9/11 tribute song ever).
Lastly, any doubts about the group's ability to write true songs will be erased once realized that they wrote every note of every song (except the covers, of course). Overall, a solid release from an excellent group.
(Added bonus: Check out the video for the song "Sing Along" as well as a hilarious behind-the-scenes video.)