Collide - Some Kind of Strange
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Free Music Notes for Some Kind of Strange
Free Music Review: ALCEU NATALI' S CLASSIC ALBUMS: SOME KIND OF WEIRD AND SCARINGLY BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
Hit: 5 Stars
INTRODUCTION
For my definition of 'classic' albums please refer to my review of 'Heaven Or Las Vegas' by the Cocteau Twins.
British pop music is the best of all time. I hope the American readers do not get offended by that. The black Americans invented rock and roll but the British rock and roll is the best. This is not bad at all. The English invented football but the Brazilian football is the best. And this is not bad either.
I tend to pay more attention to British music but that does not mean that I do not check American bands and artists regularly. I did not know Collide. I listened to the 30 seconds of each track of all their albums available at Amazon. I thought they were British because they sound more British than American. I bought the CD 'Some Kind Of Strange' because, based on the 30 seconds of each of its 11 tracks I listened to at Amazon, I found it very good. When I listened to the whole CD it became one of my classics. Only a week later I found out that they are not British, but from Los Angeles. I hope that proves that I have nothing against American music.
THE TRACKS
1. Crushed starts dark, crafty, taking control of everything that crosses its way, saying who is the boss, imposing itself, triumphing and stating why it is there for: to devastate with a heavy, rhythmic, implacable and stoning sound; 2. Euphoria is less clouded, lets a little sunshine in, takes some of the load off, swings with a suggestive beat, with some sporadic and massive attacks of powerful guitars, mixing gothic with sensuality, indefinite and hypnotic; then comes 3. Modify, still scary, a little bit lighter with some acoustic and random chords, a lazy and seductive vocal, as if it was biding its time, trying to figure out what to play next, making you think it is just another dark wave band with repetitive songs; but you do not realize you are being seduced by the casual and modest voice, the random solos and the dragged rhythm and next you see yourself face to face with 4. Somewhere, flying in a sky without clouds, surprising you with a cleaner and more definite and majestic sound, fascinating, without commercial appeals and now you do not know what kind of music they will play next; and what comes next, 5. Slither Thing, is unexpected for those who finds Collide too vampire; its a modern pop sound, like a Garbage who did not end up with 'Stupid Girl' and went a little bit further; it is pure psychedelic; you do not know you've been high for some time and when you realize it enters 6. Inside, so beautiful, so soft, so charmful that makes you sick; that's what I call the most pretty thing, full of grace and full of 'bossa'. Whoever labeled Collide as dark or gothic and staff got it wrong. 7. Mutation brings the dark sound back, on purpose, to remind you 'there's no commercial songs here', and throws more weirdness over you lest you think they ain't no heavy, lest you sleep and dream; 8. Tempted sounds atmospheric, ambient and experimental but soon a hammering takes over and is joined by gusts of cracking guitars and a splendorous sound like a 'Somewhere', that grows, goes up and takes you to the next high with a beat that slides the eastern style; that's when you think you may have overdosed you; 9. Shimmer is sweet, therefore, I presume, it is not something to the liking of Collide fans, because it is sugary; it begins sad and becomes glad, sad and glad again and again and in the end it leaves room only to emotion and a beautiful melodic progression that makes you weak at the knees, with an enchanting and entrancing vocal; after such drunkenness, 10. Complicated starts more sober, more sorrowful, more begging, somewhat Garbagean, but not dark, not goth, not chilly or witchy, not bellydancing, not anything you can put a label on; just a good song worthwhile listening; after 10 great tracks, Collide says good-bye with 11. So Long, which for me really sounds like a 'so long, guys'; what kind of farewell do you expect from a classic like this? good music, swinging and charm from a band that has the right to think it has just produced their 'Revolver' and has finished it with their 'Tomorrow Never Knows', inviting you NOT to wait for their 'Sgt Pepper', but to listen to this album over and over again. If you did not like this CD, then you should stick to the recommendations of those 'famous' magazines.
FINAL COMMENTS
Fans and reviewers in general say that Some Kind Of Strange is second to Chasing The Ghost but the latter did not impress me as much as the former did. I may change my mind when I buy Chasing The Ghost and listen to the entire CD.
Alceu Natali
Free Music Review: Awesome album overall
Hit: 5 Stars
I love this cd... it's got incredibly infectious beats with the stickiest, most innovative lyrics i've heard from a band in a LONG time. I really like the way they placed the tracks. "Crushed" is an AMAZING opener, and probably the best song they could have put there. It hooks you and doesn't let you go. "Modify" is very catchy, and has a very juicy sound to it. "Slither Thing" is one of the songs that just grows on you. The whole album is incredibly different from most music that you hear on the radio, which is, in my opinion, a VERY good thing. If you want to get started with Collide, you should certainly start here.Free Music Review: Some Kind of Fantastic
Hit: 4 Stars
Some Kind of Strange was an excellent album. It has a goth/vampire mood music feel to it and that is exactly what I got it for. It is a good album and I plan to get others by this group.Free Music Review: Pretty good...but repetitive.
Hit: 4 Stars
Let me start off by saying that Collide is a truly amazing band. Their release "Chasing the Ghost" was beyond anything I've ever heard before. I've had it for about a year now, and still I can listen to the whole album in one session without getting the slightest bit bored with it. I would definitely suggest "Chasing the Ghost" for those of you who are new to Collide.
Now for this album: It wasn't horrible. "Crushed" is very a catchy song with an atmosphere of subtle vengefulness to it. "Euphoria" is also another amazing song that has a nice sultry and down-tempo, shoe-gazing type of feel to it sided with an electronic edge. The song seems very mellow at first, but around the third repeat of the chorus it picks up a bit and really climaxes, leaving you completely hypnotized with the song's ending.
The rest of the album isn't bad either and has its high and low points like any other album. After the first two songs, the rest of its tracks pretty much maintain one constant tempo, which is undoubtedly part of Collide's magic, but can get a bit monotonous after awhile. I guess the listener's own preferences would play a part in whether or not they can tolerate some slight monotony. I must say though, the down tempo feel really creates a carthartic atmosphere.
There are some other good songs to this album too, such as "Tempted" and "Slither Thing" which takes on a different and almost unexpected feel...and a few other, also.
Overall this album was pretty good...not Collide's best....but certainly not horrible. I'd only suggest it to those who have already been exposed to Collide, however. Chasing the Ghost would have to be the suggested album for those just discovering this band.
Free Music Review: Very Atmospheric (feels like being somewhere both beautiful and dark)
Hit: 5 Stars
Some Kind of Strange is a mesmerizing. Collide are very successful at creating atmospheric music that is slow and beautiful. Music of this kind can often get repetitive and cause the listener to lose interest. Collide avoids this pitfall. This album is captivating.
Some of my personal favorites include:
"Euphoria", "Somewhere", "Slither Thing", "Complicated"
Also, "Vortex" (A double disc Collide remix album) is definitely worth checking out. It is probably one of the most interesting remix albums I have ever heard.