VNV Nation - Empires

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Free Music Notes for Empires

Free Music Review: A great album...period.
Hit: 5 Stars

After listening to it from beginning to end, I was impressed with the feeling it gave me. The music fills me with the urge to dance until my legs would fall off, but the vocals made me want to wave my fists in defiance (of what?...anything), and the lyrics made me sad. Ronan Harris' vocal style is rather unique in that he sings as most people deliver speeches...and his lyrics reinforce that sense. His vocabulary and his style of writing is unmatched; nobody writes words in music the way he does. Some people deliver their message through poetry and innuendo...Ronan gets right to the heart of the matter, addressing all the problems with the failed utopian ideals we once held for ourselves, and forcing us to look at the ashes of a fallen metropolis. "Watching Empires Burn" indeed. Granted all of VNV's music seem to possess this message, but only VNV could say it and make it mean something.

"Firstlight" and "Arclight" open and close the album with a mournful tone, giving the impression that all empires end as they began...in ashes. "Kingdom" is my favorite song on the album, with its powerful rhythms and a great chorus. "Rubicon" is my favorite vocal performance on the album. Ronan's voice is heavenly on this song, sad-sounding, but pushing on to continue. "Saviour" is a great instrumental (before now, I only heard the vocal version on "Burning Empires," but now I actually like the instrumental version more). "Fragments" is the harshest song on the album, with Ronan's voice taking an angry turn, while "Distant (Rubicon II)" is a wonderful complement to "Rubicon," taking the more orchestral ambient approach. "Standing" is the big hit from the album, and is just a beautiful song. It's great to dance to and it's great to sing with. "Legion" and "Darkangel" are high-energy, and a great way to close out the album before "Arclight" comes in to finish things off.

After hearing "Empires," I'm eager to check out "Advance and Follow," "Praise the Fallen," and 'Futureperfect" in their entirety. VNV's music is just that good. It's simple, but so powerful, and "Empires" is the perfect example of music's ability to induce feelings not normally felt through EBM. It makes you want to dance, yes...but it also makes you want to fight...not with violence, but with ideas. Futurepop never sounded so good.

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