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Archived Reviews
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I'm pretty positive that the number of artists who have produced such a varied hat-trick of albums as Gary Zon's first three can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He certainly refuses to stand still or repeat anything, no matter how successful it's been & this latest offering carries on the good work of the preceeding Breed To Death EP with it's more accessable, song-orientated style. I'd hesitate to call it 'pop' myself but that seems to be the general consensus as to what this is but if so, it's certainly superior pop as Zon has put together his finest offering to date. The one link that has been maintained with his earlier works that the sombre, haunting soundscapes that graced his previous album Postnuclear are present once again here & work just as well, constantly adding greater depth to each & every track while Zon's plaintive vocals, which are pretty much a dead ringer for Trent Reznor, have enough expressive capabilties to bring the emotive side of the album more fully to life, starting with the 7 minute opener "Anthem" & continuing with the equally excellent "Get It Through" & the pacier "No Effect" which both impress through their memorable choruses & in the latter case, some excellent synthleads as well, proving instantly memorable numbers that just beg for repeat listenings & get the album off to an excellent start. This approach pays dividends throughout, as proven once again by the later "Fields" where the undoubted atmospheric qualities are further enhanced by a simple but effective bass sequence that underpins the whole number while the more emotive side is taken to its logical conclusion with the piano-led title track which, due to its minimalist content of piano, voice & nothing else, takes on a startlingly personal & intimate feel. In total contrast, a very Kraftwerk-like rhythm heralds the beginning of "Preset" (I initially thought it was nicked from Tour De France & I'm still not 100% sure it isn't!), another fine piece with the almost playful voice effects adding an additionally infectious edge to the chorus. As the album nears its conclusion "Attention" takes on a greater & greater intensity as it progresses, the vocals realy adding meat the musical background, like a rollercoaster or an unstopabble runaway train that's constantly gaining speed & even if the initially restrained closer "Thanks For Everything" does seem to take the tempo down a notch, it too eventually shows a good deal of balls, making for a lively, if not quite as rousing as I'd hoped for, ending with some more effective synthwork to round things off nicely
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Yet another excellent album from Dismantled, then, although its success does beg the question, is there anything Zon isn't good at? |
