So I got my Legion of Boom pre-order today (The new The Crystal Method album)... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Johnny Rotten · 01-12-2004, 10:25 PM

Let me preface by saying I played the crap out of Vegas back in college. I listened to a lot of Tweekend. That one I didn't like as consistently, but it was still pretty flavorful. Late last week I stumbled upon a pre-order opportunity for their new album, the release of which caught me somewhat offguard. But I grabbed it, because it was TCM, right?

Right.

This has got to be one of the most monotonous electronica albums I have ever heard, and it busts my chops to say that about TCM. There are sub-genres where a lack of changes throughout the song is acceptable and even a part of the style, as with goa trance and ambient downtempo, but acid breaks is very much at the other end of the spectrum. You have to hit hard, you have to keep distinct layers coming, and you have to keep their brains buzzing until the final note. You need all three.

If you were to judge from the preview preview clips available at places like Amazon, you'd think it friggin rocked the house, and it does...for about 30 seconds to a minute, at most. The killing problem is that the instrumentation consists of loops that never sound longer than two measures. The same batch of short takes is used for each instrument, alternating between chorus and monotony until the end of the track. There are almost zero chord progressions or key changes in any of the tracks, and few melodies. You're strung along with gradually added layers into the chorus, but the payoff is never quite as good as what the song seems to promise. TCM is just not able to bring the energetic chorus power they displayed in their previous work. I'm also hearing the same kick drum and warping acid riff I got plenty of six, seven years ago.

It also won't play on your computer--right off the bat, at least. You can't choose a program to view the CD, besides Windows Explorer, of course, which automagically sends you to a Flash-based video of "Born Too Slow" and gives you no option to play any track. No tracks show up in Explorer, yet of the files that are present, over 500MB is missing between what you see and what Explorer tells you about how large the disk is. Keeping in style with the mediocrity of the album was the mediocrity of the protection. I could view and play the tracks in WinAMP (version 5) and rip them to my hard drive. I could also start up Windows Media Player 9 and click on "Copy from CD" to open up a playlist there, too. WinAMP ripped the entire album without a hitch, and all the songs played without errors.

To make matters even more entertaining, TCM's handlers have taken a page from the oldest music industry trick in the book: The single currently in rotation, "Born Too Slow," bears almost zero resemblance to the rest of the album, but promises to embrace and extend the TCM sound you've come to know and love. Vegas was a musical milestone, and in retrospect, Tweekend was just a stylistic dalliance into urban, vox-oriented breaks, while Legion of Boom comes off as leftover takes from Vegas that have only been partially recovered in some misguided archeological dig. Too bad, because it's a waste of a good album title. In the long run, it comes off as an excellently produced arrangement of generic, repetitive acid breakbeat loops you could have bought online for $50 per CD, save for those shiny guest spots starring Wes Borland, Milla Jovovich, and John Garcia (former lead singer of Kyuss, a seminal stoner metal band). And what you end up with is a sound everyone else has made using those same loop discs.

Maybe this is just a sign of electronica running its course, like disco or hair metal, but I'd like to think not. It's been around since the late 80's, so we're going on fifteen years now. And it hasn't really blown up into a mainstream phenomenon, which has the beneficial side effect of preventing the stylistic self-limitations that come with following the popular sound in the hopes of following the popular dollars.

This is just one man's opinion, but I do recommend holding off on grabbing this one until word of mouth has had its chance to circulate. Sometimes a band only has one or two good albums in it, and The Crystal Method sound like they've run out of gas.

Jadey · 01-12-2004, 11:54 PM

Damn, that's disappointing. I was really looking forward to getting this disk. The whole not being able to play it on my computer thing sucks since my computer is my home stereo! Just like the last Distillers cd. It's really a shame.

Johnny Rotten · 01-13-2004, 01:08 AM

Well, like I said, it's just one guy's opinion, and you can still listen to the tracks with WinAMP and rip them with both WinAMP and Windows Media Player. It's a very thin layer of obfuscation.

Spartak · 01-13-2004, 02:00 AM

I've seen them live, and I must say I enjoyed the style of music on Vegas more so than Tweekend.

Gutted that they didn't even attempt to make another Vegas

Jadey · 01-13-2004, 09:57 PM

Well, I just had to go out and buy this today. I'm a music fanatic and I'm weak. I can't help it. I just put it in and started listening so I really don't have an opinion yet though.

NeverBorn · 01-14-2004, 04:23 PM

I love TCM ..absolutely loved them since Vegas. The new stuff has been slightly dissappointing, even though I think Legion of Boom is better than tweaked, but Vegas was just magical.

Jadey · 01-16-2004, 11:07 AM

Okya, I don't like it. The stuff from their first 2 albums was a little more distinctive. I could hear some of those songs and know it was them, even if I didn;t now it was them (Does that make sense?) I thikn the stuff on this last album sounds like tons of other stuff I've heard before. I'm kinda disappointed. Hopefully it grows on me.

jbuffett · 01-18-2004, 06:59 PM

Sad, another one (album/hit) wonder. I found tweekend disappointing as well and am not rushing off to purch. the new one.

01-12-2004, 10:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	So I got my Legion of Boom pre-order today (The new The Crystal Method album)... Let me preface by saying I played the crap out of Vegas back in college. I listened to a lot of Tweekend. That one I didn't like as consistently, but it was still pretty flavorful. Late last week I stumbled upon a pre-order opportunity for their new album, the release of which caught me somewhat offguard. But I grabbed it, because it was TCM, right? Right. This has got to be one of the most monotonous electronica albums I have ever heard, and it busts my chops to say that about TCM. There are sub-genres where a lack of changes throughout the song is acceptable and even a part of the style, as with goa trance and ambient downtempo, but acid breaks is very much at the other end of the spectrum. You have to hit hard, you have to keep distinct layers coming, and you have to keep their brains buzzing until the final note. You need all three. If you were to judge from the preview preview clips available at places like Amazon, you'd think it friggin rocked the house, and it does...for about 30 seconds to a minute, at most. The killing problem is that the instrumentation consists of loops that never sound longer than two measures. The same batch of short takes is used for each instrument, alternating between chorus and monotony until the end of the track. There are almost zero chord progressions or key changes in any of the tracks, and few melodies. You're strung along with gradually added layers into the chorus, but the payoff is never quite as good as what the song seems to promise. TCM is just not able to bring the energetic chorus power they displayed in their previous work. I'm also hearing the same kick drum and warping acid riff I got plenty of six, seven years ago. It also won't play on your computer--right off the bat, at least. You can't choose a program to view the CD, besides Windows Explorer, of course, which automagically sends you to a Flash-based video of "Born Too Slow" and gives you no option to play any track. No tracks show up in Explorer, yet of the files that are present, over 500MB is missing between what you see and what Explorer tells you about how large the disk is. Keeping in style with the mediocrity of the album was the mediocrity of the protection. I could view and play the tracks in WinAMP (version 5) and rip them to my hard drive. I could also start up Windows Media Player 9 and click on "Copy from CD" to open up a playlist there, too. WinAMP ripped the entire album without a hitch, and all the songs played without errors. To make matters even more entertaining, TCM's handlers have taken a page from the oldest music industry trick in the book: The single currently in rotation, "Born Too Slow," bears almost zero resemblance to the rest of the album, but promises to embrace and extend the TCM sound you've come to know and love. Vegas was a musical milestone, and in retrospect, Tweekend was just a stylistic dalliance into urban, vox-oriented breaks, while Legion of Boom comes off as leftover takes from Vegas that have only been partially recovered in some misguided archeological dig. Too bad, because it's a waste of a good album title. In the long run, it comes off as an excellently produced arrangement of generic, repetitive acid breakbeat loops you could have bought online for $50 per CD, save for those shiny guest spots starring Wes Borland, Milla Jovovich, and John Garcia (former lead singer of Kyuss, a seminal stoner metal band). And what you end up with is a sound everyone else has made using those same loop discs. Maybe this is just a sign of electronica running its course, like disco or hair metal, but I'd like to think not. It's been around since the late 80's, so we're going on fifteen years now. And it hasn't really blown up into a mainstream phenomenon, which has the beneficial side effect of preventing the stylistic self-limitations that come with following the popular sound in the hopes of following the popular dollars. This is just one man's opinion, but I do recommend holding off on grabbing this one until word of mouth has had its chance to circulate. Sometimes a band only has one or two good albums in it, and The Crystal Method sound like they've run out of gas. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine Last edited by Johnny Rotten; 01-12-2004 at 10:41 PM..

01-13-2004, 01:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	Well, like I said, it's just one guy's opinion, and you can still listen to the tracks with WinAMP and rip them with both WinAMP and Windows Media Player. It's a very thin layer of obfuscation. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

01-13-2004, 02:00 AM	#4 (permalink)
Spartak Bang bang Location: New Zealand	I've seen them live, and I must say I enjoyed the style of music on Vegas more so than Tweekend. Gutted that they didn't even attempt to make another Vegas __________________ I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

01-18-2004, 06:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
jbuffett Tilted	Sad, another one (album/hit) wonder. I found tweekend disappointing as well and am not rushing off to purch. the new one. __________________ I do blame you for voting for Bush.

01-12-2004, 11:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jadey This Space For Rent Location: Davenport, Iowa	Damn, that's disappointing. I was really looking forward to getting this disk. The whole not being able to play it on my computer thing sucks since my computer is my home stereo! Just like the last Distillers cd. It's really a shame.

01-13-2004, 09:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jadey This Space For Rent Location: Davenport, Iowa	Well, I just had to go out and buy this today. I'm a music fanatic and I'm weak. I can't help it. I just put it in and started listening so I really don't have an opinion yet though.

01-14-2004, 04:23 PM	#6 (permalink)
NeverBorn I'm a pepper bitch..	I love TCM ..absolutely loved them since Vegas. The new stuff has been slightly dissappointing, even though I think Legion of Boom is better than tweaked, but Vegas was just magical.

01-16-2004, 11:07 AM	#7 (permalink)
Jadey This Space For Rent Location: Davenport, Iowa	Okya, I don't like it. The stuff from their first 2 albums was a little more distinctive. I could hear some of those songs and know it was them, even if I didn;t now it was them (Does that make sense?) I thikn the stuff on this last album sounds like tons of other stuff I've heard before. I'm kinda disappointed. Hopefully it grows on me.