To the small minded individuals who dare rate this music as less than four stars, I pity your cold, angry world. This is an incredibly emotional experience, and while Aereogramme have listened to the likes of King Crimson, Tool, Radiohead, etc, they are certainly different and in many ways superior to all of those bands... I love those three bands, too...
This cd has some of the heaviest moments I've ever heard, as well as some of the most beautiful string arrangements. The singer's high tenor is powerful but fragile, and the overall production is detailed.
I was blown away upon first listen... You really owe it to yourself to check these Scots out.
This album will leave you stunned. So many aspects and different forms are given. Monumental and Epic, to Brutal bombastic white noise. It is absolutely unbelievable to hear. No other band has crafted such lush arrangements and molded them together with such precision
Sleep and Release is one of the most emotionally powerful albums I have ever heard. Sometimes brutal, sometimes delicate; this a journey to take over and over. The production is widescreen and detailed, ala Siamese Dream. There are metal guitars in some songs, and string quartets in others. The voicemail sample (authentic, by the way) at the end of A Simple Process of Elimination is just devastating. It leaves a lump in my throat everytime. I can't believe more people don't know about this Oughts masterpiece.
Remember the first time you saw th Flaming Lips live?? Or the first time you realized how cool Beck was?? What about the first time you heard the song "Creep" by Radiohead? Or how angelic Jeff Buckley's voice is?? Remember those feelings and put this cd in and turn it up!! This record absolutely kills me!!!
I'm writing a review of this album to balance out the more enthusiastic reviews with a more sober account.
This band has great potential. In fact, compared to the tripe garbage that the masses readily consume, they sound pretty good. It's just the ground they cover has been covered so many times before.
Their songs are heavily layered with distorted guitars, chimes, violins, a few random sound samples, and even a harp melody on the piece, "A simple process of elimination", which is actually very pretty. Track 10, which is hidden, also has some very interesting drumming, and very beautiful folksey violin melody. The layering lends to a very lush soundscape. The rhythm from song to song is varied enough. The song structure and melodies usually aim for wistful, tragic, and melodramatic pop hooks, somewhat akin to Radiohead, and especially Muse, except there might be some Mogwai thrown in there as well.
From the first listen onward I knew something was amiss with this album. The soundscape, as lush as it may be, "sounds" flat. There is so much layering at times that some of the instruments lose their emotional impact. The vocalist, Craig B. usually sings in a high range tone that is slightly whiny and effeminate, occasionally he breaks out into rather powerful blood curdling screams. According to Wikipedia he lost his voice for six months from screaming so much. The lyrics really do not impress me. They are the sterotypically vague personal lyrics, which really give me no idea of what Craig is trying to sing about. FOR EXAMPLE:
It's time to follow the black path
And come tommorow you won't laugh at love
Faced down you can see the ground turn
From green and red, black to grey
Where everyone becomes afraid of you
How am I supposed to interpret this? I guess I'm at a place where I want a vocalist to sing lyrics that are specific and descriptive. I want lyrics that address personal, social, or political issues in a creative and detailed manner, or at least more detailed than the lyrics cited above.
The song structure and melodies are even more frustrating. Many of the songs just too short and "radio friendly" for my taste. Just when this group starts to milk a REALLY interesting passage, they have a nasty habit of going on to something else, or end the song altogether, which is usually boring. This habit lends to an undeveloped and anti-climatic sound, and not even in a purposeful way. It's just jarring and annoying.
Speaking of jarring. The transitions between some of these songs can be rather crude. The end of many of these songs just cuts off abruptly, and immediately throws the listener into another song, full scale. For me, this method of production does not allow for reflection on, and recovery from the previous song. It also doesn't adequately prepare you for next song. Needless to say, this REALLY bugged me.
There is no doubt this band is talented, but it takes more than talent to please my ear, and unfortunately, my ears were not impressed.
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