Disco de The Crystal Method: “Tweekend [Australian Bonus CD]”

I was anxious to purchase this CD after falling in love with the duo's 1997 outing 'Vegas', but wasn't sure what to expect after reading some negative reviews. But after the arrival of the album I was very happy with my purchase. In a way the negative reviews lowered my expectations , thereby giving the disc greater listening pleasure. Anyway, Tweekend, while at parts sounding similar to Vegas is really a whole different sound altogether. By incorporating rap, rock, and even a bit of pop into a number of tracks they have created an album accessable to non-techno fans while not steering too away from what us techno fans want to hear. Here's what I think of the songs themselves.

PHD - What an opener. You really have to listen to this one with the bass cranked up, as that's where the song's rythm lies. Well timed bleeps and screeches and dark and cool lyrics help to make this track one of my favourites. 9/10

Wild, Sweet, And Cool - Not as complex as alot of TCM's other work, this is still a good track. I'd say it's similar to Vegas's 'Cherry Twist'. Could've done without the female vocals though. 7.5/10

Roll It Up - Not a bad track, but it doesn't really progress alot throughout the song. Not really much in the vocals department either. Good for background music. 7.5/10

Over The Line - I wasn't impressed with this one on first listen. But after repeat listenings the song's laidback and trippy sound has grown on me. 7/10

Name Of The Game - Rap, rock, and bigbeat are all seamlessly mixed together on this track. It's a bonecrunching number like nothing TCM have ever done before. The diversity gives this track an edge over the rest. 9/10

The Winner - This is a good followup to NOTG. The guitar riffs incorporated into this song don't work quite as well as they did in NOTG, but it is definitely a good track on it's own merits. 7.5/10

Ready For Action - A bit repetitive, but there's so much going on at a time you hardly even notice it. And those lyrics are so damn catchy. 7/10

Ten Miles Back - A mix of 'Comin Back' and 'Bad Stone' from Vegas. The music works, but unlike 'Comin Back' the female vocals don't seem to click. Good nonetheless. 7.5/10

Murder - As a previous reviewer said, this track is like a pop song with it's verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure. This doesnt work for TCM. The chorus does show promise, but the verses just don't do it for me. 6.5/10

Blowout - Nice beat. Little else. Still good for driving or background music, but not so good if you want to sit there and really listen. 7/10

Tough Guy - Similar to Leftfield's 'Song For Life', but a tad darker, this is a damn good song. It starts off slow with a good beat and cool lyrics before picking up the pace at about halfway. 8/10

Favourite tracks - PHD, Name Of The Game

Worst Track - Murder

The music is awsome...the claim that this is a clean version is a blatent lie. "Mother F------'s" is quite audible on both cut #5 and #11. As much as I enjoy the music I do resent the false advertizing, If it says it's clean it should be totally clean, no subtle muting of half a word, no hint of what you could have heard had you chosen to purchase the explicit version, just music without objectionable lyrics of any sort. If you can't accomplish that then don't sell a lie.

The Crystal Method's first album Vegas was an excellent album and held it's own in the large waters of electronic music. The media just ate it up, especially their song "Busy Child".

With the release of "Tweekend", they are back and have refined their skills to the likes of Leftfield. Every song has a hard bass lines, excellent use of samples, amazing melody, and a driving force bigger than a diesel truck full of adrenaline.

The production quality is outstanding. Every song has excellent fidelity and the bass is massive and clear. Ken & Scott took extra time "tweeking" the album until it was perfect and mixed everything 24-bit, then downsampled for a 16-bit CD. The two from Glendale took their time on the album and made sure they had a polished product. Since they have a 24-bit recording, I would LOVE to have a DTS release of this album (HUH?! MAYBE? PLEASE?!)

I do find one fault with this album. Some of the offensive samples they used could have easily been taken out and they still would have had a perfect album. They use the "MF" word in a few songs, and is not necessary.

If you can look past that flaw, you have before you one of the best electronic albums ever released. Crystal Method, I applause you and thank you for taking the time to make such an amazing album that stands heads and turntables above the rest.

Why do so many people hate this alubm? It's great! Everyone song on this cd is really good, and the only reason I gave it four stars is because I wasn't really addicted to it like I was to their first cd, Vegas. Nonetheless, I will proceed to explain: Tweekend sounds NOTHING like their first album. It's so different, I can't even begin to describe it. When I first started listening to the first track, PHD, on the cd, I could hardly believe this was TCM I was listening to! And yet, now I'm craving PHD, along with every other track on the cd. EXCEPT FOR: Ten Miles Back. This song sounds alot like Jaded, from their first album, and I really don't like either songs!!

Best tracks: PHD, Name of the Game, Ready for Action, and Tough Guy. These are the BEST, 10/10 tracks on the cd's. All the other tracks are averaging at 8/10.

Worst TRacks: The Winner and Ten Miles Back. I already told u why I don't like TMB, and the winner isn't that great to begin with, as it seems like the Method don't really even do anything with the track. Winner sounds like a mix of a few of the others songs on the cd, and the lyrics aren't really catchy either, not like READY FOR ACTION!

Yet, it's still a great cd, well worth my money.

Deathsmith

I've waited a long time for this album to come out. I'm so glad I purchased it. The first album (Vegas) is one of my all time favorite electronic music albums. This album (Tweekend) is a bit different but "The Method" proves that they have not lost any of their unique talent. Taking random sounds that don't much sound like music at all and blending them into this ultimate noise extravaganza! The second half of this album pleases me the most because it's a little more dark and industrial. A real treat!