Post by ukswings on Sept 28, 2009 23:24:58 GMT 1
Athlete - Black Swan
I will admit to being an Athlete fan. Some of the best songs of the 21st century have been done by Joel Pott and company, including the heartbreaking "Wires" and the rollicking "Hurricane".
But I got bored with this album quickly. I thought at first I was being influenced by the mediocre first reviews I was reading, but I quickly came to realize that the album was Athlete on autopilot. There's a sameness about many of the songs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing with Athlete - they've got a certain sound, and they do that sound very well.
But after a couple of listens, I'm still thinking they should have called the album "Generic Swan".
Roughly every other song on the album is worth paying attention to. The others are, well, they're hard to pay attention to after a minute or so. Falling in this category are "The Getaway". Here, Joel Pott's vocals echo Peter Gabriel, but the tune is only a bit perky, picking up after the first verse. It slows down yet again, and it's pretty enough, but it just doesn't have the bite that it could.
"Don't Hold Your Breath" is another landfill indie tune, never quite getting going. "Light the Way" stays instrumental until 2 minutes in, but then becomes even less remarkable. "Animations" is acoustic and nice, with a country-ish feel. "Wild Wolves" is, um, tame.
Of course, it wouldn't be Athlete if there wasn't SOME good stuff here. The two singles released so far, "Superhuman Touch", and "Black Swan Song", are both classic Athlete. The former song just bounces along beautifully (and Joel Pott sounds exactly like Peter Gabriel on it). The latter has one of those gorgeous twangy slide guitars that I'm a sucker for. Understated and perfectly produced, it's a keeper.
"Love Come Rescue" could have turned out more like "Animations", but this time the acoustic guitar and voice are in better sync, making it a winning combination.
"The Unknown" is the kind of indie that belongs outside the landfill, with jangly guitars and nice harmonies. "Magical Mistakes" sounds like Coldplay with a little No-Doz added.
That brings up the whole Coldplay-type comparison that one could make. Yes, I'm thinking that Athlete is deliberately going for the stadium anthem approach here all too frequently. They see what the neighbors are doing, no doubt, and perhaps believe that they can have the same success.
They're capable of it, too. Unfortunately, the album is just not strong enough to send them to a sold-out Wembley. Maybe the next one?
There's a bonus disc of tracks that comes with the album, and it's completely uninteresting except for the track "Sky Diver". This sounds a little unfinished - as most of the songs on the bonus do - but it's got potential. Otherwise, an "acoustic" version of "Black Swan Song" eliminates the twangy guitar and therefore loses it's point.
Athlete could be climbing the ladder right behind Muse and becoming one of the biggest groups in the world. The problem is that apparently the ladder needs to miss a few rungs first.
I'm still an Athlete fan, and I'm not horribly disappointed in the album.
But I know they can do better.
I'm giving "Black Swan" a 6.5 on the England Swings scale of 1-10.
I will admit to being an Athlete fan. Some of the best songs of the 21st century have been done by Joel Pott and company, including the heartbreaking "Wires" and the rollicking "Hurricane".
But I got bored with this album quickly. I thought at first I was being influenced by the mediocre first reviews I was reading, but I quickly came to realize that the album was Athlete on autopilot. There's a sameness about many of the songs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing with Athlete - they've got a certain sound, and they do that sound very well.
But after a couple of listens, I'm still thinking they should have called the album "Generic Swan".
Roughly every other song on the album is worth paying attention to. The others are, well, they're hard to pay attention to after a minute or so. Falling in this category are "The Getaway". Here, Joel Pott's vocals echo Peter Gabriel, but the tune is only a bit perky, picking up after the first verse. It slows down yet again, and it's pretty enough, but it just doesn't have the bite that it could.
"Don't Hold Your Breath" is another landfill indie tune, never quite getting going. "Light the Way" stays instrumental until 2 minutes in, but then becomes even less remarkable. "Animations" is acoustic and nice, with a country-ish feel. "Wild Wolves" is, um, tame.
Of course, it wouldn't be Athlete if there wasn't SOME good stuff here. The two singles released so far, "Superhuman Touch", and "Black Swan Song", are both classic Athlete. The former song just bounces along beautifully (and Joel Pott sounds exactly like Peter Gabriel on it). The latter has one of those gorgeous twangy slide guitars that I'm a sucker for. Understated and perfectly produced, it's a keeper.
"Love Come Rescue" could have turned out more like "Animations", but this time the acoustic guitar and voice are in better sync, making it a winning combination.
"The Unknown" is the kind of indie that belongs outside the landfill, with jangly guitars and nice harmonies. "Magical Mistakes" sounds like Coldplay with a little No-Doz added.
That brings up the whole Coldplay-type comparison that one could make. Yes, I'm thinking that Athlete is deliberately going for the stadium anthem approach here all too frequently. They see what the neighbors are doing, no doubt, and perhaps believe that they can have the same success.
They're capable of it, too. Unfortunately, the album is just not strong enough to send them to a sold-out Wembley. Maybe the next one?
There's a bonus disc of tracks that comes with the album, and it's completely uninteresting except for the track "Sky Diver". This sounds a little unfinished - as most of the songs on the bonus do - but it's got potential. Otherwise, an "acoustic" version of "Black Swan Song" eliminates the twangy guitar and therefore loses it's point.
Athlete could be climbing the ladder right behind Muse and becoming one of the biggest groups in the world. The problem is that apparently the ladder needs to miss a few rungs first.
I'm still an Athlete fan, and I'm not horribly disappointed in the album.
But I know they can do better.
I'm giving "Black Swan" a 6.5 on the England Swings scale of 1-10.