Right. As usual, I have no idea about styles, or what obscure or well known track they’ve covered/ripped. Apart from Scooter, I never, or close enough to it, listen to this kind of music. Not hardstyle, softstyle, jumpstyle, trance, techno, nothing. As such, I won’t even mention anything about style as far as it’s possible, and I can’t make any comparisons except for other Scooter albums. As such, this is just what I think, and I may not have the knowledge about all the technicalities as some of you f*ckers, but as sure as hell now what I f*cking like. Alright, that’s out of the f*cking way.
Not much to say about the intro. Stealth is short, I kinda like the voice, and it’s a smooth transition into the the next track. Can’t ask for much more than that. Some of the older intros almost give me goosebumps though, such as Keyser Soze, but that is probably just the nostalgia talking. J’adore Hardcore is.. You know what? This is what I can’t f*cking stand. Dup dup dup this and dup dup dup that. F*ck it. I find it hard to believe that any of the older fans, from the first or second chapter, find this even remotely decent by now. It got old after Maria, just let it die. I guess the “newer” fans love it, though, since they’ve got no goddamn perspective. Yes. My taste is better than yours, deal with it. Crappy lyrics, and a boring melody makes this one of the forgettable tracks on the album.
Two singles following each other, Ti Sento is the better of the two. Not by much, though. I found it to be decent enough when I watched the video, but I must have been a good mood that day. The chorus is pretty good, but it’s too much of it. One or two times would have been enough. On the same note, there’s no need to repeat the lyrics three times, especially not with the damn auto-tune the last time which does not fit in the song. At all. No f*cking HPV is a big plus though. In conclusion, if I were to watch the video again I’d do it without sound.
State of Mind is better than both of the previous, though that’s not saying much. I like the melody, and the chorus is calm and relaxing. A nice contrast to the rest of the song. I like the melody as well, and the lyrics aren’t as self-centered as they have been these last few years. Which is a good thing. This would have been a lot better without any H.P at all though. More instrumentals, less is more, let the silence reign and so on.
Where the beats. HPV. Kill it with fire. Way too happy and upbeat. Feels like a filler. Might have been decent without the HPV, but as it is, it’s horrific, terrible and feels useless. And, just for those reasons, this will probably be the next single.
Bit a Bad Boy. I don’t know, but State of Mind, Where the Beats and this one feels a bit too similar. I mean, an instrumental in between would have been a good idea, I think. The chorus in this one is better than in the one before though. By now, the bass is starting to sound a bit repetitive as well. This is probably the best use of HPV on the album. Overall, this feels a bit harder than the ones before it. That might be my imagination but, regardless, it’s better than Where the Beats, and again, the HPV actually fits.
About halfway there, and so far, despite how negative I seem, I’ve been pleasantly surprised since I’d have expected, as was the case with JAOTW, to find every damn song to be awful. That’s not the case, State of Mind, and Bit a Bad Boy are at least decent and listenable.
I had high hopes for this one, the Sound Above My Hair, after listening to the samples. I was hoping for something like I’m Raving. Sadly, it doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. It would have been good with a bit more variation, and not so heavy on the auto-tune. Still, while the lyrics are just repeating over and over, I quite like them. Would have been better with more lyrics and if it was slower. One that really stands out anyway, in a good way. Could have been so much better though. What a shame.
Of course, they had to follow that one up with See Your Smile. This would have fit right in on JAOTW. It’s everything I despise about the fourth chapter. The HPV is absolutely unbearable.
The ninth song, Clic Clac, is the first instrumental. The ninth. That’s just not right. And, to make things worse, it’s not even good. Sounds like a mixture between Whistling Dave and the Hardcore Massive. Not much else to say, really.
Second Skin, on the other hand, is something different. I’m not sure I would have liked this song in another environment, but by now, when I’ve been waiting for something different for almost the entire album it’s like an oasis. Somewhat similar to Dancing in the Moonlight, and that is by no means a bad thing.
Unfortunately, the second to last track, is an unwelcome reminder that it’s 2009 and we’re living in HPV-land. Stuck on Replay is just as bad as Where the Beats, and I found myself going back to Second Skin over and over again, rather than finish this one. There’s just too much HPV, there’s nothing redeeming in it, at all. Again, this is all I dislike about the fourth chapter.
The last track, Metropolis, is not bad. Unfortunately, the singing ruins it for me. It reminds me of Sunrise, but it comes up wanting in every single way. Still, there’s no HPV and no H.P, which is a good thing. I always used to like the tracks with H.P the most, but there are nine songs with either HPV or H.P and that’s just too much.
In general, way too much f*cking HPV, one track, or possibly two, is really enough. They overuse the auto-tuning, too few instrumentals and I still don’t like the effect on H.P’s voice. Still, I gotta admit it’s better than JAOTW. Probably better than TUAO as well. I’d go so far as to say this is the best album since TSTE. Again, that’s not saying much, since all of the albums in between have been absolutely f*cking useless. I’m still hoping for something a bit darker and grittier though. This album, and Second Skin in particular, shows that there is still some small hope for the future. I’m not saying I want them to keep making songs like that, just that it shows they still can make something different and surprising. That’s something increasingly important.
Also like the sample that is inspired from the Black Eyed Peas track, sounds great in this track! The lyrics are great too.
UNDER THE RADAR OVER THE TOP »
New Album - Under The Radar Over The Top
(Jul 14th 2009, 4:38pm)
