Since Roshan posted this album I have been crafting this review in my head. Without even listening to it I knew what I'd end up saying. It's the album I've been thinking about all week, and the album I've been avoiding. I listened to tracks 1 and 2, just to give myself a little taster. Then things changed a little. It became obvious, though, that this was going to go one of two ways; It was either going to get a 1/5 or a 5/5.So I got back to doing what I had been all week. Avoiding listening to the album. I was about 80% sure I was going to hate it, and I've been dreading this because I didn't want Roshan to think that he was right when he said "This will be outside of Dan's comfort zone" - a comment which annoyed me.
So the next thing I set out to do was listen to and review Strange Journey. I did this and there was little enjoyment to be found from there.
I've been dwelling on what Roshan said a bit too. I mean, he doesn't really know me very well or my taste in music - not really. He knows that I like the few albums I've put up and he knows I've liked the ones I've given good reviews. I think that this comment was in reference to the fact that I often say I like a good vocalist in the music I listen to, and I assume that as this is just a musical score there are no vocals and I therefore won't like it.
If that is what was intended then I would say he was wrong. I actually really enjoy a nice bit of music. I love the really powerful, dramaic music you hear often in film trailers, and I also like the equally powerful (but in a different way) music you get in a really sad film. Infact, I'd go as far as to say that I wouldn't enjoy most of my favourite films quite as much if they didn't have a good soundtrack.
I've seen There Will Be Blood.Well. Sort of. For arguments' sake, lets say it's three hours long. I've seen the first hour, and the last hour. I missed the middle. Anyway, the soundtrack never really struck me in the film, and I found myself wondering what on Earth possessed Roshan to purchase the soundtrack. I have a feeling he heard this before he saw the film, either through recommendation or curiosity. But, I don't know Roshan so I won't be making any assumptions.
So...The album. About time I got to this.
As a musical score it all flows brilliantly and it fits together perfectly. It seems like Greenwood has put a lot of effort into writing this. Which I can only congratulate him on. Looking on the wikipedia page I see it was nominated (or at least, considered) for some pretty important awards, which is a great acomplishment. I also noticed it had some good reviews. After that I noticed who these reviews were from.
'Rock Feedback' gave the album 5 stars. Rock Feedback...
'Pop Matters' gave it 9/10...
So I got thinking...Would anyone care if, instead of it being written by Jonny Greenwood, of Radiohead fame, it was written by me?
Still, that won't affect my review. I am listening to this as if it is just another musical score. Which it is, essentially.
It's a calming album, but there are things about it that sound almost scary at times. The droning strings make a genuinely scary sound in several tracks, and it makes me almost uncomfortable. I sit there expecting something to jump out at me from my laptop screen. And in film, a lot of the time this is what the score is meant to help do.
And that's exactly why I don't like this album. It was clearly written for a film. It wasn't written for me to listen to in bed. It wasn't written for me to drive around in my car with. It was written for There Will Be Blood, a 2007 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
I'm not knocking Greenwood's writing talent - it's clearly there. And I think he has achieved a great deal. He has written some genuinely good music, and it deserves awards for theatrical scores. It doesn't deserve awards for Album of the Year. That's what he gets in Radiohead. What a successful man.
But for the purpose of AlbumSwap, I have to give this 1/5. As an album, it's what I consider a pointless listen. That's not to say it is at all outside of my comfort zone though.
Dan.
You wouldn't have given it a 1 out of 5 it it was in comfort zone though. :)
ReplyDeleteI actually purchased this because of the film, in the film the music didn't fit well, it was awkward, mis-timed and rarely had any relevance to what was going on. But it was this...awkwardness that made the film so good and set the tone for it.
I thought that listening to the soundtrack without the film would put it in a more, less experimental, light. In my opinion, that's why it stands out on its own as a piece of music without the need for it's intended visual counter part.
Also, formulating opinions about an album before even listening to it is a very bad idea.
'You wouldn't have given it a 1 out of 5 it it was in comfort zone though. :)'
ReplyDeleteOooh silly thing to say. I like hip-hop music but that by no means suggests that i am going to give every hip-hop album a 5/5. I rated Animal Collective highly but that doesnt mean they were in my 'comfort zone', I had never listened to anything like that before so infact they could not have been further from it.
"Also, formulating opinions about an album before even listening to it is a very bad idea"
ReplyDeleteindeed it is, but I can't help thinking about what I'm to expect from an album.
And that's an acceptable reason to purchase the album :)
I echo Dan's every sentiment, I have to say. Though I'm sure this is fantastic as a film score, It offered me very little as a stand-alone piece of music. That isn't to say I don't enjoy classicasl music, because I do. Ludovico Einaudi is rapidly becoming one of my favourite musicians (incidently he wrote much of the soundtrack for This Is England). But I keep thinking that I need the film to put the music into context before I can enjoy it.
ReplyDelete