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[ALBUM] :: Infected Mushroom - Vicious Delicious [YoYo Records]
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| Dan1584 |
Tracklist
01. Becoming Insane (7:20)
02. Artilery (4:28)
03. Vicious Delicious (7:24)
04. Heavy Weight (8:41)
05. Suliman (6:10)
06. Forgive Me (3:29)
07. In Front Of Me (6:53)
08. Special Place (4:28)
09. Eat It Raw (6:30)
10. Change The Formality (7:44)
11. Before (6:56)
Release Schedule:
March 16th - Pre-Sale Begins
March 21st - Japanese Release
March 26th - Worldwide Release
April 2nd - U.K. Release
So I'll preface this review with the fact that Infected Mushroom is by far my favorite musical group. Despite many's up and down opinions of them throughout their career I have found them to be inspiring and innovational in their own right.
It was quite apparent to me once Converting Vegetarians was released that they were beginning to really try something brand new. They started experimenting with new equipment (they bought a whole new set up for the creation of CV), they were playing around with vocals and they were trying their hand at downbeat and other experimental sounds. This came as no surprise to me, because this is what they have always done... they have always tried to do something they haven't done prior. They clearly spent more time on the "Other Side" disc and had more passion for that style than they did for the "Trance Side" disc, because it lacked the soul of their previous productions.
After CV came IM The Supervisor which was a straight up party album. Very focused on the club atmopshere and creating tracks that would pulsate at venues, rather then engulf the listener at home. They really started to highlight their passion for electric guitars and to my satisfaction they did the whole guitar thing amazingly well. Overall IM The Supervisor still lacked the soul of their previous efforts but none-the-less they bounced back from the blunder of their "Trance Side" to CV.
The first track I ever heard off of Vicious Delicious was Suliman, and it was a live rip from a gig they played at, this was about a year ago now. I was happy to hear drive and soaring bass, funky sections and the energy of good electric guitar riffs, especially the solo at the end. I thought to myself "man I hope they really exploit this new found rock/psy-trance vibe they have going. Maybe I should have knocked on wood.
My first listen through Vicious Delicious made me feel a little flabergasted and a little like I was in a bad dream. I thought to myself "Did I really just hear what I heard?" and my second listen through just solidified that I was not dreaming. Since I'm already going lengthy with this review I'll sum it up and close on this, since it's not really worth my time or yours, lol...
There are some DECENT moments on this new album, but there are no AMAZING moments, or even GOOD creative surprises that remind you what Infected Mushroom is (or was) about. They have clearly grown complacent of their career and seriously want to try something more mainstream, more commercially accessible, but I think they have moved into this direction with a little bit too much haste. I have always known they wanted to move into a rock/pop/dance type direction. If you read interviews from when they first appeared on the scene they had expressed their aspirations to work with Madonna and their love for rock music, Dream Theater anyone? So I knew this way was coming but when I heard the material on this album, at least the more mainstream songs, I was surprised that they had taken this much of a step in this direction. What they have supplied fans with is half of an album which reminds you what Infected Mushroom is good at (tiwsted sounds, fx, melodies) but even those "normal" Infected songs are lacking the passion and quality that even IM The Supervisor had, even though it was rather minimal. And then we get another haldf of the album which features a horrible hip hop artist who uses the line "I'm the lone ranger looking for pocahontas" (Artilery) and then a pop song which gets rather repetitive after hearing the hook so many damn times without the satisfaction of a climax (In Front Of Me).
Overall this album is just as confused as Infected Mushroom is recently. Both the album and Infected don't know what they want to be, and they can't seem to take a full step forward without trying to not completely alienate themselves from their roots and fans. If they were to make this album into a two disc release, one side with songs like "Suliman", "Vicious Delicious", "Eat It Raw" and then the other with their highly mainstream attempts MAYBE this release would be easier for me to understand. But I would even go beyond that and hope that they would simply have a side project (leaving the Infected Mushroom guise behind) to try out these new mainstream songs, at least then I could look at it in a more disconnected way from who they have been for almost 10 years now. They need to make a choice, and this album, like Britney Spears' head shaving craziness, just shows that they need help, some inspiration or a guiding hand to move to the next stage of their career or life. I honestly can't rate this album because it's like two albums combined. It's like listening to two different artists within the same album, the continuity throughout the album is minimal and rather confusing. I'm still scratching my head.
Short (45 seconds) and pointless samples can be heard at PsyShop if you are interested. |
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| The Master |
| thank you, very objective review |
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| Philby |
| "artillery" reminds me of when matt stone and trey parker sing in south park or team america... |
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| SMC |
| I don't care much for IM. But i kinda liked Vicious Delicious, Suliman and Before, and the highlight of the album is Heavyweight, what an amazing piece of electronic progressive rock infected crazyness. :) |
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| Dan1584 |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Master
thank you, very objective review |
:) Thank you... It's only fair to be objective especially when reviewing a band you have a strong affinity for.
| quote: | Originally posted by SMC
I don't care much for IM. But i kinda liked Vicious Delicious, Suliman and Before, and the highlight of the album is Heavyweight, what an amazing piece of electronic progressive rock infected crazyness. :) |
The actual track "Vicious Delicious" is pretty good, but naturally the live version with Netz playing his guitar over the track and Erez going nuts with some twisted acid synth lines is 10 times better and more epic. Luckily I got to hear it live at Ultra last year and luckily that set was recorded :)
From fans on Infected's forum it seems that "Heavy Weight" is indeed the favorite of the album. It is definitely one of the most rich tracks on the album. It slowly grows with different sections, twisted fx, melodies and a guitar riff undertones that help carry the song at times. I think the disapointment I have in this track is the missed bar on the solo guitar/synth moments in the last quarter of the track. While they are good and stand out more than other climactic moments on the album I just remember the epic moments in "Stretched" and would have hoped they would go with insane riffs like they did in that track which hit it more on the head IMO. But definitely Heavy Weight is one of the more notable and more "Infected" tracks on the album.
Strangely enough I do like "In Front Of Me"... the vocalist isn't half bad and the lyrics are decent. I mean taking the song for what it is, it's listenable. But like I said in my initial review the hook just gets repeated too much and the song is in need of a climax or change of some kind by the end. Oh well. |
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| The Master |
| Dan, if you were to make an "Infected Mushroom Greatests Works" album, which 10 tracks would you include? |
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| Dan1584 |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Master
Dan, if you were to make an "Infected Mushroom Greatests Works" album, which 10 tracks would you include? |
Ahhhhh 10? , you suck! Um, lets see, in no specific order.
01. Symphonatic
02. Dancing With Kadafi
03. Bust A Move
04. Shakawkaw
05. Psycho (Live Mix)
06. Stretched
07. Mush Mushi
08. Astrix - Coolio (Infected Mushroom Remix)
09. Lo Ra
10. Deeply Disturbed (Violet Vision Remix)
I refrained from selecting any of the new tracks for now because they haven't settled with me yet, however if they released "Live Mixes" of "Vicious Delicious" and "Suliman" they would easily make that list. |
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| Marcolissimo |
I do agree with Dan saying they're confused or that they don't wanna go all mainstream but they don't wanna go back to their roots either.
I also think that these guys are doing what's best for them. I mean they do this for a living, so they need more and more people listening to their albums and coming to their shows. I didn't care much for psy years and years ago when I first heard their songs, and to be honest as a non-psyhead it didn't get my attention. But their IM album got me hooked. I've seen them 8 times now, and of course now I can appreciate their older work too. With their IM The Supervisor album I've gotten 5-6 of my friends to give (mainstream)psytrance a chance and maybe one day they'll appreciate the twisted melodies and the crazy fx :)
These guys are trying to make a living, which is understandable. We'd all like to believe musicians should do it for the music and for the love of the fans, but we all have bills to pay.
I, like many others, loved Heavyweight. Holy , those psytars are perfect for becoming insane (no pun intended) ;)
Overall, I do hear a lot of the same sounds and tricks used in their IM the Supervisor album, so nothing totally new.
All I can say for now is, I hope they get rich and that they can achieve their dream of working with the likes of Madonna or whoever it is they wanna work with now. These guys have given me lots of great parties and tons of beautiful music. I'd still pay to see them next time they come to Canada :toocool: |
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| Eagle` |
| Just heard becomin' Insane, dear god what's the deal with incorporating those Ricky Martin alike vocals :conf::nervous: |
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| Marcolissimo |
Infected Mushroom - In Front Of Me
Why can't I see what's in front of me?
I see the doors that I can't open
Adding locks from time to time
When it opens
Something blocks me
And I'm asking myself why?
Did I take the step I wanted?
Was it just a state of mind?
I feel sorry for myself
Every time I close my eyes
And I fall into a hole
And I can take no more
Why can't I see what's in front of me?
What's behind the door? I wonder
Must be brighter than my past
Will I feel a little different?
When I take myself across
Was it really worth the journey?
Was it just a foolish task?
I feel sorry for myself
When I open up my eyes
And I fall into a hole
And I can take no more |
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| RaPiD____EyE_k |
| Special Place is excellent...even g-units i know like the track |
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