I am going to start a Music Blog... This is my first album review... Can you please give me your feedback?
One Time For All Time
The common misconstrued perception that instrumental bands are somewhat “inferior” to regular bands is completely blown out of the water with 65DaysofStatic’s album One time for All Time and was a breath of fresh air in the post rock scene when it was released back in 2005.
65DaysofStatic (commonly referred to as 65DOS or 65) are an exceptional post-rock band hailing from Sheffield, England. Their debut full length album The Fall of Math received considerable critical praise, bearing in mind that this isn’t exactly the most “popular” style of music. 65 are remarkable in the way they capture the listener’s attention with the use of complex synthesizers, keyboards, drums, and a few guitars.
The follow up album, One time for All Time, had a more discrete success, through an already established fan base. Fans describe One time for All Time as their most “polished” album to date, and it would be hard to argue with them.
65 clearly put the single year it took to construct this album to good use; each track is carefully crafted to precision in a way in which only truly gifted musicians can. The way in which 65 are able to portray raw emotion without the use of vocals is quite exceptional, track 3 (23Kid) is a prime example of this. Every layer, every sound, of the complex beast which is this album is a piece of art in it’s own right and each note represents an array of carefully crafted brush strokes giving the album a strong sense of intent and purpose, leaving the listener satisfied.
While 65 are a predominantly electronic band, this album manages to keep a “real” feel about it, perhaps through the use of keyboards and the intense, driving drums. And whilst the chord progression on the keyboards and guitar was relatively simple, it worked effectively in bringing a degree of sanity to the record. Excessive levels of distortion and synthesizers were put to good use, but at times it was perhaps too much to take in; the bass/synthesizer on track 6 was so deep that it felt as if it were rattling my insides.
Summary
This is very solid album, and I recommend listen to it at least 2 or 3 times on a good sound system so you have a chance to take in a fair amount of what is on offer here.
The only disappointing aspect of this record is the overuse of synthesizers and sound effects, which can be overwhelming for the listener.
There is no track that particularly stands out as head and shoulders above the rest, but that is not a bad thing, it just means this is a very consistent album – the stand outs being Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here, Await Rescue and Radio Protector. There wasn’t really any “filler” as such, only a couple of weaker tracks; Welcome to the Times and The Big Afraid.
8/10
1-2=Please support the music industry by not purchasing this record
3=Those albums that give you that (in the words or Trent Renzor) “feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable”
4=Below par
5=The artist shows glimpses of quality.
6=A good album, but doesn’t have much listening life
7=A good album, but not the sort of thing I would gather all my friends around for a listen.
8=A solid album, one that I wouldn’t be ashamed of to have in my record collection
9=A truly fantastic album, I will have this album on repeat for a fair amount of time.
10=Wow. Just wow. It makes me want to run through the streets promoting it.
Track listing
1.Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here – 4:18.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAZEcg8NLtM
2.Await Rescue – 4:44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCvdLLFYvSU
3.23kid – 4:32
4.Welcome to the Times – 3:53
5.Mean Low Water – 4:00
6.Climbing on Roofs (DeSperate Edit) – 2:27
7.The Big Afraid – 2:08
8.65 Doesn't Understand You – 5:36
9.Radio Protector – 5:26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jxvy7W9bqo
