350125g0's Music > Music reviews by 350125g0

A pleasure indeed

Posted : 10 months, 4 weeks ago on 29 December 2008 09:28 (A review of Unknown Pleasures)

As a massive Joy Division fan, I'm shamed to say that Unknown Pleasures wasn't the first album I owned. Instead, Substance was the first JD album I picked up, which led me to purchase Unknown Pleasures next. It's definitely very high in my personal top favourite albums of all time, and my favourite of Joy Division's, if you don't count Warsaw's (aka Joy Division) self-titled release.

Every song on the album portrays a full spectrum of emotions: anxiety, freedom, relief, anger, complete and utter sadness, with lyrical themes that range from betrayal, death, depression, religion and crumbling sanity. And it's done in an honest and profound way, not silly and contrived. My favourite tracks are Disorder, She's Lost Control and Shadowplay, with my least favourite being I Remember Nothing. The cover art is beautifully minimalistic and one of my favourite album covers ever.

Unknown Pleasures is a timeless masterpiece of lyrical genius and emotional expression. It sounds nothing like what other bands were doing around that time and still sounds like nothing around today, although many have tried - albeit unsucessfully - to mimic Joy Division's unique sound and dynamic. And to claim they haven't left an important mark in music history would be sheer stupidity.

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Important, essential and memorable

Posted : 10 months, 4 weeks ago on 28 December 2008 06:26 (A review of Too Dark Park)

Too Dark Park is an extremely important album in my own personal musical history. In fact, of all the music I've ever heard and owned, it still ranks very high in my personal top ten. This one album changed my view toward music and immediately made me turn my back completely on hum-drum and vapid popular music. It's also the first CD I actually owned.

At the tender age of thirteen, I walked into a record shop and befriended an employee who recommended this album to me. After getting it and listening to it in its entirety, I remember, with much amazement and wonder, thinking, "Music like this exists?!". I was blown away. It completely shattered my socially acceptable idea that music was supposed to sound a certain way. I listened to it for months on end, every day and even at night when I went to sleep. Next, I sought out other Skinny Puppy material - none quite compare to Too Dark Park - and discovered other industrial artists, then other subgenres, and the rest is sublime history.

This album is perfect in every way. It contains, in my opinion, some of Skinny Puppy's best lyrics (I'm fairly certain I know every song forward and backward) and my favourite artwork of any SP album. The best tracks are Nature's Revenge, Tormentor, Spasmolytic and Grave Wisdom, with my least favourite being Reclamation. It also produced the best singles of any of their albums.

After all of the music I have ever been exposed to, Too Dark Park is still so fucking dark and brilliant and not one I'd sell or give away for anything. There isn't much else to say except that I unconditionally love it and it makes me laugh to think how horrible and dull my music tastes could have turned out to be had it not been for this one album.

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