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From
Kris
"M.Erciless" (Belgium):
Sometimes
we
ask ourselves:
what goes on in the underbelly of our major cities.
Kids playing their asses off, whether on keyboards, others try to
be the next best thing on the charts.
Some try to be the guitar hero of the new millennium.
Awaken cannot be defined as a band who is trying to make it. They
make their music like they think it should be. Whether you like
it or not.
Now they released their new baby. And we don't know what to do
with it. The double cd-set contains more tracks than an average 10cd
box
with 60's classics.
To find one's way in this offer of tunes and (almost)
soundscapes, it takes a while. I'll try to pick some of the most
remarkable song and give some
comments.
CD One
The CD starts of with a keyboard promising the new Genesis (or
Tony Banks) music.
But suddenly some weird guitar-riff disturbs the dream. A voice
from under the counter comes in and brings us a most horrid
melody. The guitar continues in a subtle progressive mood, but
the singer kind of misses the raw power to fulfil his duties.
'Cold as my Heart' sounds pretty
promising, but
a techno-like voice brings the listener out of balance. This is a
very funny song, because of the rhythms and the double-voiced
chorus.
Also nice guitar-work.
'Carla's Dream' is the fore bringer of
more
things to come. Awakens nucleus, a most mysterious guy calling
himself Snowcat, sings this song in a duet with their 'main'
singer Lionel.
They sing out of tune, which is a sad thing because besides the
vocal part, this is a very original song. Again very nice guitar
work.
'Neons of Lyceum's toilets' is SO f*ng
weird you
have to listen to it yourself.
It kicks of with a 70's organ-sound (oh no, is this Heep's July
Morning? No it isn't) It reminds me of some obscure
Alice Cooper song or a lost part of Genesis' 'Lamb…' Very
progressive, even the sequencing sounds nice. Some ELP
influences. This is real Underground, màààn. Very cool.
'Down the Drain'; finally: a female voice.
And
IN TUNE!! Cool melody, interesting, one of my favourites.
'Dead in a Subway'; a sneaky guitar
introduces
us to a 'spoken word', very theatrical song.
The Lionel-voice needs some booze here. Spooky.
'Spleen Fourteen' brings some rest in this
adventurous cd. Nice.
'Lycee Nase': besides the fact I don't
like rap
and/of hip-hop music (which is really an understatement), I think
this skills are very well placed in the music as a whole.
After all, this is a Brussels-based band, and this is where
subcultures (no disrespect) meet.
'Britney and Barry': this is horrible;
skip it.
Then we come to the Magnum Opus (is it?) of the CD.
'Four Dreams Suite' is a 30' collage with
several (18) instrumental and sung parts.
The well-educated listener recognizes all the influences that
make Awaken what it is today.
Seventies progrock and 80's electro pop. (...) 'FDS' is the proof of
it.
Some nice soundtrack-stuff here, but I wonder: who is able to
listen the whole track trough without chemicals or alcohol,
deserves a medal for self-sacrifice.
CD Two
This cd contains cover-material from, well, you name it, and it's
there.
'One Caress' is quite well sung and with a
minimal keyboard, is also a highlight.
Philadelphia and L.A.-based music is common knowledge to most
listeners. But, a serious gamble to bring this music as Awaken
does it. Of course, these rhythms are very tempting.
'Eesom' sounds like a French movie-tune
from the
early seventies. Interesting!!
Song no. 3: Gilles: Shut the fuck up!!
'One thing' and 'Best kept
Lies':
very nice sounding songs, even I don't know the originals.
'L.A. is my lady': is this Love Boat
Cruise
music? Yes it is. Gilles tries to sing in tune, and…
sometimes he manages.
At last: a Genesis-song. And even the female voice is drunk (or
high).
'Nothing Else Matters': hope James never
hears
this or he'll rip your head off.
The song called ''A Dark dream Opera In Twelve
Acts'
is really side 4 of this cd if it was to be a vinyl product.
(Imagine the complexity of this thing).
Again a million or so well or less-known songs are presented is a
most personal way.
Highlights: Kiss' Shandi. (good vocals on
this
one Lionel!!)
They play a part of the Clouds and Rain
album, a
dreadful album by Gillan/Glover.
And they chose the most awful song….
'Sweet Dream Machine' is sung by Julie.
And
quite a job she does. Very well!
Also 'Only the fool survives' Here we hear
the
difference: Julie sings, Lionel is strangling himself.
'The Candidate': Al Stewart knows the art
of
singing very subtle and very English. His voice and melody bending
is so difficult, and even more
difficult for French-speaking people.
The result shows. Well tried, Gilles
Well, what is next?
I think everybody should buy this cd because:
1: Once it will be a collector's item
2: It shows (again) that success is not obvious
3: It is much cheaper than 10 grs of marihuana, and has the same
effect
4: These people put such an amount of energy in it, they deserve
it.
5: Jim Morrison is probably dead.
M. Erciless.
Cheers.
From
Dick
Annegarn
(France / Holland), writer of "Send My Body Home":
Ca ne
me
plait pas.
From
Mort184 (Belgium):
AWAKEN
est
le meilleur
groupe des années huitante-vingt. C'est le groupe le plus
endormi que je connaisse, à rêver tout le temps (dream
over????) de vendre plus de 500 albums dans la même journée.
Tout ça c'était pour vous dire que c'était qu'une connerie.
Non en fait AWAKEN c'est mon groupe préféré après AC/DC, Iron
Maiden ,Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deep Purple, c'est
vraiment pour vous dire que c'est un bon groupe dont le niveau
dépasse facilement les
sousbroucccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkksssssssssssssssssssssss.
Le premier cd du deuxième album est très... nouveau! Par de là
se conception et l'organisation de la musique.
Vous
trouverez des morceaux
très très intéressants qui vous permetteront d'élargir vos
horizons verticals. Avec des morceaux tels que "Cold as my
heart", "Carla's dream" et "Neons of lyceum's
toilets". Je vous déconseille le rap "Lycée
nase" et vous indique d'écouter la meilleure chanson du
monde "Britney & Barry" qui est vraiment au-delà
de toute mesure de la conception du rire des meilleurs humoristes
d'au-delà des frontières de l'humour intersidéral.
ET en
moins
de temps que
vous pourrez dire "oh putain de merde qu'est-ce que c'était
bien" vous aurez cette petite petite petite chanson en
tête: "Carla's dream" qui résonnera résonnera
résonnera résonnera et vous rendra fous d'Awaken, le groupe le
meilleur, celui que tout le monde préfère, Il .
Par
contre,
"Neons of
lyceum's toilets" vous motivera, vous élancera, vous
réveillera, pour aller frapper des Parisiens.
"I'll
disagree"
vous remettra d'aplomb après une journée éreintante de
travail.
"Dead
in a
subway"
vous foutra le plus gros cafard du monde que vous n'avez jamais
vu même dans le restaurant Italien où vous allez le dimanche
manger une pizza avec votre belle-mère.
Pour
le
deuxième cd du
deuxième album il vous relaxera tout en vous donnant envie de
vomir et de baiser en même temps, après un bon shoot dans un
aquarium.
Ecoutez
d'abord le 2ème cd
du 2ème album avant d'écouter le 1er cd du premier album.
Marie-Aline
si tu lis ça tu
as acheté le cd? TU DOIS!!!! Sinon Snowcat a promis de se jeter
dans le Canal du Centre. Réponds-moi vite à mort184@yahoo.fr
Pour
les
conclusions, si
vous préféreriez acheter un album des
Sousbrrrrrroooouuuuccccccckkkkss au lieu de celui du
magnifiquement grandissime Awaken c'est que vous devez être :
1-
complètement con
2-complètement
débile
3-en
manque
de drogue
4-complètement
Parisien (ce
qui résume à peu près le point 1 et le point 2)
5-fou
6-n'avoir
aucun goût
musical (ce qui équivaut au point 4)
7-en
manque
d'argent (vous
devez vraiment être dans la dèche parce que c'est presque
gratos)
Voilà
mes
conclusions.
Allez
vous
faire
shampouiner.
Suite
au
prochain épisode.
Celui
qui
n'a pas peur de la
mort,
mort184@yahoo.fr
From
Rainer (Germany):
The
music on the discs is honestly weird, but especially I like the two
KISS cover tunes "I'm gonna love you" and "Shandi". Awesome for a Kiss
fan like me.
From
Jelle -Kiss
Related Recordings- (Holland):
Played
both discs all in once.... What can I say ... it's different. in one
way it's relaxed music, meaning that I came home after a tough day of
work really tired .... Playing the disc made me dream a bit ....So the
bandname is good anyway ...
From Bart (Holland):
I only like
one song, Four Dreams Suite! What a trip! Around 7:55, the soloing is
so brilliant. The rest of the CD doesn't excite me that much, and the
covers CD is crap to me. :-( But Four Drzams Suite, it's so
psychedelic, I love it!!!!
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