Review:

on 2011-05-18 CharlesMartel Said:

We have all done this I know, and it rarely seems to pay off. There you are, sitting at home, watching the telly, and the adverts begin, the usual round of anti-ageing wrinkle cream and personal injury lawyers, and then comes on an ad for one of the national daily newspapers - get a free CD if you buy it. Normally, you wouldn't touch that newspaper with a bargepole. It is either going to be some dreadful scummy trash rag of something like the Daily Fail peddling its right-wing lies to an audience of ignorami, or a gossip rag which puts some celebrity's new boob job on the front page ahead of the thousands killed by an earthquake. Still, there is a free CD in there, and the trash rag is only 20 pence, so you decide to go out and get it tomorrow when it hits the news stands. You get home, you take out your new CD and put it into the player and...

Almost invariably, you think "what is this crap?" And that is where this salutary little tale is leading. Right to the doorstep of "Underground Vol. 3", a collection of tracks supposedly representing the new music which was ready to burst onto the scene. In truth, this is not good. Definitely not good at all!! If this is where music was heading in 2003, then God help us all is all I have to say. It is called Underground but in truth it is a collection of music from bands who were, as yet (and in some cases never would be more than) unknown but all from established genres in their own right. This might have intended to be left of field, but in fact was little more than unknown mainstream acts waiting for their big break onto commercial radio and MTV.

This was comprised of six tracks from artists who, in the mind of some hack at the Daily Star, theoretically had a bright (commercial) future ahead of them. I guess, looking back, it is with some satisfaction to note that none of them ever emerged out of the sewers they inhabited when this was released. Music went back to guitars in 2005, and as a result, these artists missed the boat completely. While I may not be too fond of the faux-indie that did make an impression, it is immeasurably better than this.

The best thing I can say about this CD is that there are only six tracks on it. Therefore the amount of time one spends listening to it is always going to be insufficient to get really annoyed with it. The second best thing I can say about it is that it was free. Therefore I do not have to feel disappointed with the fact that I spent any money on it (I will overlook the fact that I had to buy a newspaper to get this and it was not a newspaper I would normally buy - the tits and bums Daily Star).

So, what are we left with. Acts like Cola Bear, Dirty Blue Jean, DJ Mozy and Moostash are almost instantly forgettable and it has been such a long time since I played this that I really cannot remember what they sound like. The Diplomats effort, "Imagination" is probably the most bearable although the Wascana track is also tolerable, though hardly something I would go too far for. If this was intended to what your appetite, it failed as least as far as I am concerned. In the end it is nothing more than forgettable largely urban music which is uninspiring and does not move me in any way. In fact my wife listens to this more than I do so that shows how bad it truly is.
Rating: 2/10