Review:

on 2011-11-04 gutterseed Said:

Driving 600 miles per week isn't easy. I have the Ipod on Mix and "sleepwalk" came on the other night. I hadn't heard the album in years. I remember being scared of it when I was 19. You would be too if your exposure to it was the same as mine. The instant I popped in this tape the player ate it. I had a friend make a copy of it the next day. I went to pick up my check at a music store I worked at during my Jury Duty lunch. A devout religious fanatic just gaining exposure to all of the music I'd been deprived of or stayed away from couldn't resist the temptation. So there I am, on I-10, heading back to Jury Duty at lunch and threw in this "taboo" album.
"Awake at the wall" started and I instantly blew a tire. Being a runner I had a walkman handy. I took the walkman with me, because I had to run to the nearest phone because this was.....1994, cell phones didn't exist.
I love music with a good beat. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, but I got through the album. I got back to the courtroom covered in grease, and was allowed to sit on the jury.
That said, this album does something that a lot of albums don't do. It builds momentum. It starts out very slow but captivating. Slow exposure to Gitane Demone, a female singer/artist I was lucky enough to see at CBGB's in 99.
The album is erie. The album is captivating. You can close your eyes and just hearing the bass lines envision the world going up in flames from a distance. Clever use of female vocals only add to this. A hidden gem you can pick up for less than a dollar on amazon. By the time you get to "As evening falls" you're tapping your foot. It's kinda weird, because I'm sitting here tapping my foot and chills are running up my spine at the same time.
Perhaps it's the memories that come back, but I can't help but wonder if I'm going to pay somehow for listening to this album tomorrow as I travel through the middle of nowhere with no cell service. To top it off it's supposed to snow in this mountainous region I'm traveling.
I love the way the album builds from erie electric guitar to androdgynous grungy noise. The singer has a very unique voice. Very high pitched lead guitarwork compliments the females backup vocals, and the bass lines and drums compliment the backup male vocals.
It reminds me of an Iron Maiden album and the way they build from song 1 to song 10. They're not as fast, but the flow of the album is similar, and by the end you're happy you listened to the album, but it feels creepy, ending the way it started, very mellow, and you just want to turn the ipod off and pretend you never listened to it. Rozz Williams doesn't dissapoint on this album. It's not often you find something that can start creepy, build the listener up to the point where they're tapping their feet and simultaneously getting chills running down their spine, and by the end wishing you never listened to it. It will be years before I listen to this album again, but the feelings will be just the same.

Rating: 10/10