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Bulldog · 11-22-2011, 10:11 AM

Well call me an average-looking lower-middle class white English male - has it really been this long since I last talked about an album here?!

As I can't be bothered to dig up the right thread in General Music, and I've got enough time on my hands, I'm gonna give this a go again...

Death In Vegas
Scorpio Rising
2002

genre: big beat, electronic
1. Leather - 3:30
2. Girls - 4:30
3. Hands Around My Throat - 5:08
4. 23 Lies - 3:49
5. Scorpio Rising - 5:37
6. Killing Smile - 4:49
7. Natja - 3:50
8. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 3:01
9. Driving Horses - 5:11
10. Help Yourself - 10:31

I remember a time when I was 14/15 years old. Grass was greener, christmas was whiter, global warming wasn't noticeably warm yet, Oasis v Blur was genuinely the clash of the best bands in the world, Highlander was the best movie of all time, and I first heard the title track from this old nugget of an album. So moved was I that I thought it'd be worth a weekend's pocket money to get the single on CD. For any of you younger whippersnappers out there, a CD was like a smallish, round plastic MP3 that, when bunched together with others of its ilk, would make you look hip and knowledgeable to your mates

That was a good 9 years ago now. I got hold of the single, practically wore out my copy of it and I think it was 7 or 8 years later that I finally decided to go for the album it shared a title with. I'm the same way with practically any book I pick up - I'll get it, read it as enthusiastically as some enthusiastic guy for about a week before getting distracted by something or someone, putting it down and not getting back to it for about 6 months or whatever.

This album, then...it's hard to describe the overall sound without resorting to the copout that shall forever be known as 'alternative', so it'd be better to say that it sounds a bit like Primal Scream's XTRMNTR were it recorded by some of the biggest names of the day in mainstream rock with one eye on the benefits of a good chart position. It's awash in synthetic studio trickery, but doesn't sacrifice its emphasis on guitar-work much if at all and has the slightest dash of psychedelia and a touch of shoegaze textures to it. Add to this a few catchy hooks, shake well and you've got Scorpio Rising.

It's a kinda big beat/psychedelic album, basically. It's really not a very bad one by any stretch either. As a unit it does suffer slightly from Let's Dance Syndrome, as in the first half of the album is very impressive while the second is a bit of a letdown. And it is the first half exactly that makes up the consistently-good portion of this one. You've got noisy, feedback-heavy Spiritualized-esque tracks like the opening salvo of Leather and Girls, the ever-welcome 'so catchy this should be illegal' bracket with the title track Hands Around My Throat, and the breathy, spacey vocals and 60s-style guitar of 23 Lies are a whole lotta awesome too.

The rest of it isn't exactly bad, but the jarring transition (or lack thereof) between the title track and Killing Smile is, well, jarring. It's a soft, folk-rocker that's as out of place and misguided as that sex scene in Super. The same goes for the hard-rocking, Paul Weller-fronted So You Say You Lost Your Baby. Diving Horses saves the second half of this album from being completely 'meh', but the damage has already been done.

When all's said and done though, I'd recommend it. It's one you should definitely try and get for free before Protect-IP and SOPA take a strangehold on all things internet anyway.

Death In Vegas - Hands Around My Throat - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJu6vG64C2M&ob=av2e

11-22-2011, 10:11 AM	#67 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Well call me an average-looking lower-middle class white English male - has it really been this long since I last talked about an album here?! As I can't be bothered to dig up the right thread in General Music, and I've got enough time on my hands, I'm gonna give this a go again... Death In Vegas Scorpio Rising 2002 genre: big beat, electronic 1. Leather - 3:30 2. Girls - 4:30 3. Hands Around My Throat - 5:08 4. 23 Lies - 3:49 5. Scorpio Rising - 5:37 6. Killing Smile - 4:49 7. Natja - 3:50 8. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - 3:01 9. Driving Horses - 5:11 10. Help Yourself - 10:31 I remember a time when I was 14/15 years old. Grass was greener, christmas was whiter, global warming wasn't noticeably warm yet, Oasis v Blur was genuinely the clash of the best bands in the world, Highlander was the best movie of all time, and I first heard the title track from this old nugget of an album. So moved was I that I thought it'd be worth a weekend's pocket money to get the single on CD. For any of you younger whippersnappers out there, a CD was like a smallish, round plastic MP3 that, when bunched together with others of its ilk, would make you look hip and knowledgeable to your mates That was a good 9 years ago now. I got hold of the single, practically wore out my copy of it and I think it was 7 or 8 years later that I finally decided to go for the album it shared a title with. I'm the same way with practically any book I pick up - I'll get it, read it as enthusiastically as some enthusiastic guy for about a week before getting distracted by something or someone, putting it down and not getting back to it for about 6 months or whatever. This album, then...it's hard to describe the overall sound without resorting to the copout that shall forever be known as 'alternative', so it'd be better to say that it sounds a bit like Primal Scream's XTRMNTR were it recorded by some of the biggest names of the day in mainstream rock with one eye on the benefits of a good chart position. It's awash in synthetic studio trickery, but doesn't sacrifice its emphasis on guitar-work much if at all and has the slightest dash of psychedelia and a touch of shoegaze textures to it. Add to this a few catchy hooks, shake well and you've got Scorpio Rising. It's a kinda big beat/psychedelic album, basically. It's really not a very bad one by any stretch either. As a unit it does suffer slightly from Let's Dance Syndrome, as in the first half of the album is very impressive while the second is a bit of a letdown. And it is the first half exactly that makes up the consistently-good portion of this one. You've got noisy, feedback-heavy Spiritualized-esque tracks like the opening salvo of Leather and Girls, the ever-welcome 'so catchy this should be illegal' bracket with the title track Hands Around My Throat, and the breathy, spacey vocals and 60s-style guitar of 23 Lies are a whole lotta awesome too. The rest of it isn't exactly bad, but the jarring transition (or lack thereof) between the title track and Killing Smile is, well, jarring. It's a soft, folk-rocker that's as out of place and misguided as that sex scene in Super. The same goes for the hard-rocking, Paul Weller-fronted So You Say You Lost Your Baby. Diving Horses saves the second half of this album from being completely 'meh', but the damage has already been done. When all's said and done though, I'd recommend it. It's one you should definitely try and get for free before Protect-IP and SOPA take a strangehold on all things internet anyway. Death In Vegas - Hands Around My Throat - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJu6vG64C2M&ob=av2e Last edited by Bulldog; 12-19-2011 at 01:31 PM.