Serious and Thoughtful
It is heartfelt, honest, and emotional. If you were expecting this album to be like all the other Voltaire albums, think again. It's definetly the cd your parents will love. Highlights on this album include "Crusade", "Goodnight Demonslayer", and my absolute favorite, "The Happy Song". If you're looking for something different, pick this one up. .
Loved it !!
I couldn't get over the how wonderful The Cure's Love Song was done. The first time I listened to this cd I knew that I would be listening to it more times then the number of "dark & deep" poems goths write every year. I myself like it more then The Cure ( don't hurt me). I think that this cd is all around the coolest thing ever. Buy it. or be miserable. FOREVER!!!.
Voltaire, Goth?
First of all, I have to say I love these guys, but there is nothing deeply deeply deppresing or dark or "gothic" about them. Alright this is not necicarirly a review of the album, but more a review of Voltaire and his band as musiccians and artists. It seems to me to be more of an explosive emotional and witty energy and a positive and joyful release of the sadness that all humans can feel at any point in their lives, not the sadness those condescending goth kinds feel.
Secondly as you may have already realized, as much as I enjoy this music, I am not a gothic scenester. I do listen to bands that some may consider goth such as Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure, and Siouxsie & the Banshees, to name a few. However I believe the gothic tag only hinders the creativity and acceptability of these bands. They where staple of the what was the current post-punk sound, an ambient and tribal implosion of what used to be punk and what one sees when they look at a painting by Salvador Dhali or Andy Warhaul. Their potential to evolve to greatness was so immense in there time, and while some have achieved that greatness (Joy Division, in only two albums I might add, and Siouxsie & the Banshees, as cheese as there lyrics where) and some have not (The Cure, take a look at there self titled and see what I mean) that they could have been so much better had this gothic stamp not been plastered all over there collective faces.
Now all or the aforementioned bands began as they logical offspring of a scene that was splitting at the seams. The punk scene. After punk died, and it did die, there came hardcore and post-punk or what is more often than not reified to as the original goth. Now while the hardcore punk scene began to evolve and take in a great amount of tough guys, who where more than likely more scared and angry than actually tough, the post-punk scene attracted along with punks who could not let go and did not accept hardcore and artsy types, punks who where a cross between the dance floor types of new wave, David Bowie, the 18th century, and Andy Warhaul. Thus the goth scene began. Not as a type of music but as a following.
Now, Voltaire clearly loves the goth scene with all his heart, and is argot a true goth. However nothing about his music either represents the music that sprung the scene or the scene in its current state nor dose it express the deep loathing or depressions that so many goths now inject into the scene. Instead his bands music is a fusion of pop music, in a U2 sense, and Gypsy style violins and melodies. Imagine essentially what would be the equivalent of Indie if this where the 18th century. The result is a masterful beauty expressed in a poppy and jammable package.
Now Voltaire's love of the gothic scene and his band's music acceptance by it; it now being a pretentious confused jumble of stolen genres, dance floors, and moody adolescents unable to grow from their preoccupation with them selves and how bad the feel because they cant seem to grasp the concept of what life is all about that is only trying to prolong it now dyeing and stagnant body until it finds the next art form to latch one to and claim like a parasite; only hurts his evolution as an artist. Now he may be a cynic but where he to step out side himself as he has done many times, and those results where nothing but astounding, he may be able to change the way people listen to music and on a grand scale those people themselves for the better. Where his music to have an even more positive message and scrape the goth tag imagine what he could do.
Now I dont hate the goth scene, as it started off as what most scenes start off as. That being a positive social group, often fueled by music or other art forms, that offers a place for people to fit in and mature and maintain good social health. However the goth scene, next to the hardcore and metal scenes in music, is a showcase for what happens to scenes if they refuse to die of change for the better. They become stagnant environments where vial villains and rapists of souls lurk along side the vain and damaged. They become place where one is praised for prolonging a lie instead of creating great meaningful things and growing to maturity. Now does that really sound like a healthy environment, and that is exactly what the goth scene has become. This is why Voltaire classification under this scene and it's "genre" only serve to damage the band.
That having been said this album itself dose offer a great amount of maturity from the bands previous releases. I urge you to pick it up weather a goth or not as you may be pleasantly surprised. Other bands that i would urge you to listen to, where the goth tag only hurts them are Bauhaus, Fields of the Nephilim, The Cure, Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees.
Wonderful
Either way, it's fantastic. As far as I know, this is the only one of his CDs with none of his trademark dark humor. The only thing I didn't like was the cover of "Love Song", a fairly bad song which I feel has been greatly overplayed.
Wall of Pride has to be a favorite of mine. Along with this, I'd reccomend "Boo Hoo".
AMAZING!
Go and buy it. OH MY GOTH!!!
This is an amazing album. A cover of love song!
Voltaire, one of my favorite dark humor, gothic musicians. I want to kiss you voltaire! He is amazing!! .
You can see a complete list of all Voltaire discography, or go back to the Voltaire tabs
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