Automatic - VNV Nation
Album Review
I literally don't know what took me so long to sit
down and review this album of gold. I also don't know what took me so long to
actually listen to it. I have reviewed VNV Nation in the past and I don't remember
if I made this comment, but they literally get better with each album they
release. I thought I liked "Of Faith Power and Glory" while it is a
great album, "Automatic" blew their previous album out of the water.
Automatic is VNV Nation's eight studio album. It
was released in 2011, but I apparently lived under a rock and didn't hear about
it until nearly a year later. I brought some of the songs on Itunes then
somehow it all showed up in my library as I brought the full album, when I know
I only brought three or four songs. I am quite happy iTunes glitched and
charged me for the whole album because while "Control," initially
lost its glow in my opinion, the whole album is perfection.
I took some time to Google the album and found two
reviews stating the album is bland, boring, and lackluster, on the fact that it
has similar sound and feel to “Of Faith Power and Glory,” and “Judgment.”
One review said: "There are dull
instrumentals that don’t pack any of the punch of earlier work when the bulk of
albums were instrumental; there are samey-same songs that blend together so
much it’s hard to tell them apart."
I don't know what that person was listening to but
I can tell there are different instruments being used and while it is hard to
tell every little bit apart, that's not how a song technically works. Sometimes
there has to be harmony and other times you're supposed to hear the individual
sounds from each instrument used.
There's plenty of negativity in both reviews I
found but if I were to pick them apart and tell them why they are wrong I'd
never review the actual album, so without further ado, the review for
"Automatic."
Track One: On-Air
"On-Air" the opening track and the first
instrumental track of the album, is actually pretty decent. I found it
irritating at first but each time I listen to it I find myself liking the song
even more than I did before. It's rather subtle and hushed compared to the
songs that follow it. I don't think it has a clear cut emotion about it; I
listen to it and feel quite saddened by it especially at 1:35 when the piano
and base become prominent. It's a beautiful song but not a great representation
of what to expect on the album.
Track Two: Space & Time
"Space and Time," the song
unintentionally about Doctor Who quite literally punches you in the face
with awesome the moment it starts. If you couldn't tell I like this song, well
I really like this song. It's big, it's grand, and it feels like a song you'd
listen to while in space, or while watching Doctor Who. I say it's
unintentional because it's not just one line, or one verse, it's the whole song
that sounds like it's about the show. I can't say it's about any particular
Doctor because it applies to all of them. The best part of the song is the
musical interlude that follows the second chorus, starting at 2:52 and ending
at 3:38 it might seem excessive, but I think that's where the heart of the song
lies. I put this song on repeat for three weeks straight because I get addicted
to songs very easily, and with a chorus like this:
"Lost in thoughts on open seas, let the
currents carry me
If I could would I remain another life or another
dream,
No turning back face the fact, I am lost in space
and time,
Standing here looking back in time..."
It’s hard to not hear it and love it, it's also
hard not to think of Doctor Who while listen to this song. I dare anyone
who listens to this to tell me they didn't think of the show after hearing it.
*Side note, after the first hundred times I heard
the song I seriously believed the line, "Celebrate the life and times of
splendor," was actually, "Celebrate the life and times of
Splenda."*
Track Three: Resolution
When I broke my addiction to "Space &
Time" it was instantly replaced by this song. "Resolution is just as
beautiful as the previous track, but completely different in its own rights.
While it might have the same 'anthem' feel like "Space & Time,"
and have loud bass, instrumentals, etc., I personally dig the theme of
perseverance. I don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but I try to
listen to each part because they all have something interesting and unique to
offer the song. It starts with some elongated notes but then it splits off into
a million different things all working together in the beginning before Ronan
even sings a note. The verses mellow out sound wise but the chorus picks up the
millions of sounds in a heartbeat. I always try to find some criticisms with
something I absolutely love to keep it fair but the only thing I can find wrong
with this song is that it is six minutes long, but they are the best six
minutes I've ever spent listening to a song. The musical interlude fails in
comparison to "Space & Time," but that does not bring the song
down at all, it just has a different feel about it and that's okay because they
are two completely different songs.
Track Four: Control
"Control" was the world's first glimpse
at the "Automatic" album way back in like 2010. If not 2010 then a
few months before the album was released. I feel like I've owned the song for a
long time, it is available for free download which is always fun. While I am
hesitant to jump right into the praises, I can say where the song falls apart,
at the instrumental solo at 3:40 and the entire end of the song. It falls on its
face because it is entirely too empty it extends the song for two minutes it
doesn't need. This might have been a better song if it was a four minute song
with a shortened instrumental solo. I feel as if the second verse and the solo
right after it was meant to be there but then the remaining time is just
filler. The verses are demanding in the lyrical content and the music grabs
your attention and refuses to let go of it. Control is the bi-polar opposite of
the previous three tracks, which is good, different in this case, is a good
thing. Ronan could have added in one last chorus after the first solo at 2:12
then at 3:05 after the "I want control," line could have been a
mash-up of chorus and a verse repeated. There's no need for this song to last
for five minutes and fifty-two seconds.
Track Five:
Goodbye 20th Century
The song provides a good emotional and musical
whiplash. The album returns to a more subdued mellow sound with the second
instrumental track, "Goodbye 20th Century." I feel as if this was
supposed to follow "On-Air," but instead "Space &
Time," took the second spot on the album. It brings the album to a
grinding halt. With that out of the way, when the album is on shuffle the
emotional whiplash is completely gone which kind of makes the song lose some
effect, but not all.
A quote from sputnikmusic.com:
"VNV Nation promised the music industry a new
album, what they delivered were 4 interludes masquerading as full length
tracks, 2 songs with a completely new sound and feel, and 4 songs taken from
the depths of their discography (figuratively speaking)..."
I already stated my disagreement with the flat out
negative review for this album, but I believe this was meant to be an
interlude, but I am happy it is a full length track. "Goodbye 20th
Century" sits at a comfy four and a half minutes in length and opens with
some sort of distorted audio sample. The sample gives me the impression that it
is a follow up to "On-Air." I wouldn't have minded if "Space
& Time," was in a different position on the album, I'm just happy it
is on the album. I like how it genuinely sounds like a song of letting go.
Track Six: Streamline
A common theme with Automatic is to calm the listener
down and then hype them back up. "Streamline," is nowhere near the
level of impact that "Space & Time," and "Control," had
but it's still an upbeat song following a slow mellow song. I personally don't
know why I haven't listened to this more often. "The “concept” that
creates the tread meant to unite the album through a common thematic thread –
to encompass “the industrialization and technology of late 30s America while
embracing the technology of today.” A quote from Softsynth's review of the album
(they are the second negative review I found." I don't get that vibe until
this song, six tracks into the album. That's not a good thing to do if the
album is promoted as a 'concept' or a 'themed' album, whether Ronan and Mark
have control over who says what the album is about or not, there's no real
excuse for misrepresenting your own album, the words came from their mouths...
so how is it that I missed that fact completely?
"Streamline," like I started saying
before, is a good track but I rarely listen to it, but I will be changing that
soon. It sticks out in the grand scheme of things. The 'anthem' feel is absent
in this track but it still resonates with a giant attitude. The instrumentals
Ronan sings over are perfect for the song it sounds very steam punk. Now I know
some people are sick of steam punk, and I personally don't care for their
opinions, but the concept around the steam punk idea is pretty neat.
Track Seven: Gratitude
For the life of me I cannot put my finger on what
song this sounds similar to. It frustrates me deeply that I can't think of it.
"Gratitude," the seventh song on the album follows Streamline. I
can't tell what it's doing for the plot of the album. I think it's bitter,
completely bitter at points mainly the first chorus's opening and closing
lines.
"Thank you for the doubts and questioning
For all the loneliness and suffering..."
"And if it seems to you like my words are
undeserved
I write this in gratitude for whatever good it
serves."
The second chorus is completely different from
this, albeit, happier than the first. The first verse and chorus are bitter and
full of regretting something, which comes with any sort of renaissance or revolution
of sorts. I think the bitter aspect of the song serves the purpose of voicing
the people who despise change during times of great changes.
Track Eight:
Nova (Shine A Light on Me)
"Nova," is the one song that received
praise and no negativity in the Softsynth review. I'll give those props for
that. I think it is the high point of the album as well. The song is aware of
that fact also with the chorus giving off a very big open ethereal feel. It's
is very hopeful... if I had to put a music video to it, I'd pick one with a lot
of colors running all over the place kind of like fireworks, bright and happy
colors filling in the black and white.
There are two other tracks on the album but this
song feels like a grand finale that it outshines the following two songs. I
almost didn't want to continue listening to the last two songs, not that they
are bad songs, it's just that Nova and Photon (track nine) should have been the
last two songs on the album, with Photon before Nova. Radio should have been
bumped up to another point in album.
Track Nine: Photon
"Photon" and "Nova," are two
songs that go hand in hand. I have to listen to both songs otherwise I feel
awkward, but they really have nothing to do with each other in the context of
the album. "Photon" is instrumental, there are no lyrics whatsoever,
but it is the companion to "Nova." This is another song I don't
understand why I never listen to it more often. I feel like tracks 2 and 3 have
consumed my life to a point where I have forgotten there are seven other
tracks. This is clearly one of the four prelude tracks, but it doesn't deserve
that title. It works as a standalone song, and for an almost six minute song I
wouldn't have it any longer or shorter in length. Everything is perfect the way
it is so what if it was a prelude extended, that doesn't make it a bad thing
unless the song itself is terrible.
Track Ten: Radio
Poor "Radio," I almost didn't review it
because I got caught up on "Photon." The song isn't bad but it's not
amazing. The beginning is a little hard to sit through, it picks up a little
bit after the first verse, but the song as a whole is pretty boring. Scratch
what I said before about Radio being at a higher position, I think it should
have been excluded from the album all together. Ronan and Mark could do so much
better than this bland arrangement. I'd elaborate more on the song but there's
nothing to say about it.
Final Thoughts:
While the album might sound like "Of Faith
Power and Glory," at some points in time, it honestly has features that
distances it from the previous album. VNV Nation has a signature sound that
shouldn't be a deterrent from the content as a whole. I highly recommend this
album. I find nothing wrong with a future pop band releasing an album of songs
that are indeed in the future pop genre. It sounds like a VNV Nation album
should sound. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope other people enjoyed it as
well.
((This review is serving as a placeholder until I
can review individual songs again. I've wanted to review these songs for a long
time, but depression kicked in so I couldn't review anything for a while. I
don't know what I'll review next since I think Ghost Adventures will be on
break soon, they're up to like 30 episode for season 7. So if there are reviews
with songs from this album, it is because I had more to say about them, not
that I'm out of ideas.))
~Pugsly~
