When I first heard this album, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, and I'm still not. It's like punk rock from the year 2045: it's got great production, and it incorporates diverse influences like electronica, jazz, and metal, making it unlike 99% of punk albums out there, including anything else by Refused. I hesitate to call it "important," or "seminal," because, as far as I can tell, no one has been able to touch this sound since, and its "revolutionary" posturing seems a little hokey in a world where Rage Against the Machine became fucking Audioslave. Whatever it is--abrasive, melodic, innovative, weird, and/or charmingly Scandinavian--it's definitely way ahead of its time. Here's a link to New Noise, which was the big single.
RATING: 90%
(Image from www.edtudiants.phy.ulaval.ca, which is pretty much the most Quebecois web address I've ever seen. French people love these guys, God bless 'em.)
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5 comments:
Good album, but I was really amazed at how quickly everyone jumped on it and started pushing it as the most important punk album of the year/decade/millenium. Yeah, New Noise was pitch-perfect, and some of the other tracks (Liberation Freq., Summerholidays) were very good. I just thought lyrically, they weren't my thing. And I probably was just really sick of everyone shoving the damn album down my throat.
Also, I simply cannot understand why people think the (International) Noise Conspiracy is as good/better than Refused, or a pile of broken glass for that matter.
Overplaying any album can ruin it. But in this case I'd say the masses were demonstrating good taste in music, which I think can only be a good thing.
Maybe I should check this album out on your guys' recommendation.
At least check out New Noise. It's almost like required punk listening.
There are other songs on the album that are more creative and subtle, with jazzy stand-up basslines, cello, and other stuff. New Noise is rockin', but it's not representative of the album as a whole.
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