Better than Engine
Derrick Ray | NY,NY | 10/11/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I loved Engine. It was a quirky, weird, but beautifully musical piece of music that flowed from beginning to end and never did what you expected. When DW first started it seemed like nobody was crossing genre boundaries like they were, writing pretty music when they wanted, hard music, electro music, tribal, whatever they felt suited the song. Not that artists like Radiohead are jumping boundaries, too, maybe people will finally get what they're doing.
Conveneince picks up where Engine left off. It's great lound, but the songs are complex and interesting and the vocals are thbest Marcus has ever done. I doubt there's a pop singer on the radio today with a voice this listenable and flexible. The lyrics are usually the best parts on DW records and here they are dead perfect. This is a great record for parties, and it pulls together better than any album I've heard since Cabaret Voltaire's Code, even though the music is diverse and challenging. This album is definitely going to spawn songs that will be great 30 years from now.
And the packaging is nice as well. Good work."
Simply a great listen!
Superfly Razorfish | Austin, TX | 02/17/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Deconstructionists will always find fault. Thus, it is not surprising that some people apparently only listened to the album for technical content and missed out on the subtleties of the whole. Of course, you'll also find crackpots that read too much into the album as well. The bottom line is that this album manages to sound, dare I say, like a pop album. However, if all pop music were this good, then I might consider "converting". Rather than being a disjoint juxtaposition of different sounds and styles, I actually think that the album has a great vibe and that it has more continuity and unity than most have given it credit for having. The album has moments where its biting, creepy, pretty, and mellow. The album probably won't be eclectic enough for puppy lovers and will probably be too pretty for most industrialites. All I know is that Die Warzau is still makes some of the most "organic" highly produced music out there. The maturity of Convenience seems to reflect that of its creators. While some music dwells on the blacks and whites ... Convenience not only includes the grays - it embraces the full sprectrum of colors."
Skinny Puppy meets Annie?
R. Johnson | Chicago, IL | 01/02/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I liked this album alot the first time I listened to it. Some songs, such as Bliss (is that Chris Connelly doing a grunge voice?) or King of Rock and Roll, keep the album going at a quick pace. Unfortunately, there are some really bad ballads that just sound worse with every listen. Kleen especially annoys with its use of vocoders.
There are nice little voice samples that fade in and out of the speakers, but Skinny Puppy did this type of thing much better 20 years ago. Even the industrial "trebley" drum production sounds dated.
Not a terrible album. But not a keeper."