Search - Project Pitchfork :: Dream Tiresias

The mighty 'Fork are down for the count

S. Diehl | Arizona | 04/03/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The 2000's have not been kind to one of my all time favorite bands. I have been a fan of Project Pitchfork for almost 15 years now (I am now 33 years old). In the 1990's this band could do no wrong. Io, Chakra Red and Eon:Eon were downright fantastic albums. The new album lacks the depth artistically and lyrically of their earlier work. The early years compilation is great stuff and this new album has a couple of semi-good songs at best.



I know Peter Spilles can still make great music, just listen to his side project Imatem and the new Journey album, great stuff with many solid tracks. Sadly, Eon:Eon was the last album that had over 50% of its tracks as great. It is OK to evolve over time as most bands do to switch it up. APOP & BlutEngel have gone the "synthpop" route with success (in my opinion).



So please PP bring us back to form, I want to hear something special again. I want one of those albums that knocks me out of my seat, Guns 'N Roses Appetite did it, Faith No More's The Real Thing did it, Skid Row's Skid Row did it, Tool's Opiate & Undertow did it, PP's Io did it, and I want another Io!!!"

Amazing

Thomas | USA | 02/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is yet another awesome cd by project pitchfork.....with its dark lyrics,and unique sound, it is a perfect addition to any collection...it is a must own........this album was certainly worth the wait..."

I Dream... of a better effort!

Seth Hauser | Chicago | 07/03/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of Project Pitchfork for almost a decade. I was really looking forward to this album and even went as far as to import it from Germany just to get my hands on it. I thoroughly enjoyed the last several albums, so I figured this one would at least follow in the footsteps of Kaskade with catchy, well-written songs. Sadly, I was mistaken.



This album sounds like Project Pitchfork only in that it has Peter Spilles on vocals. If I had never heard of PP before, listening to this album would have made me think this was a first effort, not an offering from a veteran band. I even listened to it numerous times, hoping it would grow on me. But unfortunately it did not, and I am left feeling ripped off by the $36 I paid to import this tripe.



What went wrong here? First, the lyrics are absolutely abysmal. Every song has the feel of a Junior Highschooler's poetry assignment. Everything rhymes, and even worse, the words themselves feel chosen for the sake of rhyme, not meaning. There are too many incidents of this to list for the sake of example. But trust me when I say that EVERY SONG HAS INANE RHYMES. It's VERY hard to sing along with lyrics that are - honestly - so DUMB. There's no substance, just rhymes. I went back into the PP archives just to make sure that this wasn't always the style- and it's not. This is so unlike any previous lyrical effort from Spilles that one wonders if he even wrote it himself.



So what about the music itself? On top of the dry and inane rhymes, you find hollow, one-dimensional music that sounds as if it were programmed on one keyboard in an afternoon. There is no depth, no layers, the feeling of no effort at all. This is very minimalist, simplistic music. All of the songs sound very similar to one another: on the slower side, ambient, & blended together through bland instrumental interludes. There is sadly nothing memorable here.



Another thing that further pulls down this album is the band photos in the booklet. Every song is accompanied by a picture of Peter Spilles and the band wearing makeup and making weird faces. Even the cover and reverse of the CD has these pictures. It smacks of complete narcissism and self-absorption. Usually it's like pulling teeth to even find pictures of a band, but here Spilles makes sure that his goofy mug shows up right along side each track as you read along to his Junior High poetry.



Unfortunately, every single aspect of this album is very poorly done and feels extremely amateurish. Spilles recent side project, Imatem, is FAR superior to this offering. I can't help but wonder if he diverted all his creative energies to that project, and when summoned to make another Project Pitchfork album, he sat down one afternoon and churned out this schlock for the record label. I think it speaks volumes that nearly 5 months after this album's European release, no US label has picked it up, not even Metropolis. This is such a disappointing turn for a band with such a solid background that I can't help but be tremendously disappointed. This is one album best left on the other side of the Atlantic."