Search - Rosetta Stone :: Unerotica

Nineties Goth-Rockers look back to Eighties Synth Poppers

akcoll99 | Virginia USA | 08/16/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For more than a decade now, Rosetta Stone have been churning out one CD after another, each one exemplifying their Sisters-meets-KMFDM style of goth rock (and I do mean ROCK). Always hard, always loud, and always dance ready, RS's new release doesn't vary much from that formula other than that all the songs on "Un:Erotica" are covers of songs released in the 1980's. For the most part, the album is quite good, with the band nicely putting their own stamp on the songs, but without taking away too much of what made the song popular in the first place. There are some goth standards here that add nothing really new to the song(Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" for example). There are also some real surprises as they turn a potentially embarrassing rendition of Tears For Fears' "Shout" into a rousing call to arms while also taking a cover of the Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere" and turning into a mini industrial epic. For that alone, the album is pretty much worth it. However, the CD loses one star for the fact that it IS a cover album in a time when cover/tribute albums are absolutely everywhere and another star for a dreadful and ill-advised cover of "The Spirit Of Radio" by Rush. RS's synthesizers just can't match the chaos and passion of Alex Lifeson's guitar work on the original and the song seems horribly out of place amidst the other songs, all of which are from synthpop & New Wave bands. Overall, I recommend the album only for diehard fans of Rosetta Stone and also diehard fans of the various music styles at work here, namely goth, industrial, and 80's pop. For anyone else seeking a good Rosetta Stone album to start off with, I highly recommend "Adrenaline." If you like that, then come back for this one."