Infected Mushroom - IM The Supervisor [Review]

[Artea]

hi

 

i give 10/10 to this album because it diferent of others CD's / Vinyls / Unreleases Music of Infected Mushroom but... is INFECTED MUSHROOM

 

i desagree (but respect) almost comments in there...

think about... if Infected Mushroom make musics from albuns The Gathering and Classical Mushroom... Infected Mushroom dies... and other thing... listen Infected Mushroom - Live @ Moscow (17-04-04) and Live In Tel-Aviv (28-10-2004) (i think Live @ Tel-Aviv is better to listening) and it's total diferent about the album... and Infected Mushroom not forgot the old musics (listen Live @ DNA Lounge (9/14/02) full of power with Bust A Move and Psycho)

 

Infected Mushroom 4 ever

 

(if someone has possible to come Portugal to see then Live was be great, if not, no worry... maybe mp3 with live be out there )

[Cinos]

I'm giving this another listen now... to see if the suckiness was just until I got used to it.

 

...No, I just can't like it, it's too plastic and soulless.

[Guest Rain]

after some more listen this cd indeed sucks big time and not because it's infected mushoom it just does...

 

track 2 & 9 are great, very good waves and uplifting melodies but the rest

[Jeller]

i haven't heard all tracks, but from the tracks i heard i think they are a bit more chessy than other IM, but they still have a good goa vibe and a nice production quality.. I think it is good what IM does, they are experimenting with goa and without this music would die anyway..

 

so pls don't be so hard on infected, they are just trying something new

[traveller]

if this was someone else than infected mushroom i would probably give it 7.5/10

 

however it's not so it'll be 5/10

[Xochi]

I bought the, Im the superviser and the gathering, and at first I did actualy like the Supervisor (As I was telling this to shaft on MSN) but after a few joints that night I put on Gathering and you really can tell the diffrence between them both..the geathering is far more complex, its the best album (best track is Pyshco IMO)

 

 

I will give Im the supervisor 7/10

 

and the Gathering 9/10

[seraph]

The Gathering - 10/10

 

Classical Mushroom - 10/10

 

B.P.Empire - 9/10

 

Converting Vegeterians - 6/10

 

IM The Supervisor - 4/10

 

 

 

Next One - 1/10 ( cause there is no next one )

[traveller]

The Gathering - 8/10

 

Classical Mushroom - 9/10

 

B.P.Empire - 9.5/10

 

Converting Vegeterians - 3/10

 

IM The Supervisor - 1/10

[Strifer]

I still dont see why so many ppl are hating on Im the supervisor, its fine IMO. Whats so commercial about it? Its a lot like the gathering too in terms of what kinds of sounds they use. If anything, I dont like it because it does too much of the same thing in each song, using the same sounds and formulas, expect for some great gems, ratio schmatio and streched being two, tho I have to listen to it again to analzye it further.

[Guest Rain]

I still dont see why so many ppl are hating on Im the supervisor, its fine IMO.  Whats so commercial about it?  Its a lot like the gathering too in terms of what kinds of sounds they use.  If anything, I dont like it because it does too much of the same thing in each song, using the same sounds and formulas, expect for some great gems, ratio schmatio and streched being two, tho I have to listen to it again to analzye it further.

309319[/snapback]

that just because everybody expects so much of infected mushroom...

 

infected had his top with classical and bp empire and can't reach that anymore...

 

I believe if infected first release was I'm the people would say great, but they compare to the older work what is natural....

 

it's a process... an evolution...

[Ov3rdos3]

The Gathering - 8/10

 

Classical Mushroom - 9/10

 

B.P.Empire - 9.5/10

 

Converting Vegeterians - 3/10

 

IM The Supervisor - 1/10

308633[/snapback]

yay! i agree with you completely. BP emipre owns everything. i still listen to it today. although i gave the supervisor 2/10. hocus pocus is alright.

[shaman of sound]

yay! i agree with you completely. BP emipre owns everything. i still listen to it today. although i gave the supervisor 2/10. hocus pocus is alright.

312439[/snapback]

hocus pocus?

 

i dont remmeber an infected track that its name is hocus pocus...

 

anyway, i think that im the supervisor is the worst infected album.

 

BP Empire owns big time

[Brancovf]

I still dont see why so many ppl are hating on Im the supervisor, its fine IMO.  Whats so commercial about it?  Its a lot like the gathering too in terms of what kinds of sounds they use.  If anything, I dont like it because it does too much of the same thing in each song, using the same sounds and formulas, expect for some great gems, ratio schmatio and streched being two, tho I have to listen to it again to analzye it further.

309319[/snapback]

 

Completely agree with you. About the two gems that is. And ofcourse, like everybody is saying, it's IM for crying out loud. They have a lot of expectations on them when they release a new album. The fact that the music might be ok is kind of overlooked beacuse of that.

[Jeller]

I haven't heard all tracks on this album but some are nice, like ratio shmatio and cities of the future (but the vocals are strange)

 

some tracks really have bad vocals or strange vocalsn, which makes it sound cheesy and poppy..

 

but i think this album is pretty innovative, but it isn't really psytrance at some parts, so i don't think u can call it a good evolution.. i still prefer old IM albums

[Jon Cocco]

IM: IM the Supervisor

2004

REVIEW

 

I bought IM the Supervisor based on the several tracks I liked, and the overall greatness that IM has always been known for.

 

Something is missing here. The feeling. Excitement. Development. The magic... replaced with a desire to make something more mainstream/market-friendly. This album is so trying to APPEAL. The first three albums didn't seem to TRY. They simply WERE.

 

Here, it sounds clear to me IM intended to basically have a song for everyone, to appeal to new and old people combined. By being so self-conscious of wanting more people to embrace them, they've all but abandaned aspects of their awesome style and music.

 

The reason for singing is usually so more people can relate, (but I can barely hear what they're saying in their first song and most people don't bother to read the CD flip)

 

The reason for singing is to sound more pop-ish and to associate their sound more to other genra's and listeners outside of psytrance, to make it more club-friendly.

 

IM even disensitized us before to get used to this singing with their much loved and disliked Coverting Vegetarians double album. So clever were they to put the singing in the "Other" side as opposed to the trance side. That would come later in an album called Im the Supervisor.

 

So IM basically fused both aspects (although not all elements and concepts) from CV, into one album. I find certain songs good, and the overall result disappointing. Sometimes the singing works very well, like in Muse Breaks RMX, the female voices seem to really enhance the song. But on the opening track, self-titled IM the Supervisor, the singing is terrible. Who green lit this?! At one point it sounds like screaming, and does so consistently. Not only is it cheesy, it's down right annoying! I must skip that song every time as it really agitates me. Heck, several girls I was with asked me to skip to the next song once that high pitched voice came on! Girls have always listened to IM too so if both guys and girls dislike it in general, who is IM trying to appeal to? The minority?, the label?, who???

 

Oh I almost forgot...the majority of clubs that play trance with lyrics, singing.

 

Infected Mushroom should IMPROVE the SINGING if they're going to keep having singing for FUTURE REFERENCE..

 

Right way to do it ... Must Breaks RMX... The female voices/singing are a really nice touch.

 

Wrong Way ... IM the Supervisor, self-titled opening track. What the hell is he saying here, Dance with me!!! C' mon, C' mon??! Corny. Cheesy. Annoying.

 

Most people didn't love or hate Cities from the Future. From the majority of people I asked, they felt indifferent. You're not supposed to feel passive about an IM song. You're supposed to really like it or not, (in the past, really love it) and that Cities track is unfortunately not the only one most people seem to feel indifferent about. It's not that many of the songs are bad... rather certain songs sound and feel very under-developed or lacking in idea's and completion when compared to other songs on this very same album.

 

 

BEST TRACKS: 2, 3, 6, 9, 10

 

SCIRE: ... 7.9 out of 10 ... C+

[Guest]

Infected Mushroom are widely acknowledged as pioneers in the field of psytrance. Their 2004 album, IM The Supervisor continues to expand the limits of psytrance and perhaps even push through the border to new, uncharted territories.

 

While this album has a few mediocre songs, on the whole it is a great album and a worthy buy for anyone. I miss the old Infected Mushroom sound as much as anyone else. I almost missed out on the gems in IM The Supervisor because of reviews written by other older fans, who can't accept the change in their sound. Give it a chance like I did. You might be very pleasantly suprised.

 

Short track review: Noon and Frog Machine are nothing to comment about. Mediocre at best and a bit disappointing. Cities of the Future and IM The Supervisor are good tracks for the dance floor, but are definitely not psytrance. Duvdev has to work on his vocals. Horus the Chorus and Ratio Schmatio are very similar to the trance side of Converting Vegetarians, but are better and more refined. Some of the best progressions and polyrhytms IM have ever created. Muse Breaks Rmx is the only remix that IM have ever released on their own album, and rightly so - this track is hot! This is what Infected in Dub could sound like. Bombat and Stretched are the two of the top three tracks on this album, with Meduzze, and so I'll write a bit more about them.

 

Track 9 is Bombat and it is definitely a modern classic (not Classical, classic). The track starts with an interesting synth melody, and quickly an accompanying melody of some "hollow" instrument follows up. String instruments are quickly added to the frey, then the basic beats, finally a vocoder voice cries out: "Baby" and all hell breaks loose. Layers of beats expand everywhere, an awesome and touching melody (nothing this melodic in anything I've heard in 2004 - not Talpa, not Nystagmus, not Filteria, not Synsun nor The Misted Muppets - this is just another level, as good as the other offerings are), an amazing buildup (06:30) and a great ending. Great for an energetic beach party. Perfect for driving.

 

Track 10 is Stretched, and it is being compared to Dancing with Kadafi (which is more than a classic, it really is a masterpiece) in many reviews justly. Not as good, but very close. The track is very dreamy, has amazing guitar and female vocals, and is just all engulfing. This is the track to give to your friends who still listen to rock and haven't tried trance yet.

 

My favourite track is track 4, Meduzze. This is an amazing track, so amazing that it is almost beyond words to me. I'll try anyhow: it seems to me that had Infected Mushroom continued in the path set before them by their best work to date, Classical Mushroom, they would have made an album entirely comprised of tracks like this. Great beats (odd Infected sounds, as great as ever), awesome guitar samples and progressive upbeat buildups are all here. However, the highlight of this track is the incredible string instrument medley - one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard in music of any genre - on which a guitar solo is slowly built up. All of this beauty ends up exploding into amazing melodic rolling beats in a huge frenzy of joy and spirit that keeps you jumping and moving and asking for more. Just try dancing to this, under a full moon. You'll feel God is watching you.

 

Who said Infected Mushroom don't make music like they used to?

 

In my humble opinion, even though they are a bit more commercialized, a bit more catchy, a bit more tilted by what the raving crowd wants to hear (I mean - I Wish, Cities of the Future and IM The Supervisor being played every single party? come on!), and definitely a bit more error prone - they are still at the top of their game.

 

8.5/10 (1, 5, 7 and 8 ruin it a bit for me)

 

Favourites: 2, 3(!), 4(!!), 6, 9(!!), 10(!)

[No Longer Human]

I got into psy/goa through Infected Mushroom. The only goa/psy artist I've ever seen is Infected Mushroom. I've never been able to find a psy event near where I've ever been, so I've never been. I'm not an expert is what I'm trying to say. However I have listened to what I feel is a good enough amount of psy and goa to say I understand the music, and the sub genres.

 

From there I'll go on to say I understand the dislike for the vocals. I don't really hate them, but I don't see a need for them at all. They don't ruin it for me, but I think the overall experience would be better off without them. I get the feeling they're trying to break through to the mainstream. I don't however think they've lost the ability to craft a wonderful song because of that.

 

They have layers. Layers upon layers upon layers. They have grooves too. I love melodic anything, especially psytrance. They have melody, a lot of it. Their music is never boring. Some of the songs with lyrics get very mildly repetetive, but overal, they are anything BUT repetetive. They craft songs from begining to end. Not something I can say a minimalist artist does. Basically I feel like all of the music they have ever made is something that one, keeps your attention from beginning to end, two always stays original, and three always makes you want to move. They keep it fast, and hard, and psychadelic, and melodic, and they do it better than anyone else.

 

Let me start the second part here saying, I'm giving an opinion that I'm very passionate about, just like the rest of you are about yours. I feel that goa/psy is a very personal thing to people. It's such an unknown musical genre. The scenes not that big, and people who are into it take it very seriously. It is a part of all of us I guess, it's a very definitive part of me I know for sure. So I don't want anyone to feel like I'm attacking anyones opinion, because everyone is different, hears different, feels different, and reacts different to music.

 

But what the hell is with the love for all of this very repetetive minimalist junk like Ticon? Someone here on an earlier post said this album feels like it was made in two days. I just don't understand. I feel like every minute of every song(to a lesser extent on this album however, the songs with lyrics aren't nearly as good as the rest.) that IM has ever produced was filled with something more, another sound, no another, another synth riff, something more here. It's like they never get tired of filling their music with more sound, more melodies, more everything!

They sound like themselves as well. Their sound is their own, which is a lot more than I can say for most electronic artists in general. This is understandable though, because it's easy to use the same sounds as another with electronic music. So when someone stands out, like Infected Mushroom, or Shpongle, or to a lesser extent maybe Talpa or Dark Soho, even Penta has a mildly unique sound to them, they have really acomplished something great in my book.

 

So why then, can someone tell me, do people like to listen to stuff like Midi Miliz, or Ticon(which I almost mildly like at times). To me, it sounds like they found a loop that worked, and thats it. Thats their song. Lets extend it, add some psychadelia here and there, maybe some strange animal, a sample from a sci fi movie, or a baby crying. Add some crazy effects, and we got a song! Not only that, but I listen to this stuff, and I really listen to, I am the music when I listen to it. But so many popular goa/psy acts out there that people give praise too, sound exactly the same. You give me a popular compilation, most likely the difference in sound between the artists wont be very big. I just don't like that, I don't like not being able to immediately knowing the artist just because their sound is unique.

 

I guess to summerize, I love this genre, I live eat and sleep it. But I can not understand why Infecteds newer albums are hated so much by so many. I can't understand why people like all of these bland repeptetive acts out their, who are completely interchangeable with eachother.

[Charlie]

Nice post, Longer Human. I don't agree with what you said but enjoyed reading it nonetheless.

 

My brief opinion - as an album in it's own right I'd give it a 6/10. When comparing it to their previous stuff I'd give it 4/10.

[Tolik]

This is a very good music. I'm the man who listening rock music from i was born and goa started to listen from 1999. This music is not goa but it sounds very fresh and unusual.

I think that IM go forward looking for new ways not as AP stacking in his sound.

[Sam Wax]

man what is with all the hating No Longer Human has summed it up very nicely, I think there are a few too many trance fans who have grown so attached to their underground culture that at the slightest hint of it becoming more popular or achieveing some sort of musical success outside of the scene they immediately shut it down regardless of the actual quality of the music.

I have shown both this album and CV trance side to accomplished musicians who have never really heard of psy trance ie classical/jazz musicians and the response has unanimously been "wow, I had no idea that electronic music could be so creative and intelligent" so to say that their recent efforts are 'cheese' or lacking in innovation or ideas is utter bullshit. A lot of those same people would probably find a lot of 'classic' psytrance boring and unimaginative.

 

In a way it reminds me a bit of the new Pendulum album and it's impact on the drum and bass scene an amazing album which got shut down by the headz because now people other than themselves were able to understand the music....

[Bust a Move]

man what is with all the hating No Longer Human has summed it up very nicely, I think there are a few too many trance fans who have grown so attached to their underground culture that at the slightest hint of it becoming more popular or achieveing some sort of musical success outside of the scene they immediately shut it down regardless of the actual quality of the music.

I have shown both this album and CV trance side to accomplished musicians who have never really heard of psy trance ie classical/jazz musicians and the response has unanimously been "wow, I had no idea that electronic music could be so creative and intelligent" so to say that their recent efforts are 'cheese' or lacking in innovation or ideas is utter bullshit. A lot of those same people would probably find a lot of 'classic' psytrance boring and unimaginative.

 

In a way it reminds me a bit of the new Pendulum album and it's impact on the drum and bass scene an amazing album which got shut down by the headz because now people other than themselves were able to understand the music....

529870[/snapback]

I think your right

 

I dont like the whole cd, but Meduzz is still one of my favourite track's

[Ov3rdos3]

2/10. Worst. Album. Ever.

[Stardust]

Weak album. I thought the first 4 all had superb moments and this was the first let down.

[Sawfly]

Most boring album ever, I'd rather listen to Madonna

 

1/10

[Nirver]

The Gathering 9/10

Classical Mushroom 9/10

B.P Empire 10/10

Converting V. 8/10

Im the supervisor 6/10

 

simple