GaySatanicHippie Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 1 André Absolut & Greed - The Other Side (8:28) 2 Kasey Taylor & Greed - Hardface (8:26) 3 Atmos - KNS (Greed Remix) (10:28) 4 Greed - Nihil Nulla (Part2) (9:49) 5 Mental X & Greed - Lumiera (8:48) 6 Tango & Greed - Inside The Crystal Circle (9:44) 7 Greed - Rolling Hills (10:02) 8 Greed - Bending (11:24) Tobi Wirz aka Greed has had quite a stunning output in the past focusing on the trancey melodic side of progressive house. Being the cheese connoisseur that I am, some of his tracks have really impressed me and therefore I was more than happy when one of my fav. labels, ACDC, announced the release of a full-length album. ACDC and Greed cannot go wrong I thought, but unfortunately I was mistaken. From the very first listen on I didn't "get" this album, and I'm sad to report my initial reaction hasnt changed in the last 2 or 3 weeks. I have given this CD lots of chances and listened to it various times, but two things really bother me about this record. 1: The Sound Quality/Mastering/Whatever: I'm certainly no expert when it comes to the technical side of sound engineering, but I have ears, and there is something about the sound quality/production/mastering that really turns me off. The sound of the whole record is very dry, muffled and strangely dense. There seems to be no separation between the different layers, the beats sound lifeless, its like listening to a CD through very bad speakers. I dont understand how a label like ACDC and someone like Greed, who on previous 12" excelled with outstanding soundproduction, can release something in this poor quality. The best example here is probably the track "Rolling Hills", musically certainly great , but it sounds so muffled and just "weird" that it takes away all my listening pleasure. Usually a track like that produces immediate goosebumps, but whenever i listen to it I keep running back and forth to the amp to adjust settings to make it clearer. What a shame!!! (im still really looking forward to the Shiloh mix, however) 2: The tracks sound like very generic trancey prog. house: Apart from Rolling Hills and one or two others, none of the tracks really move me from a composition point of view. Greed usually is Goosebump music, but these tracks are not with that one exception. As some of you might know there are computer programms to automatically generate Pop Music hits, and most tracks here sound like someone told one of those programs "Make me a trancey prog. house track" and the average trancey house track was spit out 5 mins later. Some tracks are probably aiming for the emotional hands in the air feeling, but they are missing and end up sounding superficial and saccharine, especially "Inside the crystal circle" and to a lesser extent "Nihil Nulla". Others try to be deep and dense and end up sounding like drivel, the best example being the awful closing track "Bending" but also "The Other Side" and the Atmos KNS "remix", which really doesnt have anything to do with the original except a few short soundbites. Ok, enough dissing for now. At this time time it might be in order to say that I got Greeds temptation at the same time as the absolutely stunning Fusion - Black Magic (review to follow soon), so it was up against hard competition, and also Ive mostly been listening to german techno a la Robag Wruhme and Dominik Eulberg , so my "ear " and listening behaviour has changed a lot since the time when I was really into prog. house one or two years ago. That being said, there are some enjoyable moments on this album, as I mentioned "Rolling Hills" is a real emotional gem if it had a clearer sound, and the Mental X collaboration Lumiera is also great with its soaring 303 lines, I bet it works wonders on the dancefloor. "Bending" and "Inside the Crystal circle" are bad tracks IMHO, but the others are enjoyable, average solid trance-house tracks. To sum it up, Greed can do better. This whole CD feels like a "loveless" rushed collection of tracks, rather than an album. It starts with the many collaborations and the already released remix, and ends with the bad mastering/production/soundquality. I would recommend to pick up one of Greeds many 12" rather than this album, maybe the excellent "City Lights" released on his own label Sog Records, but íf you like trancey prog. house, you can do worse than this. And I almost forgot, I really like the Cover, it reminds me of an all-night drug-orgy with our very own Gay Satanic Coke Mules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenRealm Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I like the way this review turned out GSH! It's subtile and has some 'nuance'.. Though I like this cd because of it's "mellowness" and actually nice dense sound (maybe its just me.. I like the way it sounds at the moment). But you are right when you say that it isn't something extremely special.. cause it isn't indeed. But still.. I would say this is a pretty decent release with some good stretched and easy prog/house trance tracks! I also dig the melody from "inside the crystal circle", but that's just a matter of taste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Ventura Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 While not a standout release,its not bad really....but not great by any means,except for perhaps 2-3 tunes. I certanly agree with the public opinion that there is some kind of a problem with the general sound of the album,but i doubt toby himself sees it as a problem,this is probably the sound he was looking for. In some tracks its better(like the opening track with Absolut),but the general feel is indeed very "dry". There are some good tracks though(such as the Tango & Greed track and the collab with absolut,although that one's been out already) and a good word goes to the small but details-filled booklet with amusing stories about the tracks. Sog has been releasing much better output than this(even though this is on ACDC),maybe thats one of the reasons for dissapointment... Looking forward to Sog Files 3 from Greed and the boyz,Better luck with the next album.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaFeel Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 I LOve some tracks in this album!!! Atmos - KNS (Greed Remix) Greed - Rolling Hills Greed - Bending are my favorites!!! Generally i found this album very good, some impressive technichs, nice vibe, very groovy, killer beats and percs, and nice some nice melodies!!! Is a good release for sure! My rating : 7,5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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