This is a new project by Simon Godfrey of Tinyfish fame, and he has brought in some guests to work on a concept album which is interesting, compelling, dynamic and very layered. There are times when it is very dark indeed, which is not surprising given the subject matter. It is possible to read the complete story that goes with the album by visiting the website, but it starts with “My name is Dora. I am, and have been for many years, a permanent guest at the Wychwood Centre for the criminally insane, for killing my father. Which I both did, and did not do.” Intrigued? There are parts of this album that blow me away with the sheer audacity of what is being done, and yet others where I shake my head and ask why?
I think that part of this is down to more of my own musical tastes than it is any fault with the album itself. I enjoy music that is primarily made by musicians, whether that be prog, metal, jazz etc., but have some real issues when it comes to any of the dance genres, or most pop in general, which I believe to be artificially created, often by those who have little or no musical talent or skill. So, when I come across an album which does feature some of these styles I naturally have some issues. When Fear Factory first hit the scene it took some serious listening on my part to be able to work out if I felt that they were doing something exciting and new or whether it was just an aberration (I decided on the former and was extremely vociferous in my support). But, there we had genres hitting headlong to create something new, and here there are passages where if it was taken out of context of the album then it could be played in the clubs in Ibiza. “Crush Culture” is very much like this, and I know that this is just part of the story, but isn’t the sort of thing that I listen to given the choice.
I have read a fairly lengthy review of this album where this is compared to “The Wall”, and the statement is made that if that album was written now it would sound like this. While I do feel that this is boundary pushing in many ways, somehow I don’t think that this is in the same level of importance. When these guys were offered to the Crossover Prog team for consideration it was a fairly easy vote regarding the sub-genre, but I am still getting to grips with the album as a whole. It is an audacious piece of work, and I think that only many listenings will allow anyone to fully get to grips with it. 4*’s for now, but part of me feels that this just may be a 5* album that I have yet to come to terms with.
