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Metric's "Fantasies" Not Living Up to the Hype
06/04/2009 After a four-year hiatus, Canadian quartet Metric returned with "Fantasies," a new full-length album delivering ten tracks of their patented new wave/glam-infused pop. Sadly, "Fantasies" is mired from the opening track in repetitive song structure and a slow mid-tempo pace that permeates nearly every song. The introductory, "Help, I’m Alive" snares the listener with catchy lines and precise drumming, but a minute and a half in, an awkward and incongruous acoustic breakdown sets a troubling tone for disjunctive song structures. Metric’s best work on "Fantasies" is "Satellite Mind" which strays closer to the sharper, sexier tone of 2005’s "Live It Out." Over deliciously glam guitars, frontwoman Emily Haines transforms her sometimes gratingly baby-girl voice into a sultry instrument cooing, When I’m bored/I send vibrations/in your direction/through my satellite mind. "Gold Guns Girls," another stand-out track, showcases Haines' more melodic side. Unlike the bulk of the album's tracks, which cycle through the same musical elements with little evolution, "Gold Guns Girls" offers variety. Unfortunately, the rest of the album has little to offer. "Collect Call" and "Front Row" both sound like they could be throw-aways from Jimmy Eat World’s uninspired 2004 venture "Futures;" despite James Shaw's consistently clean guitar and percussion duo Bang Lime's subtle, exact drumming. Plagued by trite and too-obvious lyrical content, "Gimme Shelter" and "Twilight Galaxy" leave little to the imagination. You’re gonna make mistakes/you're young, Haines intones – but even she sounds bored with what she's singing. "Fantasies" would have benefited from a little more self-editing on Metric's part. The band is reaching for something big, but most of "Fantasies’" tunes don't deliver on the promises of their opening lines, devolving into circular song structures that roll along toward nothing in particular. The anthem-esque stadium sounds of Fantasies disappoint when compared to the biting and provocative sound the band once crafted so well. Comments [post a comment]Comments are closed |
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Sunday, March 14, 2010
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