By John Bedard
There is a lot to digest here. I have to be honest I feel pretty left out that I’m first finding out about ‘Musique’ when it is the 20-year re-release. I have been missing out for all these years. If you have read any of my previous reviews you will have a good idea about many of the things that I’m going to say here. Theatre of Tragedy hits basically every major point winner that works on me with this one, while also touching on some nostalgia, reminding me of some of the styles of music in video games of the time.
Lyrically, things are a little odd but in a good way. Many of the tracks don’t make that much practical sense but that was a thing back then with the whole tracker scene of the 90s where related words were put into the tracks. This feels like a logical progression of that. There is more direction than I would have originally expected while still having that “I’m a machine” type of strangeness that I really miss from that era. Delivering these lines we have a strangely digitized/distorted vocal contrasted and a soft clean female vocal that complement each other perfectly. The back and forth between the 2 singers is wonderfully done never feeling like one is outshining the other. I have absolutely no complaints.
Musically, as I said above many of the tracks have a feel very similar to the old tracker style from the ‘90s. That very digital sampling style mixed in with traditional instruments makes for a fantastic nostalgic experience. However, being recorded in a more traditional way rather than having to fit into ram measured in kilobytes means there is a lot more complexity here than typical tracker style music would have had. This makes the whole thing feel very complete to a modern standard while still feeling very retro.
If you can’t tell, I loved every second of this album, and with all the bonus tracks included there is a lot to enjoy. This is a must buy. Every track just screams nostalgia even for me who did not know this specific band at the time. I really have no complaints to speak of. This is a complete experience that holds up today. I might even go so far as to say this is timeless. I love it and need more.
- ‘Musique: 20th Anniversary Edition’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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