Sat down yesterday, and played this through, almost.
I was about to write - Excellent album, but halvway through it started to become a little dull. Dont get me wrong, most of these tracks are solid. The cyberpunkish cold atmosphere he creates are intriguing and really draws you in. The basslines are deep and driving. The fact that the various fx sounds and overall tight atmospheres/pads and melodic lines are so well crafted makes the more static beatwork feel less static. The overall theme is very cool. I like the car accelaration sounds etc haha.
I think it would have been better if it were a little shorter and a couple tracks were removed. He uses the same bassline pattern and drums on a couple tracks a bit too much.
Magic fly is one I would throw away, I also didnt dig synthdrive that much either. There was another more fitting track with a less in your face synthwave:y melody.
I have eagerly waited for your comment here!
Yeah, that is a valid point.
I agree that the album is a bit long, in every other aspect it's very strong indeed!
There must be something to complain about, else it would be illegally good haha
This is one of these aspects, that can either be considered negative, or positive, depends on the approach.
It's not the easiest to find 3,5 h of time for the entire album, and some of the tracks in the seconds half, are a bit like variations of previous tracks,
but this also takes place in albums that are only about 1 hour long.
This seems to be intended and I think we could actually use it to our benefit,
playing either this track, or that track, alternately.
I remember Ricky stating, that he intended this album to be enjoyed in an unlimited number of ways.
If this was a CD release, it would be split on three CDs!
With the most multi CD albums that I own, I usually select only one CD at a time.
This one is waay too long for a single sesh, so I'll split into 2 or 3 sessions.
Or mostly, use single tracks for VA playlists as I like to do.