Album: AudioArtist: Blue Man Group
Year: 1999
Genre : Experimental Pop/Rock
Favorite Track: Rods and Cones
What makes this album interesting is knowing that the instruments used to produce the music are very unconventional. Like a network of PVC piping and fiberglass rods. Some of the songs really star a specific instrument out of the 14 that the group made and use for Audio.
The aptly named “PVC IV” track spotlights the instrument made of PVC piping. This actually turns out to be one of the best tracks on the album. It is a song that continues to build on itself into a very cool climax. The song “Utne Wire Man” has a great success with the sound of a swinging stick, that is recognizable and in the context of music quite alien.
Unfortunately there are some big flops on the album. “Synaesthetic” is a song that starts out sounding pretty cool. The problem is, it seems to be about a minute and a half of song that just repeats for 5 minutes. “Mandelgroove” is another track that seems to suffer from this problem.
There are some very good songs though. The opening track “TV Song” along with “Rods and Cones” are two stand out tracks, both containing great energy and flow throughout. Not to mention the final song “Endless Column” wraps up the album very nicely.
Where the album seems to suffer is in the overall composition. The music is not bad, but many of the songs seem to follow a rising and falling pattern with different melodies, in one case they actually repeat a melody in two separate songs. Even though the music was composed for the album and not for performances, many still have that accompanying feel to them.
Rating: 3.5 of 5
