Moroni's Review of Metric's "Synthetica"

Right off the bat, I have to say that I am totally obsessed with this album.  This one of those albums that I am lucky to come across that I am able to listen to over and over again.  But that is not the first time that Metric has done this to me.

After I downloaded this album, my wife Martha came into the bedroom while I was listening to this.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"Metric," I answered.

"Are they very big?" she asked.

I shrugged.  "Yes.  I guess they are now.  One of their songs was the main song in one of the Twilight movies.  That kind of put them in the spotlight.  But they have been around a long time, and I was into them way before Twilight."

"I've noticed that you and the lady who wrote the Twilight novels are into the same type of music," Martha observed.

That annoyed me.  But it is true.  My Chemical Romance, Muse, Metric, Blue October.  These are bands that Stepenie Meyer and I both share in common.  And although I really HATE the Twilight series, I am forced to admit that they have pretty good soundtracks.  Muse (whose new album I will be reviewing soon) was a special jewel of mine that very few had ever heard of until Twilight came along.  I remember my teen daughter raiding my music library, picking out music suggestions that Stephenie Meyer had made on her website.  Suddenly, every teen girl knew who Muse was.  I don't know why that annoyed me so much.

So it was with Metric.

I was browsing new music and stumbled across Metric's third album "Fantasies".  I bought it without ever having heard it.  Throughout the summers of 2009 and 2010, while I was working the fair circuit, this album played constantly - over and over.  I did not get sick of it.  I am still not sick of it.

When Metric released their fourth album, "Synthetica", I was worried that they might not be able to do it again.  But I was wrong.  This album is very good.

From the first sad tones of the first track "Artificial Nocturne", I was hooked.  "Youth Without Youth" is the first single off of the album, and it is not even one of my favorite songs.  In truth, there is not a bad song on this album.  Once again, Emily Haines breathy vocals blend perfectly with the effervescent, dreamy quality of sound that pervades this whole album.  It is a great concept album.  They take "New Wave" to a level it never quite reached in the '80s.

My favorite tracks are "Speed the Collapse", "Dreams So Real", "Lost Kitten", and "Synthetica".  But really, the whole album is very good.  I would suggest this album to anyone.  And just ignore that whole Twilight thing...

Moroni's Review of Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions"

One of the great things about my relationship with my oldest daughter Sophie and me is music.

I never really had music in common with my dad.  He couldn't really understand the '80s alternative music that I listened to as a kid.  He was into old time country, Mexican rancheras, and '50s rock and roll.  It wasn't until I was an adult that we shared some musical tastes.  For instance, I was into bluegrass, and we both enjoyed the soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou".

I don't know what I am.  I guess I am one of those "cool dads" who likes new music.  Maybe?  But Sophie and I are always introducing music to each other.  She is now in college and recently posted a link to Imagine Dragons to me.  So I downloaded the first album from this Las Vegas quartet - "Night Visions".

I'm going to be honest.  After my first listen, I really didn't like it that much.  Even after several listens, I have to admit that it is not too terribly original.  This is the kind of generic music that record studios pump out that is "marketable" and designed to get radio airplay.

But after listening to it, it is kind of starting to grow on me.  There are still some songs that annoy me.  But the album is kind of catchy.  This album is not going to win any Grammy's. but it is good  music to tap your finger to for a while.

The album starts out with "Radioactive", which is a haunting melody.  But then they have to throw that wobble bass in there.  I understand that the masses still like dubstep.  But this is a rock band.  I am wondering which engineer or radio executive decided to make this a dubstep song instead of a straight up rock song.

The next song - "Tiptoe" - is equally catchy.  But I disliked the Casio keyboard sound in the '80s, and I dislike it equally in 2012.  "It's Time" and "Every Night" are ballads, and they don't do much for me.  "On Top of the World" and "Underdog" are so annoying that I almost never want to listen to this album ever again - just because of these songs.  However, the album is redeemed by my favorite songs - "Amsterdam", "Hear Me", "Bleeding Out", and "Nothing Left to Say".

It is hard to listen to this album without hearing its obvious influences - the Killers, Neon Trees, Vertical Horizon, Coldplay - and I even heard a little Gene Loves Jezebel in there.

All in all, a decent album.  But I don't think I will be holding my breath for their sophomore effort.