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...
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