Great, great, great...then not so great This being my first Juno Reactor album (not counting the "Matrix" soundtracks), it holds some nostalgic value for me, even though I'm pretty sure I first got it less than a year ago. Let's break this down, shall we? Oh, and for the record, I don't use a 0/5 rating.
1) Pistolero - 5/5. Coupled with "Mona Lisa Overdrive" in "The Matrix Reloaded", this is the one that got me started on Juno. I believe I first heard it in the promos for "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", and I was SOLD! It's like a Mexican flamenco...but it's trancy. It's trance Mexican. Extremely entertaining introductory riffs are followed by the best friggin' choir you have ever heard in your life, in the history of the world!!! ...I might be exaggerating. I got the album mainly for this one, but was willing to see what else there was. However...this is the best Juno Reactor song I've heard thus far. If we're pretending "God is God" doesn't exist, that is.
2) Hule Lam - 4/5. I presume that a lot of people, especially techno/trance freaks, would be put off by this. Juno has tackled the African theme before, with "Razorback" and "Conga Fury", but those songs still retained some of the techno flare used in the early days of Juno. Here, they pretty much lose that. That, and the subtlety. This is LOUD, dude. Some guys chanting "HOO-LEH LAHM!!!" accompanied by some instruments that I won't even attempt to take a guess at, and you've got something that initially sounded ridiculous to me, I admit, but which also grew on me. And if it never grows on you...then quit whining and be happy that it's, like, the shortest Juno song ever!
3) Insects - 5/5. Okay...a bunch of insects slowly invade and overtake a house, eventually ganging up on the residents and eating them slowly. At least, those are the images going through my mind whenever I listen to this. Quieter than the first two, it's rather dark and tuneless for a while, almost giving one a feeling of paranoia. You know something bad's about to happen, but what? And when? Well...the answer to that second one is three minutes, fifty-two seconds. At this mark, the song shifts from ominous to just plain "AW, WE IN DEEP CACA NOW!" And it makes me feel very warm inside. Would've liked to see it go out with more of a bang, though.
4) Badimo - 4/5. Gee, I wonder why they named this song "Badimo"? Seriously, the first minute-and-a-half or so is rather repetitive. A cool-sounding guy with a throaty voice repeats the word "Badimo" (followed by something else that sounds like "Baranma", but I dunno) for several verses, which are underlaid with an increasing amount of instruments. Once it's repeated enough times, the song is free to do whatever it wants. And it goes all-out. To me, it's trying to sound dark and sinister, but it really reminds me of some moron who's only trying to be sinister. That's not to say it's not dark. It's very dark. Dark and loud. This and "Insects" go together like bread and...something that goes with bread.
5) Masters of the Universe - 5/5. Whoa! Wasn't expecting that. For a long time, I thought this song was trying to be as great as "Pistolero", and not quite reaching those heights. A few months ago, I finally quit being a jerk and learned to enjoy it. Still not as good as "Pistolero", but it's pretty close. It has the Mexican-style flow, but instead of guitars, it's got piano, and (primarily) some synth. It's also got a female voice vocalizing parallel to the main tune. Took me a while to realize I'd heard this in "The Animatrix". You could look at this as an alternate version of "Pistolero", but at this point, I'm not sure. I don't even know if it's supposed to be Mexican.
6) Nitrogen, Part 1 - 3/5. The slip starts here. While the first five stayed within their own established "moods", this one's all over the map. It starts off with a slow, scifi-ish feel, then transcends into...oh, where to begin? It takes us to this pulsating musical effect that really freaked me out the first time I heard it, then quickly cuts to a festive, not-too-serious tune that you might hear in a lounge. On Mars. I really can't describe it without making myself look stupid. Oh, wait. Anyway, after THAT, we shift to THIS. A solemn-sounding, yet scifi-ish melody that reminds me of a space requiem. It is trippy. Extremely weird song. Not bad, but not that good either.
7) Nitrogen, Part 2 - 3/5. I have yet to figure out why Juno Reactor coupled this and the last one together by giving them the same name. Is it just because this maintains the scifi feeling? Okay, that's what I'll stick with. But other than that, this is completely different from "Part 1". This one actually uses the word "Nitrogen" in its lyrics (or lack thereof). Out of the nine songs on the album, this sounds the most like it would belong in a techno club. But don't let that put you off; it's still got plenty of the Juno spirit. And it's a lot darker than the previous piece. I'd rate it higher, but it tends to get way too repetitive.
8) Solaris - 1/5. Um, what? Something you gotta know about me is that I usually can't stand the slow, calm Juno Reactor sound. And lo, here it is! How boring can you get? This has the feeling of a dark, quiet night in a Middle Eastern village. On Mars. Some woodwinds play slowly and quietly, and the background's got a weird, spacy thing going on. It continues like that for who-knows-how-long. After a while, we get something new, but just barely. It sounds as if the song's about to get exciting, but it turns out to be nothing, and I continue snoring. How very boring. As a whole, this might make you daydream about depressed snake charmers slowly drifting through space. Or you'll just flat-out be dreaming, since it's so very boring.
9) Song for Ancestors - 1/5. Um, double what? I'll be as quick as I can with this: Indian chanting. That's all I remember from the few times I've forced myself to listen to this for the sake of writing a balanced review. In my humble opinion, this little number, along with "Solaris", is a horrible way to conclude what is otherwise a great album. A sad, sad state of affairs that this ends what began with "Pistolero". Those two really are on opposite ends of the spectrum. If you've listened to "God is God", this is like that, only it's not good. It's basically noise. Screeching, incomprehensible, cacophonic, full-of-itself noise. If one of my descendants played this song for me, I'd come back from the dead and tell him to cut it out. I hate this with a passion. A bad taste in my mouth is all that this gave me. What a worthless piece of putrid garbage. Have a nice day.
PS: Butter!
Stuck in the Middle Juno Reactor is a bridge between Industrial Music and GOA/Trance. I put it on when I have both ravers and goths in the house. :)
I don't get it. Pistolero and Nitrogen are cool but in no way should THESE tracks make an album what its worth. Nitrogen sounds like something from Transmissions and Pistolero is just its own sound - very original and creative. However the rest of the album is boring. Juno Reactor is boring?! What tha... I wish I could disagree with myself but I can't disagree when I hear the songs again and again.
Every other JR album (before Shango) only had 1 or 2 that took time to grow on you as the rest of the songs were solid and just true musical talent. This one only has 1 or 2 that are even decent. That is not a good thing.
I remember waiting eagerly for this album to come out as it kept getting pushed back. Pistolero came on and I thought this was going to be the best JR ever. Then, sadly, the rest of it pretty much just dies. A slow and disappointing death. 2 stars for 2 good songs. That's it. :(
I suggest to not even get this, but instead get the Pistolero single as it is about all this album has to offer. Maybe you'll like it more than I did. After "Beyond the Infinite" and "Bible of Dreams", JR put itself in higher and higher expectations, that is why I couldn't adapt to this.
More Great Juno Reactor! There are a few tracks that stand out on this album. Pistolero is fantastic with its spicy Latin sound, and Masters of the Universe is good in the typical way. The deep throaty vocal samples in the track entitled Badimo are very interesting, and carry a unique vibration. I wonder what it means... If you like Juno Reactor, this album is worth a look at least.
Pistolero and Masters make this whole thing worth it. In the years between Bible of Dreams and Shango I had found myself distanced from JR and didn't really listen to Shango until a couple of years after its release. I had Pistolero in the meantime and already knew it was a killer song, but I wasn't sure what to expect from the rest of the album.
Pistolero starts off with one of the greatest transitions I've ever heard. The machine gun to breakbeat to trance wave is amazing. The first 30 seconds of the song catches me every time. Add in the catchy bass loop and you have a winner. I would've never believed flamenco guitar could fit into trance before this song.
Hulelam has the cliche African chanting but at new levels. It actually sounds like real African chanting as opposed to sampled African chanting. Not that I mind either, I love chanting. Makes me feel like I'm living hundreds of years ago in undeveloped countries. However, it gets kind of repetitive, even for a trance song.
I find Insects to be one of the weaker parts of the album. It's extremely dark, but too low-key to really be scary. It's borderline industrial, but just not loud enough. Unfortunately this is followed up by Badimo.
Badimo is probably the other weak song on the album. The guy who talks during the song is pretty neat sounding, but basing the song around it is overkill. Honestly, between this and Insects I was really losing it.
However, as Badimo finishes you come into the greatest song on the album, arguably better than Pistolero -- Masters of the Universe. What a powerhouse of epic trance this is. The driving beat of this song is amazing and it's no surprise to see it become the only other single besides Pistolero. The other reviewer who recommended the single was right on the money.
Nitrogen 1 honestly reminds me of something I would hear on an Orbital album. That's not bad by any means, but just different.
Nitrogen 2 moves forward from N1 and starts sounding like a blend of Orbital and JR mixed with some Nine Inch Nails samples. I like the song, but not in large doses.
With Solaris the album just slows down. This song really takes me back, way back, to Landing on Transmissions, which is one of my favorite JR songs. It's so spacey. Solaris isn't quite as spacey, but it's still out there. It's like being on a vision quest with natives dancing around a fire. This song really reminds me of something off of Intermix's Future Primitives.
Song For Ancestors brings more beat back into the album, but a very slow and off-kilter beat. It makes me think of some of the Indian albums I've heard and was obviously inspired by them. It mostly reminds me of a soundtrack song.
A good effort by JR, but not one of their best. I give it 4 stars simply because even JR's worst is still better than a lot of groups' best.
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