| In my opinion, this album is the first good FLA album, the earlier being or much too short('Disorder')or poorly made ('State of Mind'). It is a good album, which marks could have marked the beginning of a style but marked the end actually, since Michael Balch left the band, was replaced by Rhys Fulber and the band began a harder style with 'Caustic Grip' or a more danceable one with 'Tactican Neural Implant'. It seems to me that Leeb's music was still under his influence from his earlier band, the great Skinny Puppy; and that's not a negative criticism, since I would compare it to such a good album such as SP's 'Cleanse Fold and Manipulate'; However, I consider FLA a less inspired band than Skinny puppy; Leeb's voice lacks the interesting dramatic nuances of Ogre's voice, and his songs are more boring and monotonous; 'Gashed Senses and Crossfire' has some industrial hits ('No Limit', 'Digital Tension Dementia'), some would-be hits ('Big Money', a song that Nitzer Ebb's fans could like a lot), some instrumental songs full of sampled voices ('Prayer', 'Sedation'); I would remark the interesting similarities of 'Hypocrisy' with Front 242's 'Sacrifice'; both are good, anyway. My favourite trach here is 'Shutdown', 'cos I think it creates a menacing atmosphere. This is maybe not the best FLA album, but it is the best in combining quality and spontaneity, since I think earlier works lacked the first, and later ones lacked the second. |
still under Puppy influence?
Old School Industrial-The Best!
