$14.99  Sister Machine Gun - 6.0 |
$13.99  Sister Machine Gun - Transient 5.2 |
$15.98  Sister Machine Gun - The Torture Technique |
$15.98  Sister Machine Gun - Sins of the Flesh |
$15.98  Sister Machine Gun - Metropolis |
 [Larger view] | Sister Machine Gun - Revolution
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Average user rating:  | |
 I Feel a Little Strange now, I Feel a Bit Insane... | |
| Sister Machine Gun has been making quality music for a while now, and has teetered in different directions while accomplishing a balanced set of albums. The refinement of their sound can be seen in the first three works; with Sins of the Flesh kicking out a great first effort, The Torture Technique taking the band to some great heights, and then Burn getting quite a bit of acclaim. Along the way the sound changed a bit, refining into a techno-blender of vocals, blues, and beats, and I have to say I liked it. Torture Technique and Burn had just about everything one could want, and they hooked me and made me a SMG fan for life. The fourth album, Metropolis, was good but didn't continue the upward trend I had gotten accustomed to, but I thought that [R]evolution fixed that trend.
On [R]evolution, Sister Machine Gun had quite a few songs worth mentioning herein but they hit a reviewing wall because they stepped back from some of the techno-elements they're known for. They still kept the electronics, sure, but this seemed to stray more into electronic-jazz than the former releases did. Randall has always provided that anyhow, but this era of SMG strayed more and more into jazz and blues - as the side-project Micronaut showcased. Transient One (nice, slow beat with solid - somewhat muffled vocals), Got To Be (slow, with an angry heartbeat), Closer Than Me (heavily showcasing a LOT of Jazz elements), Strange (saxaphone!), and Wrong (piano and symbol driven) are all a lot slower than previous works have been leading up to, and that's good stuff. A lot of Randall's strongest work is when he does something with regard to hurting or wanting, and these songs showcase that art. I'm really fond of Wrong because it has a cold sense in such a nice looking wrapper, with proclamations of "I've known you all along" oozing out of the lyrics. I'm also fond of "Got to Be" because I like the way Randall sounds when he does songs of that nature, almost blueprints for his vocals, and I love the sound of Transient One for the same reasons. Still, all these songs take a backseat to Vibrator. If Randall does slower themes well, then he does sensual even better and this song is probably the best of the album with regard to that. Its sexy and somewhat sultry, proclaiming that he "wants you tonight." On the other side of the spectrum, Smash Your Radio! is one of around three "driven" songs on the album, giving the angst it has freely while spitting the may of mainstream music. The message was entertaining too, and shows how Randall really didn't like his moments in the spotlight. "It's a revolution, brothers and sisters." It just wasn't the revolution a lot of people were expecting. | |
| SMG's weakest effort. | |
| This is an interesting effort and the first to be released on Chris Randall's own Positron Records label, and the independence definitely shows. This album isn't quite as listener-friendly as previous albums. The albums starts out with solid tracks like Carbon Copy, Got To Be, and Smash Your Radio, but Transient One and Two interrupt the feel of the record and then Closer To Me and Wrong only depart further. The sound comes back around with Vibrator and then loses ground again as the album winds down. Overall, it's not terrible but it simply doesn't have the consistency, flow, and continuity of albums like Sins of The Flesh or Burn. | |
| Diverse music hits the spot | |
| Chris Randell began to explore new and exciting sounds with the album BURN which was the first he produced on his own. With the next release he created a modern masterwork of pure rock and industrial dance grooves. He has gone further into that groove on (R)Evolution. There are the standard rock heavy tunes like SMASH YOUR RADIO and CARBON COPY, but soon there after his interest in blues, jazz and even a little funk creep in and really begin to influence the music, and for the better I might add. If you want music that stays in one very particular corner, never venturering to break its reigns then go elsewhere. But if you brave, soulful industrial rock, then SISTER MACHINE GUN is your ticket to ride. |
