Music CD - Röyksopp: The Understanding

	Music CD: The Understanding Artist: Röyksopp List Price: $17.98 Our Price: $11.15 Your Save: $ 6.83 ( 38% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Astralwerks
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Tracks: 1. Triumphant 2. Only This Moment 3. 49 Percent 4. Sombre Detune 5. Follow My Ruin 6. Beautiful Day Without You 7. What Else Is There? 8. Circuit Breaker 9. Alpha Male 10. Someone Like Me 11. Dead To The World 12. Tristesse Globale
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0094631135224 Label: Astralwerks Manufacturer: Astralwerks Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Astralwerks Release Date: 2005-07-12 Studio: Astralwerks
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: What Else is There? Comment: Melody AM was no doubt one of the best albums of 2002 period. It was an amazing peice of electronic music that went beyond the confines of the genre. It was moody, melodic, and haunting... So, with a masterpeice like Melody AM, where can you go? Actually, if Roysopp had rested on their laurels and made a Melody AM pt. 2, it would have been better than this contrived peice of electronic dance music. There is absolutely no substance, it is all fluff. The beats all sound the same, and they sound like just about anything you would hear on a standard dance album. It is closer to synth pop than electronica or downbeat music... It is very disapointing. Out of the 12 tracks, the only ones I really remember is the first track "Triumphant" and the seventh track "What Else is There?" The latter being the only truly memorable song on the disc, and largely in part to the haunting vocals provided by Knife's lead singer Karin Andersson. Her voice is similar to Bjork's styalistically, and adds a very somber and almost mystical tone to the song. This song is no doubt on par with Meldoy AM, but everything else here is so sub-par it makes you wonder if Royksopp can make it back up to the same quality that they once had. God Bless ~Amy Customer Rating: Summary: batting a thousand so far... Comment: I guess I must be batting a thousand right now. It seems that every CD I buy I can't put it down, and this one is no different. I heard "Melody A.M." and I thought it was okay. But after hearing "The Understanding" I realized that we (Royksopp & myself) did in fact have an understanding. They keep making music that I enjoy listening to and I'll keep buying it. Though there are a few songs that I don't jump up and down for (true of all music) this CD is very pleasant to listen to, at home, in the car, or from my LG Voyager phone. I love "Only This Moment", Sombre Detune" and "Follow My Ruin". But my two absolute favorites are "Beautiful Day Without You" and "Someone Like Me" whose lyrics remind me of why I'm still insanely in love with my wife. What are the odds? Customer Rating: Summary: Not Melody A.M., but understand it I did! Comment: I'll keep this short, and give a track-by-track later: The moment I first heard Melody A.M. all the way thru, I cried sweet tears of bliss. Now, album 2 is no Melody, but either way, it rocks my socks. One play of "Follow My Ruin" will wow you. It wowed my English class. ;) So don't knock this album. You'll groove to it, and that's a given. Customer Rating: Summary: IT'S NO MELODY AM, NOT BY A LONGSHOT, BUT GOOD. Comment: Let me start by saying that I really wanted to give the album a 3 1/2, but whatever. Now, I'm sure I'm not going to say anything new that the previous 50-something reviews haven't already, but as I'm a new fan of Royksopp, I feel that maybe I might not be as biased as the long term fans. I'll admit that until I saw the Geico commercial, I never knew Royksopp existed. Hate me now long time fans; I care not in the least. Anyway, I think I purchased Melody AM about 2 or so months prior to The Understanding and was floored by it-ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY FLOORED. So naturally I was going to grab The Understanding (although I'll confess, that I put off buying The Understanding for months because I wanted to hear Melody AM first). Well, The Understanding...takes some understanding. After Melody AM, you wonder "Why the heck did they go in this direction?" You may feel like they spit in your eye with this one. I guess it takes an open mind. If you're the type of person who enjoys many genres, I can't see why you wouldn't like at least half of this album. I liked "Only This Moment" the moment I heard it; the vocals work so well together and it makes me feel...I don't know...hopeful or something (corny, I know). "Circuit Breaker" is funky and I like its energy, much like "49 Percent". "49 Percent" is my tie for fave with "Only This Moment". "Alphamale" does nothing for me, personally. "What Else Is There" was hard for me to swallow at first, but then it grew on me. It has a sort of desolate, macabre feel to it for me...I can imagine being in a desert at night, full of hallucinogenes and feeling insignificant against nature when I listen to it...and the chick singing really sounds a lot like Cindy Lauper, though not as eccentric. I feel that if you're truly a lover of music, you'll at least like this CD. I noticed reviewers saying things like "I liked this until I heard it in Electronics Boutique" or "I loved it until it went mainstream." I really hate when people say things like "I loved this until it became mainstream," or "I wish everyone else would stay away from my genre of music." Good music is good music and no one has the right to try to horde music like some stingy troll or rancid dragon hording a stolen treasure. Personally, I feel that if you can't like something simply because other people like it or "play it out" then you're just a fickle supporter at best. That being said, The Understanding doesn't compare to Melody AM, regardless of how aware I am of the different paths the two CDs follow. You won't suffer a great loss if you don't pick it up, like you would if you ignored Melody AM...but you won't be buying the worst CD on the planet if you get it. I don't know if that helps much, but there it is. Customer Rating: Summary: They are maturing. Comment: So Royksopp comes back to us again, this time with more experience. What you will notice immediately after a play all, is that their is more lyrics and they have more meaning. It cannot be said that Melody A.M. is better or worse, for this album does not seem to be in the same envirometn we were introduced to not too long ago. This album, only being their second, shifts their musical paradigm. Shifts it so much, you might feel betrayed. The tracks are laid out very suspiciously. One might feel a rollercoaster ride from track to track. On my first play all, i didn't like that feeling, now i love the ride. Starting very slowly, seemingly to skip a gear up, then shift back down is something some have a hard time with in their taste. The track "What else is there" seems so distant from anything they have ever attempted before, and greatfully pulled it off so well. The track "49 percent" seems so daring, almost too daring for this genre, but again, bravo. You won't be absolutely positive that when "49 percent" starts to play, that it is still Royksopp. Rest asure though, it's just confirmation one how diverse their experience has matured their ears and emotion. Finally the track "Only this moment" needs mention. The lyrics sway from at begining "...Deep down inside i know our love will _DIE_." onto the middle "...Falling in love is not part of the plan." only to finalize the track with "...Deep down inside i know i will _SURVIVE_.". They're showing maturity very vividly in this track. Nothing can take away from Melody A.M.'s tracks like "Eple", but we may very well never hear such diversity of music and signs of musical evolution than in this album. One thing is for sure however, with the path they have taken from their first album to this one, we cannot be sure at all what their third come back will sound like. Just can't even be estimated. I find both of their albums equally wonderful today, and equally different in respect to sound. Give this one a play, at the very least, you definately won't feel you wasted your money. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: In 2002, the Norwegian duo of Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland found a sweet spot between wispy Moon Safari-style pop and Boards of Canada-like atmospherics on the widely-admired Melody A.M. The Understanding sounds relatively absent-minded, careening around the room like a panicky fly. Some of it works well; the bouncy "Only This Moment" resembles Fischerspooner at their silliest (and thus, most fun), while "49 Percent" gets a huge lift from a New Jack vocal courtesy of Chelonis R. Jones. But the record is too often thwarted by syrupy synth-pop ("Follow My Ruin") as well as the lack of shifty downtempo rhythms and avant-garde underpinnings that kept Melody so pleasantly grounded. They haven't lost their knack for subtle hooks and well-placed cross-rhythms, like the slippery keyboard squibble that glides its way into "What Else Is There?" But the sophomore curse is hard to overcome, and though there's plenty here to recommend, Berge and Brundtland aren't able to break the spell. NOTE: The limited edition version of the record includes an all-new 5-song B-Side EP. -Matthew Cooke