An album that presents two conflicting views at once:
- On one hand, a pretentious bit of optimism. The myriad language samples, the world-ly rhythms, a very 80's "we're all just human beings" bit of tripe under the surface.
- On the other hand, a shellshocked bit of futureterror; horns and strings menacing, a synthetic funk thresher chopping voices to pieces, a world reduced to misaligned soundbytes.
It's the latter that makes this essential listening, an early glimpse of the kind of digital collapse that Zooropa and The Bends would smash into in the 90's. The opening epic Ethnicolor's the absolute standout, a genuine mindfuck, a swirling, bewildering trip down the rabbithole, totally beyond instrument and beyond production. Ahead of its time even still. The rest is mixed, sometimes grating, often cloying - I wouldn't blame you for skipping it. But stick around for that first 12 minutes and behold 4/5
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