CJ Bolland
The Analogue Theater
(Internal/FFRR)
Having heard the big single off this album ("Sugar Is Sweeter"), I thought I could simply swear off the whole thing as some diva-filled annoying techno album that I didn't need. A couple months ago, I heard a couple more tracks off the disc that actually sounded pretty decent. After finally picking up the disc and listening to the whole thing, I'm really glad that I did.
This disc (minus two tracks) is full-on, well constructed techno music. While the first 9 tracks are particularly cohesive, a couple tracks really stand out as winners. "The Prophet" is fueled by huge builds, and chunks of samples from The Last Temptation of Christ. The same can be said of "There Can Be Only One." It starts out with a (somewhat goofy) sample from The Highlander, but soon rips into a pounding track that manages to gather intensity steadily as it progresses. As mentioned above, there are a couple clunkers, but the solidity of the other tracks more than makes up for them.
Rating: 7.25
