Full Review: Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Phoenix seems to have come onto the US stage rather quickly and thus you may be unsure of who exactly they are. Briefly summed up this band is all about finding the pop/rock/dance groove and exploiting it to the point that the songs follow you around. “Lisztomania” may have you convinced that you can’t live without this band keeping you company, but what about the rest of the record?

Musically, Phoenix brings mostly mid-paced euro dance rock to the table which has been pumped full of, what can only be described as, high levels of preservatives keeping them fresher longer than similar offerings from other bands. After your first listen to any of the songs it seems like the drums are the driving force behind the band but the beauty or sneakiness is that the vocals are actually what gives this band the dance-ability they carry. While I’m not suggesting the drums don’t have a major role in the sound I’m just suggesting that when you hear “…Going hey hey hey hey hey hey hey” from “1901″ that that’s the biggest pull for the song. Oddly though when watching the music video or the band performing live on TV, vocalist Thomas Mars comes off rather ridged, at least more so than the fluid figure which the songs suggest.

Leading off with hands down the strongest track, “Lisztomania” sets expectations very high for the rest of the album and I wouldn’t say it doesn’t live up but it just goes down a path that was not predictable by that lead single. “1901″ followed by “Fences” begins easing out of the dance party into a slightly slower groove, slightly being the key word. One of the worst things about this album is the order that the songs are presented in. I know this may sound absolutely absurd but the order of the songs really does matter to an albums overall presentation which is why having parts 1 and 2 of “Love Like A Sunset” so early in the order was a huge mistake. There needed to be a few more tracks like “Rome” or “Girlfriend” before the epic 5 and a half minute instrumental, which is, Part 1. Constantly building only to deflate and build back up “Love Like A Sunset” finally concludes with the lyrics “Oh where it starts it ends, love like a sunset” and gives a perfect resolution to the nearly 8 minutes.

On the other side of the album dividing instrumental resides tracks which take the approach of less is more. “Lasso”, whether on purpose or not, is able to recreate some of the immediate draw that “Lisztomania” had but does so in a more subtle way. Lyrically, the record leaves a lot to be desired. Most songs fall into the category of being to ambiguous to mean to much anyone except for random cases I suppose, but in the end they [the words] merely prop up the melody.

Not world changing by any means, ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ doesn’t go for broke, it goes for consistency and succeeds. Hardly a song or rather a time which you can’t tap your fingers on the desk while listening, this album is for those looking for an fun escape.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Full Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.