iconocaust (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} iconocaust) wrote,@ 2007-09-17 14:25:00 |
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Album Rack
IAN BROWN - THE WORLD IS YOURS
Post Millennial Tension
That the former Stone Roses lead singer chose to name his album after the main maxim from hip-hop's most hallowed cinematic touchstone, Scarface, may not have been mere coincidence. Ignore Brown's flat vocals, and World's big, dramatic strings and subtle drums wouldn't sound out of place in a mid-to-late '90s Dr. Dre production; in "Save Us," it even sports a dead ringer for Dre's work on Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair." It's familiar territory -- after all, this formula gave Brown his biggest hit in six years with 2003's "F.E.A.R." -- but starkly impressive in short bursts, providing a welcome tonic to the bare-bones guitar rock that dominates so much of Britain's popular music scene at the moment. Listening to the entire album in one sitting, however, is like being stuck at an all-you-can-eat banquet serving nothing Black Forest cake; no matter how wonderful the first slice may taste, after a good solid hour, you're feeling bloated and in desperate need of a palate cleanser.
Lyrically, of course, it's a different story; Brown is no gangsta, despite the rich undercurrent of Christian regret and doubt on display in tracks like "Eternal Flame," "Some Folks Are Hollow," or "On Track." He's more interested in preaching than bragging, and when the album enters "message mode" -- as with the cloying, almost embarrassing sentimentality of "Street Children" -- it's like listening to a more adjusted but significantly less talented Michael Jackson. As if to confirm this, mawk maven Sinead O'Connor guests on two tracks in circumstances only marginally less embarrassing than her work on Massive Attack's 100th Window. But Brown's social conscience comes through when it matters; penultimate track "Illegal Attacks" finds the singer in a combative mood, asking "So what the fuck/Is this UK/Doing with this US of A/In Iraq and Iran/And Afghanistan?" before comprehensively blasting the military apparatus in no uncertain terms. Timely it ain't, but it's a solid addition to the growing canon of Bush-era protest songs, and a brief much-needed spark of fire in an otherwise limp lineup.
Perversely, World would work best brought back to its influences, shorn of sleepwalking vocals and marshalled into beats for young and hungry rappers; with the right producer, there's enough fodder here for a good half-dozen tracks bursting with the energy and passion Brown can't seem to invest in his own work. For that potential alone, this one's a
3
IAN BROWN - THE WORLD IS YOURS
Post Millennial Tension
That the former Stone Roses lead singer chose to name his album after the main maxim from hip-hop's most hallowed cinematic touchstone, Scarface, may not have been mere coincidence. Ignore Brown's flat vocals, and World's big, dramatic strings and subtle drums wouldn't sound out of place in a mid-to-late '90s Dr. Dre production; in "Save Us," it even sports a dead ringer for Dre's work on Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair." It's familiar territory -- after all, this formula gave Brown his biggest hit in six years with 2003's "F.E.A.R." -- but starkly impressive in short bursts, providing a welcome tonic to the bare-bones guitar rock that dominates so much of Britain's popular music scene at the moment. Listening to the entire album in one sitting, however, is like being stuck at an all-you-can-eat banquet serving nothing Black Forest cake; no matter how wonderful the first slice may taste, after a good solid hour, you're feeling bloated and in desperate need of a palate cleanser.
Lyrically, of course, it's a different story; Brown is no gangsta, despite the rich undercurrent of Christian regret and doubt on display in tracks like "Eternal Flame," "Some Folks Are Hollow," or "On Track." He's more interested in preaching than bragging, and when the album enters "message mode" -- as with the cloying, almost embarrassing sentimentality of "Street Children" -- it's like listening to a more adjusted but significantly less talented Michael Jackson. As if to confirm this, mawk maven Sinead O'Connor guests on two tracks in circumstances only marginally less embarrassing than her work on Massive Attack's 100th Window. But Brown's social conscience comes through when it matters; penultimate track "Illegal Attacks" finds the singer in a combative mood, asking "So what the fuck/Is this UK/Doing with this US of A/In Iraq and Iran/And Afghanistan?" before comprehensively blasting the military apparatus in no uncertain terms. Timely it ain't, but it's a solid addition to the growing canon of Bush-era protest songs, and a brief much-needed spark of fire in an otherwise limp lineup.
Perversely, World would work best brought back to its influences, shorn of sleepwalking vocals and marshalled into beats for young and hungry rappers; with the right producer, there's enough fodder here for a good half-dozen tracks bursting with the energy and passion Brown can't seem to invest in his own work. For that potential alone, this one's a
3
