 "For those who can ignore the lyrics" | 2008-04-15 |
| - Reviewed By sammyrayner |
Ok, I at first enjoyed this album very much. The synth and driven pop sound is catchy immediately, kinda reminded me of some of the shoegazer bands I used to be into, and kinda of that first dandy warhols cd. Then I listened to what they were saying. The lyrics are gibberish at best... I haven't heard so many dum-deee dums , babababas or hahahas since that hanson band was all over the place. This, in and of itself, wouldn't be so bad (kinda reminds me of a more subdued cocteau twins), but this these "lyrics" are blended in with some of the more pretentious songwriting I have heard in a while. As an example, the first track's lyrics expound knowingly and seriously on creativity, ideologies, and the meaning of existence with an ecstatic bubblegum backing harmony of some dumdumdums.
Anyway, this is a long review to make a simple point, I like the music but the lyrics are absolute rot. I gave it three stars because if you are someone who can let the meaning of the lyrics drift into the background and just enjoy the music you will probably dig. They ruin it for me though.
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 "The bubble gum of electronica" | 2008-04-05 |
| - Reviewed By RascalKing99 from A.C.T., Australia |
| Well, Stereolab has always produced top-notch electronic music. They come off sounding a bit like The Long Blondes, or maybe a techno-pop version of Elastica. Anyway, on this album it gets interesting because the band starts dabbling in fatalism ("Ping Pong"), so in with your bowl of electronic soup, you get a peppering of philosophy. But whatever, its above-average grade music in its class, this album is a darn good effort. |
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 "Three Dee Melodies" | 2006-07-01 |
| - Reviewed By Stephen K. Reeder from Vienna, Austria |
A long time ago, I had a really crappy cassette player (remember cassettes?) And my tape of Mars Audiac Quintet was stuck in the tape player, for months. Seriously. The only thing I listened to in the car was this album (Or in this case tape). It got to be a joke, and people would start laughing when they were in my car, and they heard Stereolab AGAIN. But after, literally, months of listening to this recording I think I learned every subtle nuance of this great album. (Perfect driving music!)
This cd, more than any onther, bridges the gap between their early, more rocking, krautrock-influenced sound, and their later space-lounge-pop sound (Which would really start with their next release, Emperor Tomato Ketchup.) This cd still has the loud guitars, overdriven keyboards, repetition, and experimentation that defines their early sound. Unlike some of their early releases, the recording and production are definitely hi-fi, and the recording sounds crystal clear. (This is a great audiophile record!)
They were able to merge the sounds of krautrock (i.e. Can, Faust, and especially NEU!) with the Beach Boys and Velvet Underground, and made this pop masterpiece.
I think in many ways this CD is their honing, fine tuning, and perfecting that early sound, and it drops a few hints about the new musical direction they would take. |
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| "Just not my favorite Stereolab Album" | 2005-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By jlb20_1 from BRADFORD, PA USA |
| This is the fifth Stereolab Album I have purchased and, unfortunately, it is my least favorite. I first heard Stereolab on the Margerine Eclipse Album and I think I was spoiled by the how well songs were crafted and produced on that album. I would never suggest you not buy this album but I wouldn't suggest that it be your first. |
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| "My favorite Stereolab CD" | 2005-06-15 |
| - Reviewed By techmannn from New York, NY United States |
| Their earlier CD, 'Peng' comes close and I like 'Margerine Eclipse,' but this is their 1994 CD that I keep listening to. There are some glisteningly perfect "pop tunes" like Ping Pong, and highly melodic spacey tracks like Wow and Flutter and Three-Dee Melodie. The singing is great. It sounds like the band had really hit their groove by this point. |
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| "Phenomenal!" | 2005-05-10 |
| - Reviewed By Schmaddio |
| The odd thing about Mars Audiac Quintet is that there are really no great songs but collectively this is a GREAT album. In a certain sense all 15 songs could almost pass for one long song.... the repetition and simplicity are what make it both brilliant and beautiful. Easily five stars.... |
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