Search - Collide :: Distort

The Center Does Not Hold

MTJones | San Jose, CA United States | 01/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I must start off by saying that I'm writing only the second review of this album for the site. The other one, by nitefixation, is one I actually agree with, despite my being a huge fan of the band both before and after I got ahold of Distort. Beneath the Skin, Collide's debut album and also my introduction to the duo, showed me that between kaRIN's sweet voice and Statik's electrogoth music, there was magic in the making. I relished the album's original sound; to date, I still haven't heard anything else like it. Realizing their success, the two released Distort, a followup remix album. This album brought in everyone from SMP to Waiting for God to Crocodile Shop, not to mention Statik himself. This resulted in as many styles as there are remixes, meaning people can say that the album is wonderfully diverse. Or, as is my complaint, TOO diverse. The wide variety of styles leaves very little common ground for the tracks. There are those remixes that emphasize Collide's strong dance element ("Violet's Dance [Blister Feet Remix]," "Strange (Bizarre Remix)"). There are those that emphasize the dark atmosphere ("Falling Up [Egypt Remix]," "Beneath the Skin [Razor's Edge Mix]"). And there are those that strip the music down and put kaRIN in the spotlight (including my favorite song on the disc, "Deep [2Deep Remix]"). My point, obviously, is that the bands' different approaches to the songs result in a jumbled album. The songs are largely enjoyable, but Distort really suffers from their arrangement. It's simply a case of being too ambitious and falling short of those lofty goals. Nonetheless, I would recommend this album highly to anyone that enjoyed Beneath the Skin - and, with some exceptions, to people that didn't. It has that crossover appeal."

Distort?

+deV | Hellifornia, CA | 06/12/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe this was the wrong cd for me to get to introduce myself to the music of Collide. It's a decent cd with above average music. The sequencing is nice theres a great dance like feel to the music but the vocals although really good don't fit the music. The vocalist has a great range to her voice and her vocals are easy on the ears but thats where the problem lies with this album. It's thump, thump, thump "key in nice voice". There are a few really good songs on this album, the ones where the music is slow paced and so her vocals fit in nice but the majority of the cd is messy. I gave it three stars because I really can't blame the band since these are remixes by other bands."

A good collection of remixes...

Angela Scott-Cox | many places, right now Spring Lake, NC | 03/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love Collide and enjoyed this album of remixes almost as much as the 'regular' albums. It is rather diverse, but that is not such a negative thing... Even if one doesn't like every song on this album, there will still be many that one can find enjoyment in."