S.T.U.N. - Evolution of Energy
Before I listened to this album I knew absolutely nothing about the band known as S.T.U.N. If it's the same for you then here's the gist. S.T.U.N. formed about three years ago in Los Angeles. They preach unity and blah blah blah, I am sure their cause is noble... Evolution of Energy is S.T.U.N.'s major label release on Geffen, I said it was the gist right... And with out further ado... the review. Having not heard the album, or anything, before I wasn't sure of what exactly to make of it. It begins with a nice little intro, about something or other. Here, I will listen to it again. Yeah, I heard some words. Hehe. No seriously. I do like all the lyrics that S.T.U.N. has, and the whole Idea is really good. But it is something your should check out in detail if you are really interested. It is not something so simple that you can bask in it by listening to the album until it dies. I would start at their website, www.stunmusic.com , first and then go from their. I really like bands that have something to say, and not just as an afterthought in one or two songs. I think S.T.U.N. really achieves that with this album. It is very Refused-esque in it's design, except without all the anti-capitalism. ((Yeah sorry, I don't listen to all the crusty old music that freed the world for my generation, you will live with the Refused allusion and like it)) Musically I think that S.T.U.N. did a nice job of putting a raw sound into a major label studio album. It is very crunchy. Christiane J., the singer, has a voice that sounds like a mix between Zack de la Rocha, formerly of Rage Against the Machine and Perry Farrell, of Jane's Addiction. The songs are short and to the point usually. To me this is both a good and bad thing. It does work for this album, but I like when bands take the time to make the music as good as it can be. And I know good music and meaningful lyrics can be combined. If you suck at making music, but have really good lyrics, then yeah.. I say go for the short songs and hope that people really like your message enough to not die when they hear you. But this is certainly not the case. S.T.U.N. can write music that is both catchy and good. Track #6, Love and Chaos, is a very catchy song. It achieved multiple listen status and quickly rose to be a favorite on the album. I will save the rest for the summary. Track(s) of Love: I have two favorite tracks on this album. Actually picking one to be the best will be hard. My three favorite tracks are Track 6: Love & Chaos, Track 8: Watch the Rebellion Grow and Track 5: Boredom. Love & Chaos was the first song I really began to dig on the album. It is one of the catchiest tracks and even after multiple listenings I still think it's one of the best. Watch the Rebellion Grow was a track that began growing on me the more I listened to the album. It is less catchy but still quite good. Boredom is actually a song that I found to be quite annoying at first, but I eventually learned to love it and it became a favorite. It has a catchy chorus. If I had to pick one favorite it would probably be Track 8: Watch the Rebellion Grow. Track(s) of Doom: I will just say it. I hate Track 7: Reuters. I don't know why. It just really annoys the piss out of my. It is the track I just really hate. I think it reminds me of a song I DO like and it angers me that it is not that song. I have the hate so bad for that song that I feel naming others would be far too cruel. And now it's time for the final marks. I really like the message that S.T.U.N. has, and as I have said before, I urge everyone to check out their site. http://www.stunmusic.com/ There music is gritty and raw even for what is supposed to be a well-polished major label debut. I think that they definitely have potential, but I don't feel they have utilized it to its fullest. I believe that they will only get better and that subsequent albums should be good. Unfortunately bands with messages either change their message or break up. So if they stay around in three albums they should be one of the best bands ever. But right now they get low marks from me. Despite getting a "Radio Rating" as I call it, the only really bad part was typing S.T.U.N. over and over again. It's really annoying and pisses me off. On a scale that ranges from -5 to 5, I give Scream Toward the Uprising of Non-Conformity's album Evolution of Energy a -1.
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