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 | Rx Bandits...And the Battle Begun2006 Mash Down Babylon / Sargent House 
  Review by: FatTony See others by this writer Buy it now (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on August 8th 2006
In trying to write this review, I kept coming back to the same (lame) analogy:
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this is so fucking boring. sad that rx bandits hit their peak 5 years ago. Progress is still one of the best albums i own. i think that there are so many positives to take out of an rx bandits record that there is no way people can agree on this album. ...and the battle begun just has so many hooks that you cant help but appreciate how their abilities have developed dramatically from 'those damn bandits'. that element of unpredicability that has been there since the resignation is one of rx bandits biggest draws for me and, while the lack of song structure is overdone just a little, each part of everysong does itself justice on its own. Admittedly, the album does start off weak - im not sure that 'untitled' is necessary- but everysong from then on till the end is solid as anything, noteably 'on a lonely screen' and 'Epoxi-lips' To Ms. Anonymous: anybody notice they get less and less ska every single cd they make To the reviewer: Yeah Scruffy there are a lot of time signature changes on this album and it is much more progressive than anything they've done. I would say it's their best album by a LONG shot. I love how the lanst handful of comments bash the album for either sounding too much like Progress or not at all like Progress. People don't even know what they want anymore. "Also, the idea of adding parts with odd time signatures into pop songs is to not make it noticeable because it adds a level of techincality that the common listener doesn't hear but can be appreciated by a musician. Which is why I think this reviewer can't appreciate the album as much as someone like me who understands what they are playing." Progress was the last decent thing this stupid band did. They havent even come close to putting out a record of that quality. biggest dissapointment of the year! wtf happened, I hear the same riffs and vocal melodies I heard on "progress" and "resignation", even the guitar sound is really disturbing. c'mon dudes, song structures in small portions would really enhance things here. The thing about RX Bandits is that Progress was a really accessible album and it is great the first few times but gets boring more quickly than Resignation and The Battle Begun. The most recent two albums are much harder to get into but after the first few listens, it just gets better and better and you start to notice things that you haven't noticed before. * * * * * Stars, I think this album is at least on par with the Resignation. The thing about RX Bandits is that Progress was a really accessible album and it is great the first few times but gets boring more quickly than Resignation and The Battle Begun. The most recent two albums are much harder to get into but after the first few listens, it just gets better and better and you start to notice things that you haven't noticed before. * * * * * Stars, I think this album is at least on par with the Resignation. This album is amazing. If you listen to this album as I did, unaware of their 'ska' whatever roots and their past records I was just blown away with a genre defying, indescribable collection of songs that are played by what I now consider to be some of the best musicians I have currently heard or seen. I can't really understand the different time signatures other than knowing that they are not 4/4 (because, like I mentioned below, I'm no expert in theory) and I damn sure appreciate the music. Also, the idea of adding parts with odd time signatures into pop songs is to not make it noticeable because it adds a level of techincality that the common listener doesn't hear but can be appreciated by a musician. Which is why I think this reviewer can't appreciate the album as much as someone like me who understands what they are playing. Rad. Thanks. I posted the comment about the time signature changes. Yes, I do understand time signatures and know that they are different than tempo changes. I'll give some examples off the top of my head. this record is great. this review is not. sod time changes ya bloody anoraks! "I never know whether to trust statements like this when I read them, as so many people think that time changes and time signature changes are when a band gets faster or slower. I don't know how many reviews I've read that mention time changes aplenty, and there aren't any on the CD. Most of the time, the tempo doesn't even change, the band just plays double time." And it is with that post that I realize how little of a life I have. What part of my post was I calling you a liar? Seriously. I said it's happened enough that I can't trust when it's written. I don't own the album. Now that you've pointed out an actual time signature change and the time signatures themselves, I trust you and am excited. So in the beginning of "one million miles"... the switch between 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures is what? "If you think that they strayed away from odd time signatures on this album" "This cd is fucking amazing, the lyrics make bob dylan look like backstreet boy." at first i thought "this guy has no clue what he is talking about. " then i realized he writes for punknews.org, and figured it was stating the obvious. Yes, but Jackie Brown featured what could very well be De Niro's only piece of acting in the past 15 years. This album is the worst nightmare of someone with ADHD. Shit is all over the place. "This cd is fucking amazing, the lyrics make bob dylan look like backstreet boys..." This album is by far their best. If you think that they strayed away from odd time signatures on this album, you obviously weren't listening close enough. They're all over the place. Yeah I'm blazed as fuck right now and this shit is awesome. "Yeah, we're treating this as a special case since the band did pre-orders so early and because the release date for so many online retailers is today. This album is going to be old news by the time it actually hits stores, even more than X album that leaked X months early" you applaud Mars Volta for it's bridges and weird ambiance and 10 minutes of eerie voices..but then Rx bandits cans those bridges and makes them fit into 4 minute songs and you trash them? shenanigans.... it takes a lot of listens to fully appreciate. at first i'd give it a 7, now, i'll give it a 10 i'll give the bandtis a solid fucking 10 for this one. I've loved Rx since I heard "Teen Idol" on some shitty comp and the only major CD they had was "Halfway..." then i grew up, but still loved Rx Bandits. "i killed her" Fuck Tarentino. i honestly never sat and listened to progress, but the resignation won me over, and this cd is equally as good. it doesnt sound like over-played wanna be punk or annoying emo shit. "but I love "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" is one of the few truly perfect films I’ve seen. With that, I also love "Jackie Brown," but it’s nowhere near the caliber of the other two." The Resignation was ok, but Progress as a whole was so well put together. The Resignation and this are technically advanced but sloppily assembled. Ah, ok now I understand everything, hence the 'buy now' button! I'm just not used to albums being reviewed on here before they're actually released, when I get into my new place in two weeks, I'll order this and the new Lucero record!! Thanks for the info!! Someone needs to review the rancid tour. "Am I the only one who thought Progress was boring, and The Resignation was amazing, solid and awesome?" This is a good record. It doesn't have the standout, instantly likeable songs like their previous records (especially Halfway Between Here & There), but it is amazing in it's own right. They are excellent musicians. "Notfeelingcreative: It doesn't hit stores till like October. You can buy a copy online." I guess it is a step down from the resignation, but as a fanboy I still love this album and as personal score it would be 4 stars. I felt the reisgnation was poppier though. But there are no songs as amazing as falling down the mountain. The saving grace however, is the song "Crushing Destroy" which contains the heaviest sound they've ever "Am I the only one who thought Progress was boring, and The Resignation was amazing, solid and awesome?" Notfeelingcreative: It doesn't hit stores till like October. You can buy a copy online. Horns are more prominent on this cd than The Resignation, by far. And there are only a few times where the lyrics are 'muffled' (like the beginning of ...And The Battle Begun, but to me that seems obvious and intentional)--the rest of the time they are mostly easy to understand. Looks like I'll have to go mailorder on this one, both my local indie store (park ave. cds) and my local corporate electronics store, told me this record hasn't yet been released!!! Am I the only one who thought Progress was boring, and The Resignation was amazing, solid and awesome? Pretentious? Why is it pretentious? Is it because they are good at what they do? That automatically makes them pretentious? So, let me use that logic on you. What are you good at? Probably beating off... So, does that make you a pretentious masturbator? I think so. I'd just like to mention that I did not write part of that review. I don't know where it came from, but most of that paragraph about Satori was NOT written by me. Still, thanks for posting it in the top slot! =) Just as quality as the last two RxB albums. Oh, and I like Jackie Brown the most as well. Little too pretentious for my taste. I prefer their first three albums much more than their last two. This is good for playing before I go to sleep.... This shit's a ten. No doubt. Easily better than Progress (that cd was waaaaaaaaay too sugar-coated for its own good), and almost as good as The Resignation. It definitely does grow on you. If their next album was more Progress-eque I would cream my jeans. this album carries 2 different scores for me depending on the situation Haha. Superdude doesn't get the review. to rkl..... after my third listen i actually started hearing some of the songs in a different light. Some of the songs that i thought were weak at first listen are some of my favorites now on the album. This is mostly due to the fact that there is now alot more happening in one song compared to any song on progress ( which followed a more v/c/v/b/c structure). They definitely got a little more noodley (are they in the same genre as mars volta now?) but there are a lot of good songs on here. Only For the Night is one of the best songs I've ever heard. i also think that a 7 is much to high for this album, the lyrics kind of suck, and where the fuck are the horns? i agree about it being unfocused, but this album more than any of them has me jaw dropped at what they are doing musically, too bad those moments come quite sporadically...often, but sporadically. Haha. Superdude doesn't get the review. This is a pretty good review, but.... Wow, didn't expect this to get less than 4.5 stars on this site. *shows....i could care less about live shoes In my opinion, Rx Bandits are at their best when they're tight and cohesive yet still experimenting (ie. PROGRESS). Everything since then, including their live shoes, have become so abstract, they've lost the musical authority to capture a listener and say, "wow, they know what the fuck they're doing." With the new stuff, it's so hit or miss, it's more like "well, that element happened to work at this particular point in time..." Definitely seems more unfocused than previous efforts...also seems to lack real standout tracks. A solid album, but inferior to both Resignation and Progress. i can't see how one can think this isn't AT LEAST as strong as 'Resignation'. it took a lot of listens for it to click, but once it did it just never stopped growing on me, and i still like every song even more every time i hear them. has anyone out of this group ever heard their first album when they were call the phamaceutical bandits....if you can find the album called those darn bandits you will hear the real roots of the bandits... Guess I should add onto that last statement... "I love "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" is one of the few truly perfect films I’ve seen. With that, I also love "Jackie Brown," but it’s nowhere near the caliber of the other two." this is the only rx bandits album i enjoyed from beginning to end. good shit frealz. Yeah, so, there was an error. This should be a 5 star, 10/10 review. This guy's opinion is wrong. Progress was this band's peak, i will accept no dissent great review. although it is not a bad album, but compaired to progress of the resignation it just doesnt seem to flow or have a lot of focus. its your opinion of course but this cd is amazing, so is the resignation this cd has become one of my favorite cds of all time pretty fast. i definetly think it's their best effort. I like Jackie Brown best so I should probably check this out. That's essentially the review that I wrote, but a million times better written and organized. Maybe it's just me, but I think this album is complete dogshit. Just... terrible. great album. the last track is really good. Yeah, pretty much agreed. Nowhere near the quality of the last 2 full-lengths, and a little too experimental even for their own good, but still a real solid album. |
