The Crystal Method – Vegas: 10th
Anniversary Edition (1997/Deluxe
Edition CD Set)
Sound:
B Music: B Extras: B
Electronica
is the form of music that has outlived Hip Hop’s rise and fall, though it is
not that far away from it, but it tends to be the more sophisticated (in a good
way) though since there is not as much vocalizing or rap, not as
individualistic. That makes it harder to
stand out and not sound like upscale elevator music, but a few acts have come
along that are standouts and The Crystal Method is among that few. Their 1997 debut album Vegas put them right on the map from the opening track, you know
that like Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers, something far more distinct is
going on here.
The
original tracks on CD 1 include:
1)
Trip Like I Do
2)
Busy Child
3)
Cherry Twist
4)
High Roller
5)
Comin’ Back
6)
Keep Hope Alive
7)
Vapor Trail
8)
She’s My Pusher
9)
Jaded
10) Bad Stone
All hold
up extremely well a decade later and if anything, they sound like music that
was held back by the labels for quick buck crap like pop tart music and guys
who sound like cartoons instead of rockers.
While diehard U.S. fans get marginalized, fans in Europe, Japan, The
Nederlands and elsewhere get to enjoy this kind of music all the time like it
is mainstream. The major labels here
thought at one point that Electronica was at least the next Grunge movement,
but instead, they misunderstood it, put their money on Prodigy and it all fell
through in The States.
Fortunately,
the genre has a new chance at life of some kind, give or take the record
industries other problems. Though I
wished this were an SACD, the PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo still sounds really good
here. However, the second CD featuring
eight practically non-stop remixes of these hits, has even better sonics and is
some of the best CD-based material we have heard in the old format in a
while. In addition, the 1993 demo of Comin’ Back and live version of Vapor Trail sound pretty good. There are also weblinks, a few stills and two
Music Videos for Busy Child and Comin’ Back in the Enhanced CD portion
of the disc.
Finally,
you once again get a nicely illustrated booklet typical of the Universal Deluxe
Edition CD series with notes and many new comments by the duo, Ken Jordan and
Scott Kirkland that are as plentiful as they are insightful. All in all, the underrated duo can claim one
of the best debuts of the 1990s and have not peaked yet.
For more
out standing work from The Crystal Method, try the amazing multi-channel
DVD-Audio release of their later album Legion
Of Boom, which you can read all about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1503/Crystal+Method+-+Legion+Of+Boom
- Nicholas Sheffo
