JUNO REACTOR - GODS & MONSTERS

Juno Reactor is considered an electronic/trance band.  Sometimes they're thrown in the world category because later releases began including some African drumming and other live traditional instrumentation.  I fell in love with the band after buying their first CD.  I'm trying to recall how I discovered them, but I can't quite remember.  I think I heard one of their tracks on a compilation disc and then purchased their first album when I found it in a store.  I loved it!  And I anxiously awaited additional releases.

Over the years, my interest has faded from it's original intensity.  And I think that's partially because of the direction the band ended up taking.  

"Gods & Monsters" was the first disc I didn't buy the day it came out.  In fact, I didn't buy it at all.  I put it on a wish list on Amazon and my sister gave it to me a year after it came out as a Christmas present.  Sadly, I'd heard the album streaming online before it came out and I didn't feel the need to pick it up.  

The disc starts out with what I would consider a more traditional Juno tune.  'Inca Steppa' has an amazing build and musically everything you want in a JR track with the exception of a vocalist singing throughout the number.  For some reason, I find the vocals distracting and completely out of place.  This vocalist features quite heavily on this album when you consider the group is known for it's instrumental pieces.  She appears again in the second track, 'Tokyo Dub'.  On this track, she sings the same 4 lines over and over.  Used more sparingly, this wouldn't be too annoying.  In its current state, it's right on the cusp of annoyance.  The number is very slow.  And that's not unusual for JR.  They've done some super slow beat numbers before and sometimes not nearly as interesting or as good musically as this one.  So the music is there, but the vocalization drags the song down.

'Las Vegas Future Past' is the first number that's really interesting on the disc.  It's got some energy, some internal drive pushing it along and some interesting use of some horns giving the song a Vegas lounge feel.  It's quite effective and a great example of how Juno Reactor is one of the most amazing composers of soundscapes.  I say soundscape because the music actually creates an image/feeling in your mind.  You listen to this number and you feel like you're sitting in a lounge...  In a Vegas casino...  Listening to a band play...  It's very powerful.

'Mind Of The Free' is next and it's another example of a song that loses so much to the vocalization.  I was just reading the credits and I guess a singer called Ghetto Priest is singing here.  It just destroys the music.  This is another slow track.  It's followed by 'Immaculate Crucifixion'...  Although this song seems to be a signature piece, in other words, it contains a lot of tricks you can link back to main songwriter, Ben Watkins...  It stays at a subdued tempo.  There is a subtle build toward the end.  You get some ramped up guitars playing, but they don't move the song into a more powerful stage, they just keep it moving.  It's followed by another song with vocals, 'City Of The Sinful' and this is probably the one track on the entire disc including vocals that actually works.  There's a lot of enhancements done on the vocal tracks that turn them into sound samples.  It works.  And effectively.  Adversely, this is another song that maintains a midtempo.  Thus far, the disc has more slow numbers than fast.


'Tanta Pena' is next and this is probably the best and most powerful number on the album.  It fits right in with the rest of the JR catalog.  I know this sounds a bit hypocritical because I go on endlessly about how I love groups who change and this album represents a change for JR.  And normally, I'd embrace the difference, but the changes don't enhance or increase the credibility of the artist.  If anything, it detracts.  'The Perfect Crime (Superman)' is the next number and Ben Watkins actually sings this one.  I'm so torn by this number.  On one hand, I'm delighted to hear him singing.  But it's not all that great.  The lyrics, on this whole album, seem a bit lackluster and uninspired.  Even this song seems forced and slightly cliche.  The music has some potential, but not enough to rescue the track from being skippable.  The last number is a sweet piano piece called 'Pretty Girl'.  Ben sings lead vocals on this one again.  And although it's rather soft and tender, it just doesn't fit here.  It doesn't belong.

So much of this material should've ended up on a Ghetto Priest record produced by Juno Reactor rather than on a JR album.  It just doesn't hold up to previous efforts.

I'm absolutely sad to give this disc such a bad review because I love this band and I'm still hopeful for them.  But I can't get past it.  It just doesn't belong.

My final words:  THE SADDEST SKIP RECOMMEND I WILL EVER MAKE. 

JUNO REACTOR - GODS & MONSTERS
01. Inca Steppa
02. Tokyo Dub
03. Las Vegas Future Past
04. Mind Of The Free
05. Immaculate Crucifixion
06. City Of The Sinful
07. Tanta Pena
08. The Perfect Crime (Superman)
09. Pretty Girl