In Silico by Pendulum

[Danny Ocean]

Now I'm not one for reviews, but I've met some strong opinions on Pendulum's new album, so I thought I'd express my own. Here goes:

In Silico was released released in Australia and Europe on May 12, 2008, according to wikipedia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Silico_(album) ] . Although it seems that the shops near where I live have been slow to pick up on this. Regardless, the track list includes:

1. "Showdown" at 5:27
2. "Different" at 5:51
3. "Propane Nightmares" at 5:13
4. "Visions" at 5:36
5. "Midnight Runner" at 6:55
6. "The Other Side" at 5:15
7. "Mutiny" at 5:09
8. "9,000 Miles" at 6:26
9. "Granite" at 4:41
10. "The Tempest" at 7:27

I havn't had the opportunity to listen to "Mutiny" or "The other side" so I'll leave these out of the equation.

[http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=insilicocoverbt0.jpg]
Box art for "In Silico'

Pendulum's previous album - "Hold Your Colour" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hold_Your_Colour) - was far more drum and base orientated than "In Silico", seeming more suited to clubs than casual listening.
In Silico seems to have been develeped with a more commercial goal: having the characteristic change in pace about two thirds of the way through some of their songs (a trait common to pop songs); and being more heavily advertised. Many of the new singles feature several changes of pace and beat as they play, most notably The Tempest, which help to remove them from the repetetiveness of some of their previous singles. This, to me, is a smart move on the part of Pendulum, resulting in making their songs more accessable to a wider audience.

The waveform of "The Tempest"

However a lot of people I know don't share this opinion, and are deliberately not buying the album because they say it's too much of a departure from what got them into Pendulum in the first place. Indeed, around the web I've seen a standard of musical elitism that's almost unprecidented. I get the impression that if some other band had made this exact same album, it would've been a smash hit.

To sum it up, I'd say that even if you are really into Pendulum already, at least give the album a try, it retains enough of their original style to appeal, but loosens up the mold with some fresh new ideas that will appeal to a wider audience.

For everyone else, I say buy it

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Well... The thing is with In Silico is that it's lost much of the band's edge. Being a terrible, terrible, awful person, I downloaded my copy and either the production or the encoding has left the songs sounding much quieter than they should be. With a band as in your face as Pendulum this is a big problem, since the 'kick' you need from a pendulum song isn't there.

I prefer Pendulum's older stuff but it doesn't make the new album bad. What makes the new album bad is that it's a thoroughly dull effort to mix Drum N' Bass with indie rock that lacks the energy of the former and the emotion of the latter to appeal to either crowd. I preferred the older pendulum style- Songs like Slam and Blood Sugar are far superior to the much softer likes of Showdown or Granite. Granted, the tempo changes are a much welcome addition to their sound, but unless they can find a more interesting singer and bring back the energy of their debut Pendulum are going to disappear after another disappointing album.

 

[TrevorOfCrete]

They removed another plant from the newer version of Hold Your Colour. A simply stupid move, one of the best songs on that album.