Search - 808 State :: Gorgeous

Some good tracks remain

musicburgler | DC | 12/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album as a whole is not that great but there are some great songs here. PLAN 9 is cool and contains some cool acoustic spainish guitar dub but my favorite track maybe even of all 808 songs is BLACK MORPHEUS. this song is so mellow and groovin. I love the bass clarinet and saxaphone on this. I only wish 808 had more songs like this!10X10 is good along with SOUTHERN CROSS and ONE IN TEN these tracks carry the album."

Underrated, man

Supabowl | Chicago, IL USA | 04/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Why does everyone think so low of this album? I read reviews of it and people just dismiss it as pop trash, a sort of wanna-be "Ex:El."
What utter nonsense. No, this isn't on par with the greatest 808 works, and while it does have some tracks that are good filler for live shows but probably shouldn't be on albums ("Sexy Dancer" is the most glaring example here), these are complex, creative beats and soaring synths. I would love to hear this stuff performed at a club. Tracks like Plan 9 and Nimbus are brilliant displays of technical skill with soul. There's also an organic grind to many of the songs that, chronologically speaking, fits in perfectly as a stylistic transition from the spacey sounds of "Ex:El" and the gritty "Don Solaris." A smattering of talented vocalists adds to the complexity and variety of this playlist.
So once again, I must say that some of the quaint, dated sounds of this disc and the inclusion of a couple unworthy tracks are not grounds for throwing an album away. There are some gems here."