Search - Failure :: Fantastic Planet

DigMeOut P. (digmeout)
Reviewed on 4/12/2011...

Check out a podcast review of Failure's Fantastic Planet on Dig Me Out, a weekly podcast dedicated to digging up lost College Rock, Alt Rock, Indie Rock and Hard Rock of the 1990s, one album at a time. http://www.digmeoutpodcast.com

Neil M. from PIE TOWN, NM
Reviewed on 8/16/2009...

I agree, it is not right to compare Failure to Nirvana. They weren't trying to be Nirvana, they were their own thing. Their sound is very interesting and experimental and just enjoyable. The types of songs you can get high off of without any drugs. And I think their lyrics are talented, just because they don't make sense to Dean Carlson doesn't mean they aren't expressive. This is an original album by an original band that's influenced lots of other bands.

Skip J. (TheSeaisaSound) from COLLINSVILLE, IL
Reviewed on 9/8/2008...

Dean Carlson has his head up his ass. He continually compares their lush song structure to the stripped down strong structure of Nirvana. I bet this guy was pissed that O.K. Computer didn’t sound like Nevermind also. Not every band in the nineties wanted to be Nirvana. It’s obvious from listening to this album that Failure wasn’t trying to be. I guess to Dean Carlson that’s a bad thing. I on the other hand applaud this album for meanderings and experimentation. The way this album wonderfully mixes straight forward Grunge with early nineties Shoegazzer makes it, in my opinion, one of the best albums of the Nineties.

2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Best Concept Album of the 90s, Hands Down

Michael Kydonieus | San Francisco, CA United States | 02/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with most of the posts. Fantastic Planet is criminally underrated. A few things that haven't been mentioned: the approach the band takes toward melody is incredibly innovative. The melodies are essentially pentatonic but devoid of recognizable patterns--no cliches--and yet somehow they still manage to be catchy. No one has said much about the lyrics. Saturday Savior is one of the most devastatingly honest songs about sexual politics I've ever run across. Dirty Blue Balloons and the Nurse Who Loved Me are two of the most perceptive songs about drug addiction I know of. Other reviewers have commented on the unique soundscape of the album, but I don't know quite how to describe it. As I write this I'm listing to the Flaming Lips' album Transmissions From the Satellite Heart. Very different style from Fantastic Planet, but similar in the way it uses distortion and ambient sounds to create the sense of an altered reality. It's amazing the way Failure manages to sustain and deepen this style over the length of the album, which is over an hour long! Do yourself a favor and listen to the samples before you purchase this record. I know a bunch of people who HATE this cd, including some whose musical opinion I respect, so it's definitely not for everyone. Hope this helps."

A Dream Within A Nightmare

Michael Hanna | San Antonio, TX | 07/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am surprised by how many people do not know what this album is about. It is, as stated by the band themselves, an album about heroin abuse, specifically its pitfalls. Saturday Savior is not a song about sexual politics. It is a song that Ken Andrews sings in character. The character that he takes on is heroin personified. As the drug "speaks" to the listener, the premise for the whole album is set up. The user is hopelessly in love with the drug and wants something from it that it can never give. The drug is cold and will never give itself to the user. It will only tease, as it has no heart to give. The user is being used and tossed aside like so much trash. The rest of the album chronicles a day in the life of the user and the drug's parasitic "relationship" with him. The album begins and ends with clock-like sounds, bookending the beginning and end of the user's day and offering an eerie reminder of the user's lost and perhaps, very limited, time. "Stuck on You," while not so subtle in its title, subtly compares heroin to a tune that slowly but surely creeps up on you and becomes ingrained in your consciousness. "The Nurse Who Loved Me" is the user deluding himself into thinking that the girl with "pharmacy keys" (heroin) actually cares for him. He insists that the girl "acts just like a nurse with all the other guys," but the song begins and ends with the user lying by himself face-down on the ground. This is the moment on the album where we realize just how pathetic the drug has made the user and to what extent he has been degraded and demoralized by his addiction. The pounding horror of "Daylight" ends the album. The user tries to assure himself that "daylight won't find us here," but there is, of course, no escape from reality, and this is confirmed by the aforementioned clock sounds. This is an album that is practically overflowing with symbolism both in its lyrics and in its music. Failure sound like no other band, but it would not be inaccurate to characterize them as a combination of Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine. They can create massive soundscapes and love their feedback, but they also understand their way around a pop song, albeit really heavy pop songs. This is a landmark in space rock. Enjoy."