Search - Perry Farrell :: Song Yet to Be Sung

A really good attempt at re-definition

High Duke | Zagreb, CROATIA | 08/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, I think Perry Farrell is one those flaky artists that can't be relied on to follow anything through, mainly because he's constantly jumping from one thing to another , rather than concentrating on what he's best at. He ditched Jane's Addiction just as they were hitting their peak, he lost interest in Porno for Pyros, his excursions into festivals and events never quite live up to his hype and his whole turn as a DJ isn't really taken seriously by fans of electronica. However, the man has a supremely melodic and beautiful voice and he can write great songs. When I first saw this album I was completely skeptical and hardly interested. However, I gave it a chance and on the strength of two tunes I decided to buy it. The album really grows on you. It's hard at first to wrap your head around the concept of one of rock's greatest warblers singing over sequencers, samples and drum machines, but, on closer inspection you can really pick out the guy's genius. While it won't satisfy techno fans (and some Jane's fans probably won't bother with it either), this album stands out as one of those anomalies that will be appreciated much more a few years down the line. Farrell encompasses everything into this understated but ambitious project. You hear drum n' bass, house, Middle Eastern instruments and melodies, dub, reggae, traces of rock and Farrell's usually bombastic voice. 'Happy Birthday Jubilee' is a great introduction to what the album seems to be about, basically Perry's re-introduction to his Jewish faith and roots. The reprise of the tune at the end of the album, all hectic energy and frenetic pacing, is even better. The album really kicks off with 'Did You Forget?' which starts off nicely with a thick, lonely sounding bass frequency and then kicks off into this manic drum n' bass piece accompanied by Perry howling like he used to back in the day. Surprisingly, there's a guitar in it, which will probably piss off purists, but, it works. The album maintains its quality from there on, running through 5 great songs in a row. 'Shekina' shines with all the things that make Perry's open-minded adventurousness great. There's a hint of an Arabic melody in there and the track soars with all these high pitched squeals that are both Perry's voice and the many instruments on the track. When Perry goes into 'Our Song' you can see that he's not really riding the wave of electronic music that was being hyped at the time, but rather, putting his own stamp on a music that he found innovative and fresh. 'Say Something' is probably the prettiest track on the album. Farrell sounds almost sweet while singing about 'someone meeting someone', and the accomapnying music is the mellowest on the album. 'Seeds' is a trippy, slight number with a house beat and an entrancing piano riff that gives the song a circular feeling of rebirth (haha, I don't know HOW I came up with THAT one. Damn, I sure can be pretentious sometimes, especially when trying to write like a 'real' rock critic haha.) The most infectious track is 'To Me' the semi-dub reggae like song that really can't be called reggae cuz it's not like any form of it that you've ever heard before. There's a backward steel drum loop and the piano carries the choppy riff where a guitar usually would be, but the bass line is the real connection to the Caribbean (I could see a rasta scratching his head at this though). 'King Z' is much the same, but more aggressive, it's bassline being almost Moog-like funky, and a killer harmonica that I haven't heard Perry use since the first Jane's album. There are a couple of bum tracks that I didn't really care for ('Song Yet To Be Sung' even though the tribal drums in it sound cool and 'Nua-Nua'). All in all, though, it's quite a unique offering and a display of Perry's talents. I found the one guy's comparison of this album to Madonna's 'Ray Of Light' album to be quite accurate. It's an odd diversion from his usual stuff, but it was a great attempt at trying something a little different. The album is a celebration of Perry's positive view of life. It really should be checked out again, but divorce yourself from your preconceptions and view it as a piece unto itself. Don't connect it to his past nor with what was happening at the time. The album has slipped by the wayside, but I think it will find its place in the musical pantheon one day. Unfortunately, the very thing that makes Perry great is also his greatest hindrance: his restlessness. If the guy just learned the value of patience and stuck to doing one thing amazingly, he'd be above and beyond his contemporaries. The way it seems now is that he gets bored too quickly and is already looking on to his next project before he gets the current one done. He's a victim of his own ambitions. Stop looking at the horizons Perry, and enjoy the warm glow of the sun in the here and now."

Like a kid in a candy shop...almost

Bill MacDonald | 08/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let's get things straight here. I love Perry Farrell's music, whether with the multi-facetedness of Jane's Addiction or the brilliance of Porno For Pyros (particularly Good God's Urge), so right away I'm biased towards anything with Perry's voice. SYTBS is a product of Perry's embracing his Jewish roots and his recent dabbling into electronic music and DJ'ing. The result, a very nice compilation of tracks, some very strong ones, like Did You Forget, Shekina and To Me. I have given this review 5 stars mainly because with all the expectations and hype surrounding this was bound to leave me a little disappointed. It didn't; I enjoy every track. However...if there is anything to be critical about this release, it's that I got the feeling it may have been a tad reserved. Given all the musical avenues that Perry continues to explore, and his unbridaled enthusiasm, I guess I was perhaps expecting him to really pull out all the stops and come out with extremely powerful grooves. Instead, for the most part, SYTBS comes across as a very careful experiment, with some very strong moments. Regardless, it works; and Perry Farrell making music again only means more excitement on the music landscape."

Been Caught...Singing, a Song Yet to be Sung

tim_d_r | Earth | 01/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"how many times do we have to hear Perry and the crew do their business before we simply admit it is good?
PsiCom, Janes, ..... for Pyros, back to Janes and again, and now with Perry and some talented musicians in Song Yet to be Sung.
Some of whom play traditional instruments, others use modern equpment.
PsiCom and Janes (and PFP?) fans might not find in Song Yet to be Sung what they hoped to hear from the old days.
However, with DJs and new equipment (+ ideas) I hear
Songs Yet to be Sung in new ways, ways that evoke different but good responses, there are many grooves throughout,
e.g., the 2 'happy birthday' tracks are well done versions of the same song but the opening part takes the prize. a bit reminiscent of the soundtrack from the film Pi.Over all it was put together nicely, unlike what I read in a Chicago zine\newspaper review in August 2001.
Song Yet to be Sung is worth the while, but some older listeners might need to re-play certain songs over to find what they were looking for before they bought it."