Search - Vast :: Music for People

My album of the year for 2000

ixion75 | 12/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Obviously this disc, John Crosby's 2nd, is different from the first. It is not as heavy or as raw... but it is still rich enough in textures and emotion for several bands' repertoire. It's just an incredible trip from start to finish and I think it is one of the most polished, smooth, perfect listens in all of rock music. It has a melodicity, a harmony, a brilliance to it that is unmistakably VAST.There is a dark, solemn, melancholy feel to the songs, drawing the listener ever closer to the sentiment being expressed. Exemplifying contemporary rock music as deep experience, and all the while attempting to express the profound, the record moves from note to note and song to song effortlessly, while constantly sustaining a rapt attention from the audience. A song like "A Better Place" to me is lyrically, emotionally, and musically on a definitive and definite wavelength alongside the first album's "I'm Dying." Ditto "Touched" and "I Don't Have Anything." I know just about anyone going through a heartbreak or a lost love can approach the sort of wistfulness and yearning inherent in the mood created by these last two songs.Mr. Crosby's songwriting is excellent and he is obviously extremely talented. Not many 21 year olds can go into a studio and play almost every instrument on his debut album. It is pleasant to see that his musicianship has not suffered on the sophomore effort, and that his unique sound is still present, despite what must have been an increased recording budget. Not
enough has been said I think about not only Jon's playing, but also his singing, which is very fine, and also the lovely, lush interweaving of ambient, native, ritual, and world music samples and chants. Any Enigma, Enya or even Delerium can do this, but few I've heard do it in a rock and roll context. I suppose the last one to do it really well was The God Machine-- extinct legends in their own right. In fact the very same "piletze pe" vocal that is sampled in "Touched" is used in The God Machine's "Home." (When I met Jon I asked him if he knew The God Machine's music, because they were the only band whose compositions I can compare the best of Vast to. He said "I've heard *of* them, but I haven't *heard* them.")In summary you will not go wrong popping this CD in when in one of your darker moods. While not exactly a goth-trip it is a sensual and formal foray into rock and roll's utter beauty and possibility in talented hands."

Beautiful!!!! Let's discuss a few things VAST fans.

RumbleCrow | FL | 10/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I think we are in agreement on a few things: 1. The songs are not lengthy. Almost everyone would like songs to be longer, aside from Blur's "Song 2" which was appropriately short. 2. The CD is not as brash or hard as the 1st.However,look at it this way: 1. Don't take each song as an individual. They seem to work together, almost telling a mood changing story, from the highs of "Free", which rocks, and the lows of "Blue", which is the most BEAUTIFUL song I have heard. 2. If you wanted "Music for the People" to sound exactly like the first CD, then why buy this one? You should have bought "Visual Audio Sensory Theater" again. This CD should stand on it's own.And to anyone saying VAST is trying to go mainstream with this release and are trying to be "radio friendly", COME ON! On the first release there were 3 or 4 songs that were "radio friendly", except the morons that listen to the radio for music, wouldn't get it.In conclusion, this CD stands alone as a wonderful and beautiful piece of work!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks guys for giving me hope that there are groups out there that actually care about music."

Music For People

Clarissa | Ontario, California | 04/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can understand how some people can be disappointed with this album but it certainly doesn't deserve any bad reviews. I myself wasn't thrilled with the utter change in Music For People but I also wasn't pulling my hair out in tears. To be terribly disgruntled would be an exaggeration but when I first heard Music For People I remember detesting it almost as much as I had their first release, just because it was so completely different. Orchestration was present on Visual Audio Sensory Theater but it was never in the forefront like it is here. The first album consisted mostly of sinister goth rock with deep profound lyrics (most of which were questioning Gods existance) with gregorian monk singing to give a slight Enigma feel. My views on their first album, however, have desperately altered since I first bought it back in 98, ranking up there now with my ten favorite albums. The whole gregorian influence is still present in songs such as "What Else Do I Do" and "Song Without A Name" but they are less apparent as they bleed into the background to the point of nonexistence. In many aspects this album is more rock oriented with tunes that could have easily been sung by artists such as Queen and Pink Floyde (namely on "Land Of Shame" and "The Gates Of Rock 'N' Roll"). Jon Crosby's gorgeous male vocals (which sometimes remind me of frontman David Gahan of Depeche Mode) really shine on slower ballads "I Don't Have Anything", "We Will Meet Again" and "Blue" which swims with flowing strings. The darkly lavished "Lady Of Dreams", however, closes this album with the same atmosphere that his first album carried, only with a purer more instrumental awakening."