- Joined
- Jan 2, 2007
- Messages
- 1,067
I love Voltaire! I love him a lot. He plays my favourite instrument, the violin and has a unique sound all his own. In fact no one seems to know what to classify him as, the most common seem to be "Irish Goth" or "Dark Cabaret." He's not Irish and he makes fun of goths more than anything, so "Irish Goth" doesn't sound right to me. Dark Cabaret is closer, but it really is hard to pigeonhole him into a single genre.
His latest album, "To the Bottom of the Sea," came out sometime last year but I couldn't get a hold of it because I was foolish to keep checking stores first before learning I could only buy a copy from his website as it is the first album he has distributed himself.
It is arguably his most serious piece since his debut, "The Devils Briss," as there are only a couple of comedic songs this time around, whereas the majority of his albums have more comedic tracks then serious ones. In fact his last album, "Ooky Spooky" had a primary focus on comedy and contained only one serious song, "Blue Eyed Matador." This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but expecting it to be as funny, silly, or bombastic as he got in previous albums would be misleading. Granted, there are still comedic tracks here but even they are a bit more satirical and not as bombastic or silly as the songs on Ooky Spooky or even some of his past efforts. However, this doesn't hurt the album, in fact in some ways it helps the album.
Like Ooky Spooky, which had a "Mexican" instrumental theme, this album is experimental and expands the roster of instruments and such even further, including the return of the trombones and trumpets from last time (Minus the Mexican theme), the accordion, piano, and arguably the strangest addition being a theremin in "The beast of Pirate Bay." Outside of the instrumental part, the biggest additional to his style is the use of choruses and back up vocals. Prior to Ooky Spooky, in which he did a duet with Dresden Dolls leader Amanda Palmer titled "Stuck With You," his vocals had always been solo. This album contains another duet, and a good handful of the songs have a chorus and occasional back up vocals. He doesn't change his style so much that it will alienate fans, but he progresses just enough to remain fresh and this albums strongest element is that it is easily his most varied album yet with the variety making his songs bolder and more memorable.
The best track on the album is "This Sea," conversely the worst is "Coin Operated Goi." "This Sea" is a gorgeous Tango/Duet with good lyrics and a beautiful female singer beside Voltaire. I'm not sure who she is, but her voice is beautiful and somewhat unique, and the harmony between her voice and Voltaires is the highlight of the track along with the beautiful instrumentals mixing a classical piano besides Voltaires standard use of the violin and tambourines.
Coin Operated Goi is the weakest due to its composition. Granted, its actually one of the funnier tracks on the album and carries the somewhat bizarre and questionably sexual lyrics from his more bombastic comedic tracks, but the song itself isn't memorable beyond the lyrics. Its the stereotypical Jewish riff and of course the lyrics are a mild parody of "Coin Operated Boy" (I say mild parody because it doesn't use the same tune, which does weaken the parody a little) but the repetitive beat and lack of a tune makes it only really memorable for the chuckles it might illicit.
The album is "tamer" then some of his other albums, there isn't as much cursing or objectionably sexual content (Remember Cantina? No? Lucky you.) and save for one F-bomb and some morbid lyrics, particularly during "Robber Baron," its his least 'offensive' album per se which might make it appeal more to some people, the crudest of the songs being Coin Operated Goi and even it is not as crude as some of his past songs.
The funniest of the comedic tracks is the final track on the album, "Death, Death (Devil, Devil, Devil, Devil, Evil, Evil, Evil, Evil Song") which is actually a pretty good self parody and has some great moments, especially at the end when he is sent to hell and meets the devil and his wife, who are his "Biggest fans." That bit is pretty funny. At the end of the review I'm linking to it and "This Sea" as a sample as they are my favourite tracks from the album.
Overall, "To the Bottom of the Sea" is a terrific album and arguably his best since "Almost Human." It retains the unique style of Voltaire while successfully experimenting occasionally with improvements that actually work well. As always, everything from his lyrics to use of classical instruments is still great. If you are a fan of Voltaire, its definitely worth checking out, and if you haven't been introduced to Voltaire yet, its as good a time as any to give him a shot.
It is not available in retail stores, but you can buy it in CD ($15) or MP3 ($9.99) format Here
9.6/10
"Death, Death" (There is some very minor cursing)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9WkMtLzmsw[/ame]
"This Sea"
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIwwnEBTZDc[/ame]
His latest album, "To the Bottom of the Sea," came out sometime last year but I couldn't get a hold of it because I was foolish to keep checking stores first before learning I could only buy a copy from his website as it is the first album he has distributed himself.
It is arguably his most serious piece since his debut, "The Devils Briss," as there are only a couple of comedic songs this time around, whereas the majority of his albums have more comedic tracks then serious ones. In fact his last album, "Ooky Spooky" had a primary focus on comedy and contained only one serious song, "Blue Eyed Matador." This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but expecting it to be as funny, silly, or bombastic as he got in previous albums would be misleading. Granted, there are still comedic tracks here but even they are a bit more satirical and not as bombastic or silly as the songs on Ooky Spooky or even some of his past efforts. However, this doesn't hurt the album, in fact in some ways it helps the album.
Like Ooky Spooky, which had a "Mexican" instrumental theme, this album is experimental and expands the roster of instruments and such even further, including the return of the trombones and trumpets from last time (Minus the Mexican theme), the accordion, piano, and arguably the strangest addition being a theremin in "The beast of Pirate Bay." Outside of the instrumental part, the biggest additional to his style is the use of choruses and back up vocals. Prior to Ooky Spooky, in which he did a duet with Dresden Dolls leader Amanda Palmer titled "Stuck With You," his vocals had always been solo. This album contains another duet, and a good handful of the songs have a chorus and occasional back up vocals. He doesn't change his style so much that it will alienate fans, but he progresses just enough to remain fresh and this albums strongest element is that it is easily his most varied album yet with the variety making his songs bolder and more memorable.
The best track on the album is "This Sea," conversely the worst is "Coin Operated Goi." "This Sea" is a gorgeous Tango/Duet with good lyrics and a beautiful female singer beside Voltaire. I'm not sure who she is, but her voice is beautiful and somewhat unique, and the harmony between her voice and Voltaires is the highlight of the track along with the beautiful instrumentals mixing a classical piano besides Voltaires standard use of the violin and tambourines.
Coin Operated Goi is the weakest due to its composition. Granted, its actually one of the funnier tracks on the album and carries the somewhat bizarre and questionably sexual lyrics from his more bombastic comedic tracks, but the song itself isn't memorable beyond the lyrics. Its the stereotypical Jewish riff and of course the lyrics are a mild parody of "Coin Operated Boy" (I say mild parody because it doesn't use the same tune, which does weaken the parody a little) but the repetitive beat and lack of a tune makes it only really memorable for the chuckles it might illicit.
The album is "tamer" then some of his other albums, there isn't as much cursing or objectionably sexual content (Remember Cantina? No? Lucky you.) and save for one F-bomb and some morbid lyrics, particularly during "Robber Baron," its his least 'offensive' album per se which might make it appeal more to some people, the crudest of the songs being Coin Operated Goi and even it is not as crude as some of his past songs.
The funniest of the comedic tracks is the final track on the album, "Death, Death (Devil, Devil, Devil, Devil, Evil, Evil, Evil, Evil Song") which is actually a pretty good self parody and has some great moments, especially at the end when he is sent to hell and meets the devil and his wife, who are his "Biggest fans." That bit is pretty funny. At the end of the review I'm linking to it and "This Sea" as a sample as they are my favourite tracks from the album.
Overall, "To the Bottom of the Sea" is a terrific album and arguably his best since "Almost Human." It retains the unique style of Voltaire while successfully experimenting occasionally with improvements that actually work well. As always, everything from his lyrics to use of classical instruments is still great. If you are a fan of Voltaire, its definitely worth checking out, and if you haven't been introduced to Voltaire yet, its as good a time as any to give him a shot.
It is not available in retail stores, but you can buy it in CD ($15) or MP3 ($9.99) format Here
9.6/10
"Death, Death" (There is some very minor cursing)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9WkMtLzmsw[/ame]
"This Sea"
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIwwnEBTZDc[/ame]
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