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Music : Hercules and Love Affair
1 2
Rating: 
- Don't Believe the Hype; Don't Believe the Backlash Either.
Whatever impressions you may have gotten from lead single 'Blind', its best to approach this album with an open mind (as with most things). Whilst Hercules & Love Affair do take their lead from disco music, the scope of the songs is much broader, embracing minimalistic techno and torch-balladry to creating a heady and eclectic tracklist. They might not always produce up-tempo, dance-floor friendly hits, but to criticise Hercules & Love Affair for such a thing would be unfair, not to mention small-minded.
If there is a fault with the album, it is in the sequencing. The penultimate tracks, 'This is My Love' and 'Raise Me Up' sound uninspired and formulaic in comparison to all that comes before, contributing to a distinct second half-lull. This a minor complaint considering that the run of tip-top tracks runs uninterrupted from opener 'Free Will' through to the sublime 'Easy'. Each song has its own stylistic flavour that should keep the restless happy. To pick two examples: 'Hercules' Theme' starts off with a slinky keyboard and grows from there into a steam-rolling behemoth as the violins, trumpets and bass begin piling on top of one another; 'Athene', on the other-hand, cruises on a bed of crisp percussion and cartwheeling keyboards with unflappable cool, finding its groove and riding it until its five minutes are up. Even after this, there's still much more to explore.
Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons fame is a soulful presence on the album and leaves an indelible mark on tracks like 'Blind' and 'Easy'(his talents are wasted on the workman-like, 'Raise Me Up'). Antony might be the star here, but the whole menagerie of musicians and singers deserve credit, and its in thanks to this fluid-line up that Hercules & Love Affair can be seen as a banner for pioneering pop.
Of course, you might have problems with the group's genre-tourism and find nothing beyond 'Blind' that spins your propellor - but you could do worse than buy the album and give it a try. Don't let the bad reviews put you off.
Rating: - Not an album to please from start to finish, but where it's good it's very good.
I would give this 3.5 if i could, but i'm giving it 4 because some people reviewing it seem to be overly critical.
I think the first half of the album (1-5) is excellent, with the obvious peak being that of Blind. It's a disco 'influenced' album which means a move from the really harsh dance music sounds that seems to be considered music at the moment. Some tracks are purely instrumental which makes parts of the album seem slightly one dimensional. It's rhythmical without being incredibly creative, but overall it's a pleasant listen. The second half of this album lets the project, as a whole, down a bit. As a continous piece of work the album feels all back to front. They should have put the quieter, almost laid back stuff first, and built up to the dancier stuff later in the album.
I'd recommend Blind to any music lover, but i guess, in time, you can take or leave the rest, as it's not really a grower (but then, not much these days is). Because of the changes in tempo this album will struggle to please anyone entirely. You'll most likely only like some of it, or only like the single from it. So....it comes down to whether you want to take a punt and buy it for £8, knowing it won't be total value for money.
Rating: - Don't judge any book by its cover, let alone a record
I'm really surprised by many reviews here mentioning the supposed disco influence on this record. To me, it's rather more paying tribute to early Vince Clarke stuff, Visage or even Soft Cell than to any late 70's disco act... And please, to the reviewer who thinks disco SHOULD be uplifting, I advise you to listen carefully to "There But For The Grace Of God", "Born This Way" or "Is It All Over My Face" (that are mostly incendiary, politically charged records, rather than po-faced whitey dancey stuff for Saturday nights...) instead of Bee Gees or Abba's greatest hits. It's about as relevant as if you reduced rock music to "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "We Will Rock You" and "I Love Rock'N'Roll"...
For the record itself, now, I really think the best tracks here are the ones when Antony Hegarty gets in ("Free Will", "You Belong" and the single "Blind" standing heads and shoulders above the rest to me); if you knew what the guy was all about, you'd probably agree he's paying homage here to his very close heroes such as Boy George, Marc Almond or even (to a lesser extent) Jimmy Sommerville. The music itself is really more synth-oriented than the pale imitation of those legendary Salsoul classics that some other reviewers suggest.
To sums things up, if you want to understand how this release relates to disco, expect something closer to Arthur Russell's seminal experimental dance tracks than to Gloria Gaynor's straightforward singalong approach.
Rating:
- Blind is awesome....the album is not
Basically i bought it....put it on and thought...o dear why did i buy this....even after listening to it a few times, it doesn't grow on you, the only song that saves it from disgrace is the song BLIND...
Rating:
- I can look outside myself
I first heard of Hercules & Love Affair via a Goldfrapp remix that they did of the song "A&E." A pleasant remix, and it led me to ferret out their debut album.
Well don't expect to be blown away by Hercules & Love Affair's self titled debut. While it has some clever, striking moments, this album is mostly repetitive mellow beats, solid vocals from a much-beloved singer, and some pleasant flourishes around the edges. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's a bit too easy to daydream during many of the songs.
It opens with a thick drum being tapped, snapping fingers, and the stern command, "Don't lie to me/don't make it up," before the song melts into a tangle of twisted synth, gentle electro beats and a warm, thick layer of keyboard like drizzled honey. This is probably the high point of the whole album.
Then things slump with "Hercules' Theme," an electrofunky tune riddled with horns and electric violins -- which sounds promising until you realize that the entire tune is running on a treadmill. And that continues into the songs that follow -- breathy hip-hoppy techno, blippy dance music, delicate electronica smothered by unspeakably melodramatic singing, sparkly electropop, and finally finishing with the joyously cluttered finale "True False Fake Real."
Too bad the whole album wasn't like that last song -- colourful, unpredictable and profoundly odd. It's worth noting that "Hercules & Love Affair" is not a terrible album -- not even really a bad one, and there are some truly gorgeous moments like "Easy," a darkly twisting little number that left me craving lots more. And it's graced with plenty of jazzy secondary instrumentation.
But the music tends to be quite repetitive -- "Athene" seems to endlessly run through the same few hard beats, as does the drippy island-y "You Belong" and the uneasily retro-funky "Raise Me Up." Hard beats, warm organic beats, tinkly ethereal ones, and all dressed in waves of synth, airy ripples, blares of horn, and lots of electric violin -- it gives a bit of extra flavour to the dancy songs.
Antony Hegarty's (of Antony and the Johnsons) powerful voice is present in some of the melodies, but frankly he feels misplaced there -- his rich vocals sound like they're overflowing over the songs' sides, especially since they never change around him. Kim Ann Foxman's droning she-robot singing fits in far better.
"Hercules and Love Affair" is basically a rather ordinary dance album strung with some truly exquisite flourishes around the edges. Here's hoping for something even better next time.
- Don't Believe the Hype; Don't Believe the Backlash Either.Whatever impressions you may have gotten from lead single 'Blind', its best to approach this album with an open mind (as with most things). Whilst Hercules & Love Affair do take their lead from disco music, the scope of the songs is much broader, embracing minimalistic techno and torch-balladry to creating a heady and eclectic tracklist. They might not always produce up-tempo, dance-floor friendly hits, but to criticise Hercules & Love Affair for such a thing would be unfair, not to mention small-minded.
If there is a fault with the album, it is in the sequencing. The penultimate tracks, 'This is My Love' and 'Raise Me Up' sound uninspired and formulaic in comparison to all that comes before, contributing to a distinct second half-lull. This a minor complaint considering that the run of tip-top tracks runs uninterrupted from opener 'Free Will' through to the sublime 'Easy'. Each song has its own stylistic flavour that should keep the restless happy. To pick two examples: 'Hercules' Theme' starts off with a slinky keyboard and grows from there into a steam-rolling behemoth as the violins, trumpets and bass begin piling on top of one another; 'Athene', on the other-hand, cruises on a bed of crisp percussion and cartwheeling keyboards with unflappable cool, finding its groove and riding it until its five minutes are up. Even after this, there's still much more to explore.
Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons fame is a soulful presence on the album and leaves an indelible mark on tracks like 'Blind' and 'Easy'(his talents are wasted on the workman-like, 'Raise Me Up'). Antony might be the star here, but the whole menagerie of musicians and singers deserve credit, and its in thanks to this fluid-line up that Hercules & Love Affair can be seen as a banner for pioneering pop.
Of course, you might have problems with the group's genre-tourism and find nothing beyond 'Blind' that spins your propellor - but you could do worse than buy the album and give it a try. Don't let the bad reviews put you off.
Rating:
- Not an album to please from start to finish, but where it's good it's very good.I would give this 3.5 if i could, but i'm giving it 4 because some people reviewing it seem to be overly critical.
I think the first half of the album (1-5) is excellent, with the obvious peak being that of Blind. It's a disco 'influenced' album which means a move from the really harsh dance music sounds that seems to be considered music at the moment. Some tracks are purely instrumental which makes parts of the album seem slightly one dimensional. It's rhythmical without being incredibly creative, but overall it's a pleasant listen. The second half of this album lets the project, as a whole, down a bit. As a continous piece of work the album feels all back to front. They should have put the quieter, almost laid back stuff first, and built up to the dancier stuff later in the album.
I'd recommend Blind to any music lover, but i guess, in time, you can take or leave the rest, as it's not really a grower (but then, not much these days is). Because of the changes in tempo this album will struggle to please anyone entirely. You'll most likely only like some of it, or only like the single from it. So....it comes down to whether you want to take a punt and buy it for £8, knowing it won't be total value for money.
Rating:
- Don't judge any book by its cover, let alone a recordI'm really surprised by many reviews here mentioning the supposed disco influence on this record. To me, it's rather more paying tribute to early Vince Clarke stuff, Visage or even Soft Cell than to any late 70's disco act... And please, to the reviewer who thinks disco SHOULD be uplifting, I advise you to listen carefully to "There But For The Grace Of God", "Born This Way" or "Is It All Over My Face" (that are mostly incendiary, politically charged records, rather than po-faced whitey dancey stuff for Saturday nights...) instead of Bee Gees or Abba's greatest hits. It's about as relevant as if you reduced rock music to "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "We Will Rock You" and "I Love Rock'N'Roll"...
For the record itself, now, I really think the best tracks here are the ones when Antony Hegarty gets in ("Free Will", "You Belong" and the single "Blind" standing heads and shoulders above the rest to me); if you knew what the guy was all about, you'd probably agree he's paying homage here to his very close heroes such as Boy George, Marc Almond or even (to a lesser extent) Jimmy Sommerville. The music itself is really more synth-oriented than the pale imitation of those legendary Salsoul classics that some other reviewers suggest.
To sums things up, if you want to understand how this release relates to disco, expect something closer to Arthur Russell's seminal experimental dance tracks than to Gloria Gaynor's straightforward singalong approach.
Rating:
- Blind is awesome....the album is notBasically i bought it....put it on and thought...o dear why did i buy this....even after listening to it a few times, it doesn't grow on you, the only song that saves it from disgrace is the song BLIND...
Rating:
- I can look outside myselfI first heard of Hercules & Love Affair via a Goldfrapp remix that they did of the song "A&E." A pleasant remix, and it led me to ferret out their debut album.
Well don't expect to be blown away by Hercules & Love Affair's self titled debut. While it has some clever, striking moments, this album is mostly repetitive mellow beats, solid vocals from a much-beloved singer, and some pleasant flourishes around the edges. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's a bit too easy to daydream during many of the songs.
It opens with a thick drum being tapped, snapping fingers, and the stern command, "Don't lie to me/don't make it up," before the song melts into a tangle of twisted synth, gentle electro beats and a warm, thick layer of keyboard like drizzled honey. This is probably the high point of the whole album.
Then things slump with "Hercules' Theme," an electrofunky tune riddled with horns and electric violins -- which sounds promising until you realize that the entire tune is running on a treadmill. And that continues into the songs that follow -- breathy hip-hoppy techno, blippy dance music, delicate electronica smothered by unspeakably melodramatic singing, sparkly electropop, and finally finishing with the joyously cluttered finale "True False Fake Real."
Too bad the whole album wasn't like that last song -- colourful, unpredictable and profoundly odd. It's worth noting that "Hercules & Love Affair" is not a terrible album -- not even really a bad one, and there are some truly gorgeous moments like "Easy," a darkly twisting little number that left me craving lots more. And it's graced with plenty of jazzy secondary instrumentation.
But the music tends to be quite repetitive -- "Athene" seems to endlessly run through the same few hard beats, as does the drippy island-y "You Belong" and the uneasily retro-funky "Raise Me Up." Hard beats, warm organic beats, tinkly ethereal ones, and all dressed in waves of synth, airy ripples, blares of horn, and lots of electric violin -- it gives a bit of extra flavour to the dancy songs.
Antony Hegarty's (of Antony and the Johnsons) powerful voice is present in some of the melodies, but frankly he feels misplaced there -- his rich vocals sound like they're overflowing over the songs' sides, especially since they never change around him. Kim Ann Foxman's droning she-robot singing fits in far better.
"Hercules and Love Affair" is basically a rather ordinary dance album strung with some truly exquisite flourishes around the edges. Here's hoping for something even better next time.