After seeing this album in yet another top ten for last year, I have joined this forum as I feel it is my civic duty to warn people about this absolute stinker of an album. Wearemonster indeed got massive scores on a huge range of review mags/sites... but I implore you please don't make the same mistake I did, and if you have the opportunity listen to it before you buy. This album is flat, colourless, boring, amateurish and an ultimate example of mediocrity. It reminds me of someone who has just bought a new iMac and discovers garage band for the first time and has a bit of a play around, and without too much effort puts something together. Why should you believe me over the likes of pitchfork, stylus, onion, neumu, etc...? Well I have taken the time to join this forum just to warn you all and I unlike those guys I don't get paid. I think this is one of those albums that was 'cool' to like, that actually has no substance. I am a long time lover of electronic music and it was really disappointing and confusing to see this record do so well, when there were so many other great releases last year. I understand there must be some kind of appeal to this album for it to do so well, and I have found this site in particular to usually be pretty close to the mark with the ratings, but this one has me stumped. The beats are generic and stale and what i think people are mistaking for subtle tastes of sophistication sound more like an amature randomly plopping bits and pieces around the sound canvas. Please listen to it before you buy and save your self the cash.

if you are a long time electronic music lover than post your all time top 5.Or a recent list of great albums.I am curious to see what is "great" compared to this, this album IMO is excellent.Instead of just bashing it left and right, why not try and support your opinion a little.
all your really doing is stating that u disagree wilt pitchfork and others....boring.that side is so played out on this board.

I must say I'm mightily impressed by the near-Biblical sense of mission you have in warning us against what you view to be a travesty of a record. We could do with your hair-on-fire zeal in my country .
I thought it was a good album. I, like my amigo here Imprezu21, would also be curious to hear what you think are great recent electronica releases. This could be a cool discussion, but you haven't given us much to go on...

I guess I was trying to support my opinion by articulating how bad I thought this album sounds rather than comparing with other records that I think are superior to it.... as I find reading other peoples top 5s/ all time favourites played out/boring/who cares? who are you? Having said that Boards of Canada, Mouse On Mars, Fourtet, Autechre, Aphex Twin, all the masters of the Ninja Tune & Big Dada label like Christ Wagon, Amon Tobin, Mr Scruff etc, Funkstorung, Vert, Unkle, to name but a few of the artists I think produce far better stuff than what I hear on We Are Monster. Or if you're into the more house/dance vibe I would even say Underworld, Faithless sound more interesting. (See... I'm not that different)

And keeping in mind all I am doing is giving another opinion that might be as insignificant as the next. I do give it so passionately in regards to this album though, because I am sure my top 5/ favourite all time records would not be that different to most peoples, which is why I was so surprised with how bad this album was (if you catch my drift - i usually like what most people like). I am merely posting a warning to those who might make the same mistake I feel I made and buy this disc based on the massive reviews it got.

Doesn't anyone else think most tracks on this disk sound like they were made in one afternoon's play around session? The beats are straight off Rebirth mod packs anyone could download. I don't mean to just come out and bash this album, I agree that just being out and out negative is unconstructive and lame, but this album got such huge wraps everywhere I looked. I just felt obliged to say something. Maybe I'm alone... but I know for a fact there more experimental, creative, exciting electronic music out there. I don't doubt this album might go off if you've just downed 4 pills and are out for a good night, it just doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the afore mentioned geniuses who get similar reviews/ratings.

omg, where to even start?
your bash makes no sense, if he just pulled demos of "rebirth" than why dont you pull the same things and whip out a shite album like this.

i think you are bashing it because everyone else is loving it?is that it, you just like to argue?

there are tons of albums that i hate! but i am not going to go into a new message board (2 posts) start a new thread, to just put an album down?

it makes no sense.

your comment about downing 4 pills and u could enjoy this is absurd, that is more the case for underworld and faithless.maybe if u down four pills and take a time warp machine back to 1995 when both where "important".

anyways,whatever--your list is formulaic.it was the list that that i expected you to write.i swear i know boards of canada would come out out first.

just leave this progressive forward thinking music to people who enjoy new things, and people who enjoy artists that have put out new interesting stuff.

i personally think this album is excellent,the fact that basically every review i have ever seen feels the same way really has no affect on that.its kind of re-assuring, but i could care less.this album is ESSENTIAL.as well as his past lp 'rest'.

Why does it not make sense to offer a counter argument for an album that has been given rave reviews if I feel its average? Why talk about anything on any forum? It's all about opinions and discussions. Probably a waste of time your right there. And you are right again about my typical favourite list. But this is my point, these artists scored well here as did Isolee, but I don't think We Are Monster is of the same quality as what they produce, so I spoke up.

As for 'We Are Monster' being an example of "forward thinking, new" music as you put it, in comparison to artists mentioned in my hero list .... I completely disagree. In those artists I hear experimentation and creativity and with We Are Monster... the sounds are very familiar, like someone hit the demo button on a Casio.

So while we're at it... what records do you hate then huh? Haven't you ever felt ripped off? I won't take it as you bashing them....

i swear, for me making "lists" of any kind of music is so hard. i go through albums and songs like toilet paper.if its not something new, its some old vinyl or some mp3s i got sent or a new mix i need to check out or this or that.

trust me, i have felt slighted before many times.there are tons of albums i hate.too many to list.

i took your rant out of context and bashed u a little bit for what u do like.i appologize for that.it is your opinion and yes this is a forum, which is a place to talk about things like this.

anyways...

as far as isolee goes, i really like his album.i think that 2/3 of it is exceptional with the other 1/3 being good.That generally comes out to an album that i will like alot.

you dont feel the same way as i do about it, thats great.

For real... I don't really know why I got so worked up over this album, like yourself I've got quite a few piles of disks that have been listened to once or twice that probably won't be heard again. I guess usually I don't consider my tastes so polar opposite to the likes of reviewers at the previously mentioned sites... and when you consider how much stuff they would hear in comparison to me I don't get why this album was such a stand out. Maybe I need to uprade my sub in the home stereo to get a better appreciation of this one.

Not necessarily relating to We Are Monster now.... I just feel that for an album to be listed in a top ten or get rave reviews, it needs to have a certain resonance, the tracks should have a infectious quality and stay with you, and the record should have enough variation and diversity that gives it a longevity to be still be valid years past its release, and find its way into your player years after you first buy it.

Albums with these qualities are pretty rare, if you honestly look at your collection, how much of the electronic stuff from 2,3,4 years ago still gets a spin? For me I still play old compilations from ninja tune, sonig, warp etc pretty often probably because of their wide variety of sounds.

Glad I didn't let you down with the old boards of canada.

I personally think it's cool to get worked up about albums. Why not? No better way to announce yourself on a new forum than by putting forward a genuine, sink or swim, non-wishy washy opinion. May your eloquent blasts of invective brighten our glum little corners in the electronica section and elsewhere. The offer to join the maelstrom of local Cuban politics still stands...

Now I really must get some sleep...

Cuban Politics! Don't get me started on Cuban Politics.

What happened to you anyway sambobo? You blew in and washed all over the electronica section like an, dare I say it? (yeah, why the fuck not) OK I'll say it, electrical storm, and haven't been seen since.
Come back and tell us some other album is shit. Friendly arguments make the world go round...

You couldn't be more wrong, We Are Monster is a gem.

Yeah seriously! I love WeAreMonster!

I really like Wearemonster, but perhaps it is a little over-rated.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Valeron Esq.:
What happened to you anyway sambobo? You blew in and washed all over the electronica section like an, dare I say it? (yeah, why the fuck not) OK I'll say it, electrical storm, and haven't been seen since.
Come back and tell us some other album is shit. Friendly arguments make the world go round...

It appears we have a ghost in our forums.

I agree with Sam, when I first listened to the album, I thought it was rather lame. But then again, it definitely isn't the first time critics have overrated something that sounds mediocre to "normal people" - half the albums in the 90-range don't belong there. Wearemonster is just one of many.

However, after a couple listens, I've grown to like it.. I like the bubbly-syrupy sound that it emits and it's pretty relaxing. If you actually bought the CD I would give it a few more spins and try to like it and make the most of your money at least :/

I love it. I really, really love it.

I couldn't even make it all the way through a few years ago when I gave it a spin. I thought it was really, really boring. But it wouldn't be the first album that required repeated listens either.

The posts at the start of this thread are hilarious. Funniest stuff in the electro section. I wish that guy would hate something else and start another thread. Anyone else hate something electronic? any other 'warnings' needed, before I head out to the record store?

oh and when I first got Wearemonster I thought it was cool... but 2 weeks after buying it was at the bottom of the stack... where it has remained to this day.

I remember being relatively pleasantly surprised by wearemonster, but then again I haven't listened to it since. Looks really cool though at the bottom of that one stack. Really ties the room together.