Remedy - Basement Jaxx > Reviews > The remedy of life

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money

Advantages:	Good feeling music, very listenable, some single releases
Disadvantages:	Very repetitive, too many styles

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Basement Jaxx have always been a band that I have admired from afar, but I didn't even consider buying one of their albums, until it was reduced in the sales this year. Although I am happy with my purchase, as the album is a very good one, it does have some quite strong disadvantages, some that are more apparent than others.

First off, this is a dance album. And all of the songs on it are dancey. As singles, when they were released, they all sounded individual and interesting, and every so often another new single would come along, that, in actual fact was only slightly different to the last release, but this went unnoticed because of the catchy melody and the strong beat that gives off a very positive 'high' mood. As an album, there are far too many songs that are similar sounding put too close together. It makes the entire album sound as though it is a 40-50 minute continuous beat, which, even for a dance lover like myself gets annoying after a short while. Saying that though, each song is individual and many of the songs on the album are recognisable as singles, so there isn't too much of a problem.

In fact, there are only 3 singles that have had individual releases on the album out of the 15, though these are well interspersed with other full-length songs and interludes, aptly titled 'Jazzalude', 'Jaxxalude', 'Sneakalude' and 'Gemilude'. I personally find these short minute long tracks better as they present a melody and idea in a short amount of time and so are not as long and drawn out as some of the 6 or 7 minute songs.

1. Rendez-vu - One of the singles to be taken off the album, this song really lightens up your mood when listening to it. Very dancey and likeable indeed, an excellent opener to the album.

2. Yo-yo - The first thing you notice about this track is it contains exactly the same vocal (vocoder) effects as in the first. In fact, it is almost hard to distinguish it from the first track. Slightly less happy and boppy but a decent enough dance gap-filler, except for the annoying intersperses of the vocoder.

3. Jump N Shout - With a slightly Egyptian/Reggae/Dance mix, you begin to wonder if this album was worth buying at this stage. The duo are trying to be too original with their style and it is just too confused to be likeable.

4. U Can't Stop Me - More of an 'Artful Dodger' style than anything else, this track makes for more of a garage style, which would be alright if there was more of an accompaniment and a melody to the track.

5. Jaxxalude - A short but snappy melody makes for a nice link between the worst bit of the album and the better bits. Still a bit insane but pleasant enough.

6. Red Alert - Some lyrics come welcome with open arms to the listeners of this album - the change in style and variety from the other tracks means a bit of a release from the monotonous tone of the others. This track is the second on the album to be released as a single, and, listening to the whole album, you can tell why. One of the better tracks.

7. Jazzalude - A beaty early R&B style with double bass and piano crazily short piece, which is, despite the length, one of the most enjoyable 20 seconds on the album.

8. Always Be There - Another long introduction breaks into a strange mixture of Irish sounding held synth strings and the occasional bit of lyrical influence. Not the greatest, but good easy-listening dance.

9. Sneakalude - Only 11 seconds long. There really isn't anything to say about this track, except that it only acts for a short introduction to track 10, if that.

10. Same Old Show - Some bizarre sounding 'Uh' sounds uttered at the start keeps all the way through the track. Featuring samples from some 80's hits, this track is strangely pleasing...after a while.

11. Bingo Bango - The third release of the album, and the latest at that, this track is very latin-o in style, but, of course, still keeps the beat. Another 6 minute track, which is beginning to drag a bit by this time.

12. Gemilude - A rather boring interlude, which sounds like it is going to develop more than it does. Not that interesting, and a bit pointless in my opinion.

13. Stop 4 Love - A cross between a Madonna song and some space creature shooting random missiles in a serene environment is the only way to even attempt explaining this very strange yet listenanle piece of music.

14. Don't Give Up - Another bizarre track, which gets tiring very quickly in my opinion. Although not a bad track in itself, it's another one that drags on for too long before really starting.

15. Being With U - A soft R&B style ballad is the piece that ends this album. It is pleasant enough, although could be a bit more interesting in places.

Even if you are a fan of Basement Jaxx, I wouldn't recommend that you buy this album unless you really want to own it as it soon becomes repetitive and almost irritating or reduced as I got it. However, true Basement Jaxx followers and dance lovers might find these album very much to their liking, as it contains decent melodies and interesting variations in beats and vocodal effects from time to time. For the average pop-lover, I would recommend that you buy the single, as opposed to this, as it is much cheaper and will probably suffice.

Overall, not a bad album at all, but it does tend to get boring very quickly, and the number of styles that are attempted throughout the album means this album is never sure what genre it wants to fit into, except the dance beat which determines its dance origins. An interesting enough listen, but I wouldn't recommend it all that much.