Nut Suite. Mini reviews of albums old and new. Minimum words. No fuss. No spoilers [?]. Occasional smugs.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

FILTER / Short Bus (1995)

The first track kicks ass.* Unfortunately, the remainder is less impressive, being somewhat bland and samey. There's anger in the distorted guitars and lyrics but it lacks the kind of vehemence that would take it to the next level. It's a safe kind of MTV anger, not the crippling kind that eats you up from the inside.
The potential is squandered on trying to capture a feeling that was already being done better by NIN. Altough, Trent must've been listening, because he stole some of that sound back years later for The Fragile (1999).
Short Bus is a decent album that might've benefited from a different production, one that picked out and enhanced strengths instead of burying them in the mix.

Songs of Note: *Hey Man, Nice Shot; Stuck In Here

3 breached spaces out of 5

2 comments:

Dr Faustus said...

They've a new album out soon. That inspired me to revisit the old ones.

If you're quick you can get a free DL off their site of a track from the new album. I got it but not heard it yet.

A cull of choice tracks from the first 3 albums would make a pretty good home-made EP.

cuckoo said...

"A safe kind of MTV anger".

You'll have to explain that to the kids who have no idea that MTV actually used to play music in the olden days.