Despite being underrated by professional critics who were expecting a progression from the hip-hop, electronica and orchestration of the revered Psyence Fiction, War Stories- which takes UNKLE's influences to acoustic rock, desert rock, and downtempo while maintaining their signature style- is an excellent addition to the UNKLE discography and, depending on your musical tastes, a must-have album.

While it is not as much of concept album as the dark, downtempo orchestral and acoustic masterpiece that was Never, Never Land, War Stories does have moments of sheer haunting cinematics- such as the longing "When Things Explode" and the haunting "Burn My Shadow"- which rival not only Never, Never Land but anything UNKLE has ever done before (or after, now that it's been five years).

Like all UNKLE albums, this is a concept album. A few tracks- most notably Burn My Shadow, Hold My Hand, When Things Explode, and Chemistry- stand out from the album completely and all could easily be singles without losing any of their meaning or effect (as the many TV/film appearances by them suggest).

While I won't go too deep into the meaning of the tracks or the album, I will say that Burn My Shadow, Hold My Hand and When Things Explode are very deep and dark tracks- like Lonely Soul, Rabbit In Your Headlights, Eye For An Eye, and In A State before them- and deserve a listen regardless of anything else.

The rest of the tracks- from the jazzy intro, the ethereal Price You Pay, the soulful Twilight and Persons and Machinery, the driving and open-sounding Keys To The Kingdom and Broken, and the dark yet driving rock of Lawless, Restless, May Day and Morning Rage- stand up well enough on their own but are best understood as part of the overall concept of the album. The tracks flow into one another very well, and listening to the entire album is a smoothly transitioned roller coaster ride of emotions from song to song.

The art, both with this special edition and the standard edition, is fantastic and helps to convey not only the overlying concept of the album but also several of its musical influences. The hidden track- seven minutes in to the last track of the album, about two minutes of silence after When Things Explode's last note- also provides a cathartic conclusion.

In my highly subjective opinion, this could be UNKLE's "Led Zeppelin III" moment- releasing a record whose tone and influences weren't what critics were expecting, but was actually an important step in the evolution of the artist and a great record- including some indispensable songs such as Burn My Shadow- as well.

In short I can't recommend this record enough. It is a conceptual and thematic powerhouse, flows from tone, style and emotion easily, and contains some very meaningful and strong tracks.

6人のお客様がこれが役に立ったと考えています

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guillem daniel

à découvrir pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas

2013年1月30日にフランスでレビュー済み

Amazonで購入

un titre découvert dans la série person of interest, je ne connaissais pas le groupe UNKLE, très bonne découverte, je le conseille

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Jack Gale

Wow

2013年1月26日に英国でレビュー済み

Amazonで購入

As an on-mass buyer of general CDs I'm interested in around the Christmas period, I tend to find myself skimming through quite a few albums and picking out my favourite singles to utilise, while the rest of the album waits for a random resurgence, or to be called up by my ipod's shuffle. This, however, is one of those album that will take an honoured place amongst my collection's best and brightest, and for which, when I choose to listen to it, I take the time to go through the vast majority of the album.

It's powerful, gripping and alternative, with songs like 'May Day' and 'Burn My Shadow' always ending up stuck in my head for a good few hours. Initially a lot of it felt a little bit depressed, as it's undertone is quite alternative, but when you listen through the whole thing, it seems clear that this really is UNKLE's niche, and they do what they do fantastically. Definitely recommend it to anyone with a bit of a broader taste for some alternative rocky vibes, and am sure it will get significant use for me over the rest of my life.

1人のお客様がこれが役に立ったと考えています

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Stefan Bartl

Schlichtweg großartig !

2007年7月20日にドイツでレビュー済み

Amazonで購入

Wie würde wohl der Nachfolger von "Never Never Land" aussehen? Kann man so einer sensationellen Scheibe überhaupt was brauchbares nachfolgen lassen? UNKLE kann ! Zugegeben, "Never Never Land" bleibt die beste Scheibe, aber "War stories" ist weder eine misslungene Kopie noch in irgendeiner Weise ein "Rückschritt". Durchgehend rockiger, man hat weniger das Gefühl des Konzeptalbums, aber .....Leute, es ist schlichtweg großartige Musik, die man da hört. Wunderbare Instrumentierung, tolle Kompositionen und eine grandiose Produktion. Je mehr ich die CD höre desto begeisterter bin ich. Was wollt ihr noch hören ? "war stories" ist einfach sensationell gut.

3人のお客様がこれが役に立ったと考えています

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War Stories (2nd)

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War Stories (2nd)

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上位レビュー、対象国： 日本

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上位レビュー、対象国：日本