LogFAQs > #889291231

Chicano Batman - Freedom Is Free

Its actually kind of crazy how differently I feel about the first two tracks on this album compared to everything else. I was really enjoying the oldies feel on the opening two tracks, especially with the female backing vocals, it really sounded just like something from another decade, even down to the recording techniques and then I got sick of it. Its not as if the third track switches up the formula too much, it still sounds like something from the same genre and era but I cant really get into the rest of the album in the same way. It might literally just be my mood right now, quite tired and wanting to get this over with, but the general brightness of the production featured on this album starts getting on my nerves as it reaches the midway point. Its really not even just the production, there is a real sense of sincerity and almost childlike earnestness to the lyrics that I just cant seem to appreciate at the moment. Id be really interested to see what I thought of this album a week or two from now because even though Im not feeling any of this right now, I cant say that any part of it is objectively bad.. Just not for me.

There are actually some pretty interesting concepts covered in this album on tracks like La Jura and The Taker Story, but I feel like theyre covered in such a simple way that they dont really do the subjects justice. I mean Ill admit that its hard to tell with something like La Jura which is sung in Spanish, but it feels like such a surface-level commentary on a serious issue (police brutality) that Im not really sure it needed to be said. I dont know if its referencing a true story or not, but I feel that it would be much more powerful to tell the story of the person involved and the life that was lost, rather than simply saying the cops are killing the people that theyre supposed to protect, and saying thats not how it should be. The Taker Story does dig a little deeper and I can admit that its kind of great to hear someone sing about how the agricultural revolution basically ruined humanity what bothers me about this track is that they often just forsake the rhyme scheme altogether in order to deliver information. It feels very odd for an album that has been so musical from the start to end with a track where I feel like Im being talked at. It honestly feels a little like slam poetry and I wasn't at all into it.

I hope some of this made sense. Im still sick and my mind is definitely mush right now, but these are the thoughts I could gather and put on a page. I dont know, even know what I think of this overall. It just seems like another type of sound that isnt really for me. Its not nearly as bad as jazz, but its not something I can bear to listen to for hours at a time.

Final Rating: Holy Chicano Batman!/10
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http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/these-beautiful-nightmares