Rateyourmusic.com review of AWII
From Rateyourmusic.com
Track1: Ethiopian Song/Hands
The prevalent, catch, and repetitive guitar riff is the first thing to catch the listeners attention. Klinghoffer’s drums come into the sound and just add to the catch, they also enforce the beat. Then the vocals of John add to the effect. While it is not the most remarkable piece of work, it is still a lot of fun to listen to.
8/10
Track2: The Empty’s Response
This song is slow and easy. It is quite soothing and relaxing even. The lyrics are gentle and calm. It may even have a depressing feel to it. Depending upon interpretation, this song can be filled with sorrow or more of a soothing lullaby sort of song. While it does clock in at six minutes, not once did I wish to change it.
9/10
Track3: Attention
John’s voice returns on this one. The guitar work in this song just makes me smile, for it amuses me so. This is the kind of song where the grind of the guitar can only be played to Frusciante’s voice and style. Indeed, it is a longer track, clocking in at almost twelve minutes, however I gained the feeling that it reminded me of Zeppelin, in a way. While not in the Zeppelin style, obviously, the repetitive guitar and drum beats sort of brought me back to Kashmir. A good, long song with a great singer.
9/10
Track4: Union / OLA
You can really feel Frusciante’s guitar styling in this one, to be certain. This song is a good listen, and I believe it to be the best song on the album. It echoes with a fantastic Frusciante style, backed with the bass of Lally the strings in this song are just amazing to listen to. I would never sell this song short.
10/10
Track5: The Soldier
I love the sound of this song. The drum beats and the slight hits of guitar just accentuate Frusciante’s voice. A long song indeed, just like Attention, but once more I am impressed at how I did not get bored. I would listen to the whole song over, and over, just to get to the guitar solo. This song rings with a certain brilliance that is just too good to be put to words.
9/10
Total score:
45/50 ~ 90%
Verdict:
I, personally, love Ataxia and this CD. However I understand that their style may take some time to adjust to. Anyone who knows or loves Frusciante, even if only through the Peppers, should definitely give Ataxia a listen. I would recommend this CD only to people who can listen to synthesized music, long tracks, and are settled into this style of music
—Thom_Bombardillo
