CD Review - OSI: Free
- Alex
Mini-review: Album of the year. Stop. Go back and read that sentence again, because it's true.
I reviewed OSI's first album when it debuted in 2003, and I have to admit I was really geeked about that
album. I stand before you today to tell you that this second album blows the first one out of the water. That's not to impugn the first disc, I'm just saying that
Free is a frickin' masterpiece. Let's start with the fact that it pretty much transcends genres. If you start by thinking that it's prog rock meets
trip-hop, that'd get you somewhat into the neighborhood. I could say things like it's NIN meets new Radiohead meets Audioslave, and that'd also be somewhat
close. But really, you just gotta hear the sucker.
Full disclosure: I'm a huge fan of Kevin Moore, and everything he's done from this, to his solo stuff, back to his days
in Dream Theater. What this disc really is is a much heavier version of his work as Chroma Key, but I can't really use that as a description since
nobody knows who he is. So there ya go.
I'll level with you here: I've tried a few times to write a song-by-song recap of this disc, and I just can't do it. It gets bogged down in my trying to
describe what each song seems to sound the most like in terms that you'd all recognize, and that's because the sound is so unique that I can't put it into my
own words. So here's the deal - get your grubby little hands on this album and have a listen. Find it, buy it, whatever it takes. Steal your co-workers' lunch money
if you have to. Just do it. However, by way of a preview, I can hit you up with a couple of links.
First off, OSI has a
MySpace page. The songs have been changing with some frequency, but right now from this disc you can hear Better, Go, and Kicking.
Honestly, those are three of the four songs I'd recommend to someone to listen to first if I weren't sure they'd like the whole album. So that's a plus there.
Second link: Here, to a video shot for a class project. It uses the black sheep of the album, though,
the last-track ballad. (Disclaimer: if you only listen to this song before buying, you may be disappointed. The rest of the disc does not sound like
this. You've been warned.)
And of course, there are sound samples for all tracks at
Amazon, which is where you should be going right now to buy this. I'm serious, this is the album of the year. It's your loss if you miss it.
5/4/2006
