Fasciinatiion

I'm sorry but this is a great album. It should be a no brainer if you are a fan of The Faint. If you are stuck in these notions of what The Faint "should" be then I urge you to open your mind and be more accepting evolutionary artistic expression. I love how The Faint is experimenting at so many levels while still preserving the essence of what makes them special. The synth work is incredible on this album. Their live show is awesome also BTW.

Took a couple of listens to really appreciate this new release. Better than the last CD. Some really excellent songs. Can't recommend it enough!

I own the rest of The Faint's releases, and I don't think this quite stacks up. I agree with the reviewer who said that it is a letdown. It just doesn't have the same whateveritis that grabs you from their other releases. It's not a bad album by any means - still better than a lot of stuff out there - but it just doesn't live up to the expectations set by their previous work.

It's been a long, grueling 4 year wait for the follow up to Wet From Birth, and well I must admit this record was nowhere near worth it. All the energy The Faint had on previous releases is pretty much nonexistent here. The tracks on this record move slower and in the long run get boring. Some of the intro's to the song's show great potential like "Machine and the Ghost," which teases you with the same vibe that something off Danse Macabre would, but ultimately tanks the second the song kicks into full gear. "Mirror Error," is about the only song on this record that captures what the Faint are about, but even the worst song off Wet From Birth surpass that. Fans of The Faint I would recommend you pass. If your new to The Faint, I would start off with Blank Wave Arcade and Danse Macabre which are hands down, dance record masterpieces.

Fasciinatiion (2008, Blank. Wave) The Faint's sixth studio album. **1/2

Glitch electronica is so often one of those rare and criminally underrated things; that is, of course, when it's done correctly. The Faint have opened up a barrage of problems on their latest LP, Fasciinatiion. One is that they don't really know what they want to do; all the songs are very glitch-heavy, with blips and bleeps like you wouldn't believe, but at the same time they introduce an electric guitar and hip-hop elements. Experimentation is great, but it doesn't go with anything they've put out here. Not only that, but the electronica beats they do have are far too harsh; the beeps are loud and obnoxious, trying to act as a facade of intricacy. It's too muddled and in the middle, for Fasciinatiion isn't soft like The Eraser or fluent like Sound of Silver, yet at the same time it holds itself back from being as violent as You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into. And at that point the album is drab, with Todd Fink's vocals being a poor version of Phil Collins. In fact, Fink is a major problem for the album, as his growling baritone and virtual nonexistant range make him boring to listen to. Had they a vocalist like Alexis Taylor, the album's strong points like "Get Seduced" and "Forever Growing Centipedes" would be a qualifying apology for the rest of it. But alas, even the better moments - "Forever Growing Centipedes especially, as grooves don't get much crunchier than that - are only slightly above mediocre. Not to mention that their lyrics are beyond ridiculous, and even though they develop an interesting dystopian theme, it's laughable when you listen closely to tracks like "A Battle Hymn For Children."