AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

This is one of those albums where I expect most people who review it on this site either aren't going to understand it and/or dismiss this as an electronic (fill-in-the-blank-non-progressive-genre) album. It really took me awhile to pull myself away from that realization, mostly because it seemed originally that PRR was going the route of some trance Radiohead copycat, except poppier. In reality, that is anything but the case. Sure, there's more of a feeling of trance music here than anything on The Dark Third, but if you listen carefully, the psychedelic style is still present. It's just buried under several waves of electronic music. For those who have already heard The Dark Third, the first time you hear Amor Vincit Omnia you will either hate it immediately or, like me, not be sure of what Pure Reason Revolution is trying to do here. This album fits every meaning of the word "grower" for me.

The music is, yes, poppy electronic music. But it still has a feeling of the blending of a rather large number of genres, and isn't that what progressive rock is about? While The Dark Third was more of a psychedelic feel with some electronic influence, this album has more of an electronic feel with some psychedelic influence. It's the polar opposite of the band's debut. This is even prog you can dance to. And while this is one of the strangest combinations of music I've seen in awhile, it really does work if you manage to put the time into it and have the ear for this sort of thing. Like PRR's debut, one of the major strong points of the album is the vocal harmonies. They're very catchy yet powerful and really add a good deal of emotion to each song. For the longest time I wanted to give this nothing more than 3 stars, but I think it's finally clicked for me. I may have to go back and listen to their debut some more as well, because the 3 stars I gave it may not be enough. The only thing about this album that really bothers me anymore is the use of electronic vocals on Disconnect. They annoy me every time and I'm not really sure why. I can give this 4 stars. If you liked the band's debut or can appreciate electronic music that's noticeably poppy, then give this album several chances. I'm so glad I finally did.