STUPID DREAM

Pre-Listen: I already know this record, its my favorite PT record, but now i'm going to give it my full attention, and pay attention to every little detail and try to give the best review possible. I am going to review the 5.1 surround sound version, so the sound quality will be amazing. Here we go.

Listen:

1. Even Less: Great album opener, nice fade in, beautiful slide guitar. Nice melody throughout the song. Very simple, easy to understand. Nice piano, with interesting ambient sound in the background. Great vocal harmonys on the track. Ends with a cool keyboard then guitar solo over a sick breakdown. The counting in the end gets slightly annoying. Amazing song. 5/5

2. Piano Lessons: Nice short, poppy, kind of psychedelic song. More great slide guitar. The chorus is filled with lots of nice vocal harmonys. Simple track, nothing too complicated. Good single for the album. 4.5/5

3. Stupid Dream: Short filler, flows nicely into Pure Narcotic. No rating.

4. Pure Narcotic: Another beautiful song, great use of a glockenspiel in it. Beautiful vocals, keys, and slide guitar (yet again). Another simple song, but has more variety than Piano Lessons. One of my favorites. 5/5

5. Slave Called Shiver: Sweet bass line, and the drums compliment it perfectly. The only thing is is that it's a bit repetitive, another track that I think might benefit from some more parts. Very cool vocal line though, its simplicity is nice. 4/5

6. Don't Hate Me: Starts with a nice guitar melody, another beautiful song. The vocals are beautiful, and the melody is great on all instruments. The flute and sax solos do not seem like something that would work with this track at first, but they fit in very well when you actually hear them happen. One thing is that the guitar/keys breakdown could have been shorter. 4.5/5 7. This Is No Rehearsal: Nice up-tempo song. Cool acoustic guitar part, and the vocals are really great. I really like the post-chorus, the fast part.. Great song overall, very short and simple, just a great song. 5/5

8. Baby Dream in Cellophane: This is a pretty trippy song, kinda feels like the old PT, but not so much so that you will think this belongs on Signify, it still feels like Stupid Dream. Overall very good song, but gets kinda boring after a while. 4/5

9. Stranger By The Minute: Another song of pure greatness, this is one of the best tracks on the disc, and it doesn't get much better than this. You can easily tell why this was released as a single. The vocals on this song are great, they fit perfectly. The guitar work, and melody are just great. One of the best of the album. 5/5

10. A Smart Kid: This song is also one of the best of the album. Very similar in subject to Radioactive Toy, covering post nuclear war. Its a very beautiful song, but also very depressing. The guitar/keys/vocals all work together very well and the way these work make this one of the best songs on this album. The vocals are pure beauty. This is a work of art. 5/5

11. Tinto Brass: Starts with a biography on Tinto Brass in Japanese, then the driving drum beat kicks in. Then an interesting flute part, you can tell this is going to be the most experimental song on the album. Nice bass/guitar melody. Cool flute solo, more interesting instrumentation. A much heavier riff soon kicks in, then the song breaks down. Very cool song overall, nice instrumental for the album. 5/5

12. Stop Swimming: Beautiful vocals and keys in the intro. Very sad song. Its very easy to space out during this song, it just flows very well. Slightly repetitive, but it works well for this kind of song. Not to much to say about it though. 4/5

Post-Listen: This is a great album, with its only drawback being that its kind of repetitive. That is a very easy problem to get past though, and this is an amazing experience otherwise. I recommend this to anyone who wants to get into PT.

Standout Songs: Even Less, Pure Narcotic, Stranger By the Minute, A Smart Kid, Tinto Brass.

Good Songs: All of the rest.

Final Verdict: 5 Stars (4.63)

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