Metric: Fantasies (Deluxe Edition)
Metric: Fantasies (Deluxe Edition)
Friday, 11, Jun 2010 02:53
Metric Music International, out now.
What's it all about?
Critically acclaimed album gets inevitable re-release. This release sees Canadian indie rockers Metric follow in the footsteps of, well, everyone with the inevitable reissue of an album which is barely even 12 months old with extra material. It's good know that the music industry values fans so much that they attempt to wring a couple more quid out of them by releasing a new version of an album they've probably already bought.
Those who choose to get their hands on this 'deluxe' edition of the critically acclaimed Fantasies get the chance to enjoy a couple of new songs, acoustic versions of album tracks, remixes and covers. Hardcore fans will probably rejoice, while feeling slight cheated at the same time.
Who's it by
Metric consist of charismatic frontwoman Emily Haines, guitarist James Shaw, bassist Josh Winstead and Joules Scott-Key on drums. One of Canada's biggest bands, they are a group with a devoted following despite the fact that mainstream attention has always eluded them in the UK.
Most of Metric's significant coverage has come through the use of their songs on US TV dramas, notably on the likes of Grey's Anatomy and CSI: Miami. Such attention has meant their fanbase has built steadily and, on its release last year, many suggested Fantasies' blend of synthy alternative rock and melodic pop would prove to be their big breakthrough.
Well-versed indie rock fans may also know that both Haines and Shaw perform with Canada's premier melting pot collective of artists, Broken Social Scene.
As an example.
"Watch out Cupid stuck me with a sickness/Pull your little arrows out and let my live my life." - Sick Muse
"Gimme sympathy after all of this is gone/Who'd you rather be?/The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?" - Gimme Sympathy
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Fantasies has already had its fair share of critical adoration. As well as amassing some stirling reviews, the LP was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian album of the year.
In addition, Metric won two Juno Awards this earlier this year for Alternative Album of the Year and Group of the Year.
What the others say
"Haines still has much to say about the state of the world, but the slinky, sexy tones of songs such as Gimme Sympathy are the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down." - Guardian
"The fourth disc from Toronto foursome Metric adds brawn, finesse and grandeur to their new-wave drive and Morse-code guitar scrapes." - Blender
So is it any good?
Well, as the main album itself is reviewed elsewhere on this website, it is perhaps best to focus on the added extras that the deluxe edition of Fantasies offers here.
Acoustic versions of the album's singles are included, beginning with Help I'm Alive. Driven by a big drum groove on the original recording, you wouldn't expect it to work well in a low-key setting. However, the acoustic guitar and piano brings out the best of the song, with Haines' vocals sounding as beautiful and beguiling as ever. The similarly sparse treatments given to both Gimme Sympathy and Sick Muse are also crackers.
Exclusive tracks are also featured on the disc. Waves is driven by an insistent drum groove, a wave of synth and a quick acoustic guitar strum, before opening up into the kind of big, expansive chorus that the band have got really good at in recent times. In contrast, The Gates is an atmospheric slow burner based on some rather dissonant and unpredictable chord changes. Haines works hard to try and create some kind of notable melody out of the whole, misshapen thing - but doesn't ever really succeed.
The two covers included are a bit more successful. A cover of Nobody Home, from Pink Floyd's The Wall, sees James Shaw take charge with a fine impression of Roger Waters' deep croon. He also leads a version of Neil Young's Sugar Mountain, with the gentle vocal and guitar arrangement sounding awfully like a number of US alt-folkies including Sufjan Stevens.
As any deluxe-special-superduper edition enthusiasts will know, remixes are also obligatory on these kind of things. So we get Adam Freeland's own take on Sick Muse and Gimme Sympathy, as well as the Twelves mix of Help I'm Alive. The new version of Sick Muse transforms the song into a trancey, electro groove, while a fat (or phat?) synth bass drives the reimagining of Gimme Sympathy. The Help I'm Alive remix is arguably the most successful of the lot, as it is completely reworked into a housey, glittering dancefloor filler with seemingly more than a nod to Daft Punk.
All in all, there are a lot of nice extras here, but nothing that particularly enhances the original album in a major way. The hardcore will love it, but unfortunately Metric will need a bit more than this extra disc if they are to win their breakthrough into the mainstream.
7/10
Rob Dixon