Music Reviews

A high octane album

With their first remixed album, Until One, the Swedish House Mafia (SHM) trio of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso, are sure to set dance floors on fire. Featuring a collection of each of their solo work as well as some club classics, the remix is a relentless flow of energetic dance numbers, right from the word go.

This collection of 24 tracks and remixes starts off with their own productions, One (Your Name) and Miami 2 Ibiza. It includes Axwell’s I Found U and Nothing But Love, Steve Angello’s remake of Show Me Love. It also has Valodja, for which Angello teams up with his brother, Sebastian Ingrosso’s take on MGMT’s Kids called Kidsos, Daft Punk’s One More Time, and Miike Snow’s Silvia. They’ve also been able to seamlessly mix in old numbers such as You Got the Love and Satisfaction into the album.

You won’t be able to sit still and listen to SHM’s Until One, for long. The high octane excitement of the collection will soon have you pumping your fists or breaking into a vigorous dance. At times, shrill blasts of noise may assault your ears, but when
you’re dancing, who’s complaining about noise?

Veena Pradeep

Not a classic soundtrack

The soundtrack of the latest Transformers film is a collection of shrieking guitar tunes and scratching vocals. It brings together some of the old and rehashed rockers together, but fails to leave a mark. Linkin Park makes the biggest contribution with Iridescent — all piano and beats. The rest of the previously-released cuts work well within the theme of the film too. The Only Hope For Me Is You may just work well for the movie and plot, but songs like Set The World On Fire and Black Veil Brides sound repetitive and old.

The rest of the lot is a mixed bag. Paramore’s Monster deserves an acknowledgement, while Mastodon’s Just Got Paid is an excellent blues-rock explosion, full of rich guitar work. The credit for lending a refreshing tone to the album goes to the sappy Goo Goo Dolls’ orchestral rock ballad, All That You Are, which transports you back to the band’s glorious era.

Staind’s rock number is the highlight of this soundtrack basket. The Bottom sticks with you, thanks to its high-level guitar shrieking and deafening drums. The tracks are well-suited for the movie but they fall short of turning the soundtrack into a classic album for the next decade, that’s for sure.

Soumya M Nair