Ever the risk-taker, Shadow makes a swerve into an all-instrumental sort-of-experimental album with heavy influence from 80s electro, to mostly intriguing if somewhat hit-and-miss results. I thought it was a fun time and I suspect many of the older fans will not.
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Listen: https://djshadow.bandcamp.com/album/action-adventure
Our Pathetic Age review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e__ojcOCz40
The Mountain Will Fall review (old): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbRPwwUTEJw
Favorite Tracks: Ozone Scraper, All My, Time and Space, Witches Vs. Warlocks, A Narrow Escape, You Played Me, Fleeting Youth (An Audible Life), Reflecting Pool, She’s Evolving
Least Favorite Track: The Prophecy
Overall Rating: 7.3/10
All ratings based purely off of personal enjoyment at the time of this video’s upload and either end in .0, .3, .5, or .7. Take nothing I say too seriously.
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I’m sorry but this album was absolutely not it for me. It just dragged on so goddamn long with barely any variety and the atmosphere was so non-existent and dry.
Arguably one of my least favourite albums of the year, I did not like this at all, unfortunately given I’ve loved all his albums up to this point (including the first disk of Our Pathetic Age)
Here before brendawg comments wonky slush
I think I’m in the same boat as you with this one in that I also think this album is pretty good, and while it may be my least favorite album of his as I felt like he kind of played it safe from a sound design perspective (especially compared to albums like The Mountain Will Fall and Our Pathetic Age), I still come out of it feeling like the album was mostly likable. My favorite track on the album would be All My as I do see myself coming back to that track quite a bit (also She’s Evolving is pretty nice).
Overall, not an album that I’m blown away by or anything, but again, this is pretty good.
This album is why Shadow Sucks in '23 😂😂😂
I feel like everything Shadow has made since The Outsider has been divisive. Endtroducing is obviously his best work but I'm still a fan of modern DJ Shadow. I was looking forward to this album since it was announced and I'm happy to say I'm quite pleased with it. It's got a decent amount of variety and solid production. I can see why he's so proud of it. His use of samples here is excellent as usual and I like how he balanced out the samples with his own production. My favorite track is on the album is "All My". Definitely the most memorable track of the bunch and it has a certain quirkiness to it I like.
have you listened to preemptive strike
Imo, it’s a really spotty return honestly. It either felt really derived off TOBACCO in how he captured those really unwieldy and syrupy saw synth focused sounds or just completely glib. “Craig, Ingels & Wrightson” couldve been an extra from Skids And Angels by TOBACCO that’s just gone under our noses hahaha! His lengthier tracks on this record felt exceptionally directionless which is disappointing because DJ Shadow knows how to fill a long runtime with ingenuity. There’s some shining moments like the wicked footwork attempt of “All My” and the resonant, reverb soaked piano vignette of “Fleeting Youth” with its cutesy ethereal zaps but other than that, it’s feeling rather uninspired from the guy.
Outside of that, great review, Tommy lad ! 😀
The singles and the album felt like they came from 2 completely different albums and when I first heard it I felt disappointed. You Played Me is definitely my favorite on the album, and while it's great the whole album isn't like that, it feels like a spike in quality to me, but I still like tracks like She's Evolving and Time And Space, and Witches Vs. Warlocks has my award for the best song title of the year lmao. I would consider it the definition of like a 6.5/10 album. I found every track (except You Played Me) just good, not great, and definitely not bad at all.
I'm the weirdo who thinks The Less You Know The Better is his best album and compared to this album it feels a lot MORE experimental because of the tons of genre hopping on that album, from pop to hip hop to metal, to uhhhh, a bassline behind a diary entry on Give Me Back The Nights, and everything stuck for me, and I wish he would do something like that again, at least personally.
Any chance to review The Silver Cord by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard?
This is unrelated but have you heard sofia kourtesis debut album that came out recently? She’s been getting some hype. I personally really liked it.
The Outsider is quite possibly the worst album I've ever heard. That's my main knowledge of Shadow, I got recommended The Outsider and thought it was terrible. I should really get around to listening to other stuff he's made lel
in defense of shadow, i think it's for the better he branches out his sound as making the same album with the same boring sound and technique can only get you so far hence why we aren't getting a Endtroducing Part 2 or Endtroducing: The Sequel, We DON'T NEED to have another Endtroducing because it'll get literally boring as all hell to listen to the same exact shit over and over as i said so once again, in defense of him i think people want Endtroducing again because Popular Album good and Albums expanding Sound Bad.
She's Evolving is a serious earworm
What the hell, you got me curious and I listened to it. I had Endtroducing back in the day and haven't heard DJ Shadow since, so I clicked to see what you'd say. I listened to about 5 songs. They were pleasant, though not captivating/memorable on the first listen. Seems like the kind of thing a coffee shop might throw on their speakers a lot.
I had roughly the same thoughts – it's not his most interesting or strongest collection of songs, but it's a decent album.
I would also like to point out something that I wish you had noticed, but All My is a footwork (or at the very least, a heavily footwork influenced) song.
Check Beneath The Sonics by Current Value
The first 40 seconds and you nailed it perfectly and how I and many of DJ Shadow's fans feel about his first and subsequent albums.
I lost interest in DJ Shadow after Private Press. Everything he's done since needs excuses to boost it up. I appreciate the effort, being a musician isn't easy but we all know that Entroducing is godly and everything else is a lesser diversion. Sorry!
Everything is better than david guetta listen
wonky slush