And One
Spot

THE REVIEW

"Spot" is the third album by And One and it wasn't received with great praise by critics who considered that the band had taken a somewhat too commercial turn.

After all, the first track, "Wild Pain", certainly doesn't prove them wrong! The rhythm and sounds are nice - especially that orchestral contribution towards the end - but the lyrics that recount the different days of the week are quite irritating. However, after this first taste, the other tracks are really enjoyable and have something to say.

It's the case of "Life Isn't Easy In Germany" which offers us a glimpse into the problems Germany faced following the country's reunification. The tones are not pathetic, but rather sarcastic. It's one among the several other tracks in the band's production that are quite critical of politics. With "Consequence Of Time" we enter the direction to which other songs in the album converge: the journey towards Death. Framed by rather acidic electronic atmospheres and keyboards, sad words stand out that refer to solitude. The situation is quite different with "Spontanverkehr": it begins with a rather sensual female voice and the beats are more decisive and numerous. It might seem, if you don't listen to the lyrics, like a light track meant just to get the dance floor going... But you soon realize that And One wants to show us the consequences of a casual relationship that can turn out to be really very disastrous as confirmed by the screams at the end.

Another transition based on contrasts is played upon to reach the next song, where the atmospheres brighten and move to something more melodious. Naghavy proposes an escape route from problems, he doesn't want disturbances in his life: "Don't ask me things, don't ask me things, about reality, love and pain." What will this way out be?? There are multiple interpretations and it could also be a figure serving as a guide towards death. At least that would be what the following track, which opens with a rather unsettling choir, might suggest. It is a very intense song (don't be fooled by the electronic sounds!) and the child's voice gives it something that harkens back to the countless horror films where ethereal little girls terrify the viewer. Undoubtedly it's not easy listening (also because three languages are used!), and unfortunately, it loses points due to a rather flat rhyme between "sad" and "bad". It changes again with "Recover You", a kind of serenade based on sinuous sounds. Also in this third album, And One has fun promoting themselves: after the song "And One" from Anguish, after the cd mention in "Flop!", here comes the verse: "I was the boy from the band "And One"", accompanied by a very brief piece from their first hit "Metallhammer".

"Der erste Stein" opens the way to the instrumental tracks of the album and to "Tanz der Arroganz": this is the pure EBM track of the album, truth be told a fairly mediocre piece. "The And", another instrumental track, is instead fantastic... in every sense! In fact, the atmosphere is quite unsettling and could very well become the soundtrack of a thriller! The progressively arriving percussions give it something solemn and majestic. Wonderful. It closes with the eponymous track, not bad, but it pales after the previous song.

In short, it's certainly not such a bad album: some tracks are a bit less successful but the darker songs are a real pleasure. However, it's clear that this doesn't constitute the band's masterpiece as they would soon tackle the excellent songs that make up "I.S.T".