Lostprophets
The Fake Sound Of Progress

THE REVIEW

“6 bore kids = melody – aggression – emotion – energy – intelligence”

It is written somewhere on the album's booklet. Six bored kids: melody, aggression, emotion, energy, intelligence.

Melody. Guido Meda would say: “Rossi is there, Capirossi is there... Melody is there.” Modern melodies, permeated a bit with growling and much more with hip-hop. Nonetheless, they are very effective, incisive, and catchy: they remain quite impressed in the mind, easily memorable. Ian Watkins makes an effort and is rewarded, especially in “...And She Told Me To Leave”. Many thanks to Jamie Oliver who occasionally contributes his strings and vocal lines with a nice sum of...

Sound aggression. Guitars that attack you with their distortions. Current sounds and very modern harmonic choices, not retro at all, but the impact is felt. Listen to “Kobrakai”, the open-track “Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja”. “The Handsome Life Of Swing” shows that the metal of the past is no longer there. Now metal is neo-metal “crossovered”, skillfully or not, with blends of various styles.

Emotion. Take a look at the lyrics, and you understand why. “Call them what you want, emotions,” said Battisti, who appeared in a dream to Ian Watkins, and as the songwriter of the lyrical part (perhaps I am blaspheming, holidays and alcohol do this and more), I don't think they are that distant. On the contrary, they are anything but distant. Energy. It might not be a common denominator of the entire album but, in all its nuances, it is present. Sometimes nuanced, sometimes repressed, and then in explosion. Emotional energy. A living, vibrant energy: it seems like a continually evolving creature.

Intelligence. It takes a lot. Especially to keep all the ideas together that are there and that, at times, and for the more classic rockers, seem not to be made for each other. The ability in crossovering is good: there is even a hint of pop in some choruses like in “Still Laughing”. Intelligence is everything, but you mustn't burn it out. Will Sony help?

Overall, the debut album of Lostprophets draws a circle within which to move without ever crossing the line, a border line within which the bored Prophets feel at ease and manage to have fun. In this sense, the album is spot-on, faithful to the line. However, it also seems to be the work of a band that, born and bred on bread, crossover, and nu-metal, tries to bring new things or sounds and restore luster to a genre (crossover and/or nu-metal, in fact) that at the time, 2001, despite being very active and prolific, was already dead and buried. The sounds may perhaps disappoint rock purists; indeed, at times they do not seem well balanced at all, and some instruments, especially the bass, which in my opinion (and personal taste) works too much on the low frequencies and gets lost. Unless you have an exceptionally excellent hi-fi system. Pleasant melodies practically in every track. Well-arranged guitar parts, even if sometimes, banal and repetitive. The rhythmic part goes almost unnoticed compared to the voices and guitars. Three stars are too few, and four would be too many.

In these recent years (too many now) of lean times, every honest album is hailed as exceptional. Especially debut ones, either for the “novelty” or because the artists try to give everything upfront before being engulfed by the majors and the “monster” M-TV, are considered of high level precisely because they are a bit original and authentic. Great debut albums before prostituting themselves. The album "The Fake Sound Of Progress" seems just that, a work that wants to tell the public: “People, we want to play this stuff here. Whether you like it or not. But we'll throw it all out there straight away because in a couple of years we'll be gone, like The Music, or we'll do pop like Good Charlotte.”

Since I would give 3.5 stars but can't... 3. Because we already know how the story went. If I had reviewed it right when it came out, it would have received 4. Hopefully, sooner or later, a real band, a band like before, will manage to emerge from the underground. Hope is always the last to die.