I had higher hopes for Anekdoten before I heard this album. Being a Swedish Prog./Psych/Art Rock group, I figured that they would blow me away; boy was I wrong. I will say though that the music itself is actually pretty cool, but the vocals, oh man the vocals, suck ass. I have always been turned off by vocals that seem to not go with the style being played musically, and Anekdoten is a perfect example of that.
Gravity, released in 2003, seems to have some awesome musicians playing, but the vocals are this indie-alternative type sound. (I use Indie/Alternative in the most negative way for this review) Honestly, they should have just done an instrumental release. The music itself has lots of changes throughout the 8 tracks, but with these vocals, I still haven't made it through the 45 minutes worth of music. If you took a really good modern prog. sound, mix in some cool space rockin' and then through in that off the wall European twist on avant garde music, then you'd have the music they play; but when you add in the 90's alternative rock type vocals, the music is ruined. I understand that I can be way too harsh when critiquing vocal styles, but these vocals really do suck.
With a different approach, I will say that there are probably lots of people who would enjoy this. Anyone who is a fan of early David Bowie, or Jefferson Airplane or even the Grateful Dead or Genesis, will probably like this. Me myself, I am not a fan of any those groups so take this review as you will. I want to give props to the musicianship of this album, but like I have repeated throughout this review, the vocals totally kill it for me. Get it if you want, but if you don't like it, then don't blame me.
Official score-2/5
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