United and Identified - The Early Years: 2004-2012

United and Identified is a Belgian band, and their previous EP had me rocked off my feet. So, when I saw that they released a new album, I got all giddy on the inside like a little girl buying a Barbie doll. But, I also got scared when I saw it was earlier work, as the title describes, between the range of 2004 and 2012. And, well, I had a reason to be both scared and delighted. Scared because a lot of the tracks aren't really great, but happy because other tracks are fucking fantastic.

Beginning off with the sweet parts of the album, "Evening Lights" definitely reminded me of what the title exactly describes. I could picture myself hearing this in a futuristic mini-mall while shopping around for genetic implants or whatever other neat little things one would be able to find in the future would be able to buy.

"Memory Lane" was very fun, like someone could definitely dance to it, and if they can't dance, then they could definitely at least bob their head to it. And if they can't do that because they are a vegetable, then their heart rate better go along with this song, because I very much enjoyed it. It made me a jolly fellow.

It's a very light album, which perfects the futurepop formula, but doesn't really bring forth anything to really drop your cocks and grab your socks over. It's still pleasant, however, fulfilling the needs of many. And, this album is a work of the artist's early years (as implied by the title), so the music wasn't as fully evolved as say their last release, At The Border of the Line EP

And, also, in this nineteen track release, I found the problem to be that their were way too many tracks that I could just entirely skip without feeling the least bit bad about. It's not that they aren't good, it's just that they aren't on a top notch scale.

I didn't much appreciate the vocals present in "Rest in Order" nor "Fragile". They sound similar to those in their last EP, but there's just something different about them that make them not as majestic as I once listened to them.

I guess you could consider this to almost be a promo of sorts for the band, a work of art that was from their past. However, the more I listen to it, the more I think that the past should've stayed in the past, and that this should've been shelved, like an embarrassing picture tucked away in an old photo album. I think I'll just stick with their previous EP, and wait until more fresh material to be released. Except for songs such as "Memory Lane". That one would be a picture posted on the fridge if I continued the analogy. Jun 23 2013