Customer Reviews

Vegas

5 star:		(174)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I know very little about this kind of music, but I do know this, this is awesome! There are a couple of songs here that I skip, but this one is in my cd player at least once a month. Read some of the reviews below for more helpful info on this, like I said, I'm not all that familiar with this style. P.S. if you like this, you'll love "decksanddrumsandrockandroll" by Propellerheads, that disc is truly out of this world!

The Crystal Method's debut album Vegas is without a doubt their strongest. It's also arguably the best electronica ever to be made in the USA, and undeniably one of the top electronic albums of all time. Tracks like Trip Like I Do and Keep Hope Alive have become classics, the former softly guiding you towards its frantic climax, the latter a bass-heavy, almost epic, breakbeat anthem. But don't think buying Vegas only gives you two 5 star cuts. The entire album is top-notch, remarkably diverse, and unflinching. It's an intense but artistic journey in "techno," and one of those few great CDs that makes up for all the crap electronica that gives the genre its awful reputation. From the opening Trip Like I Do to the closing Bad Stone, Vegas is a fast-paced, flashy, and kinetic masterpiece, and one of the few "must own" CDs for any electronic music fan. If you don't love this album, you need new ears, or at least better taste in techno. It's really that simple.

This is the ONE TCM cd to own. This is one of my favorite electronica CDs of all time, along with mr.deviant's "Techno Obsession". From the opening track, to the close, "Vegas" delivers the beats in massive amounts! "Trip Like I Do" should be considered a blueprint for all big-beat dance tracks to follow, it's just a perfect song that will shake the foundations as you play it in your car. "Busy Child", "Cherry Twist", these are classics. Unfortunately all the Crystal Method CDs since have been a downhill journey when compared to "Vegas". So there's no reason to gamble on another TCM CD, this is the one to own...let it ride.

This is the only Crystal Method album I like. It contains some energetic beats and it seldom gets repetitive, like some of their other albums. The best tracks are Vapor Trail, Cherry Twist and Busy Child. Try this album if you're into techno.

Vegas is the debut album from L.A. based electronic duo the Crystal Method, who originally hail from Las Vegas and relocated to the City Of Angels to build a home studio (the Bomb Shelter) where this was recorded. Chances are that you've probably heard something from this album, either at the clubs, or perhaps on the NBC series Third Watch ("Keep Hope Alive") or in countless advertisements ("Busy Child"). Their sound on this album is best described as rock-influenced techno (or techno-influenced rock, depending on your perspective), which throbs and pulsates like the best dance-oriented music out there but builds in intensity gradually and follows the songwriting structures that you normally associate with rock music: many of their songs feature a readily-identifiable hook (this is where the sampling comes in). It differs from later albums which showed Method Men Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan moving in more of a house direction and becoming more vocal-oriented, which hinders their strengths to a degree, though it does make them a bit more accessible to the mainstream.

The album kicks off with "Trip Like I Do" (which also appeared in a collaborative form with Filter on the soundtrack to the film Spawn) - this version is slow-building before it hits a faster pace a few minutes in; it certainly has less of the pop song structure that the other version has. The two tracks that actually rely on vocals rather than samples ("Comin' Back" and "Jaded", both featuring Trixy Reiss) place them squarely in the realm of pop music, but still possess the energy and drive of the album's best tracks. Other highlights include the propulsive "Keep Hope Alive", which features samples of a speech from Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the ambient, trancy style of "High Roller" and "Bad Stone" - a direction that I would have liked to see TCM explore a bit more on later releases.

In summary: One of the best places to start if you're looking to get into the electronic music scene, Vegas is energetic, engaging and accessible, and will make you get down whether you're in the club or merely driving around. The Crystal Method probably experienced considerably less record label pressure when recording Vegas than they did on later efforts, and this comes across in its sound: it's their best album thus far.

My first positive exposure to electronic music came in the mid-80's when someone turned my on to Tangerine Dream. For a long time after that, I looked for more, good electronic music and found that all of what I liked was older stuff. Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk, etc. New electronic music seemed to be limited to monotous, pounding beats that must have been fine to dance to (when on enough MDMA) but were painful for just listening. This album is a major exceptio to this. The music is engaging and complex enough to hold your attention, while still maintaining the upbeat rhythms and otherworldly sound that only electronica can capture. I must have listened to this album 20 times in the first week I had it, and still heard something new each time. Like Tangerine Dream, much of this music has been used in soundtracks and you will recognize it as you hear it. But it deserves to be experienced as more than just the background to video. If you are a fan of older electronic music, or a fan of the Orb and Future Sound of London, this album is a must have.

The Crystal Method are Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland and they've proved that Electronica exist in the US too and is just as good as the Chemical Bros. They mix heavy breakbeats with funky samples from various genres to create a awesome electro sound. Some songs are drums n bass inspired, some pure electro and some rockier with vocals. They've basically created a album for many diffrent tastes. I first heard them in 1998 when their "Busy Child" appeared in the classic video game Fifa 98. The song itself is a typical electro song with fast beats and funky samples, awesome song to dance to. There are surely other great songs on the album too. "Comin back" includes female lyrics, still with the electro sound though. "Trip like i do" is almost rockl, but apart from the hitsingle "Busy Child" the 2 best one's are "High roller" "Vapor trail" and the short but awesome, diffrent sounding "She's my pusher". This electro album will absolutely make you dance, most songs are pleasant and a few very good. A album for all dance music fans.

This is THE album to own whether you love electronica or only like it. 'Vegas' was the very first techno album I bought and is still my favorite. It is the album that truly, truly introduced me to the music and the world of electronica. If you only own one CD, it HAS to be this one. I still get chills when I listen to these beats.

That just about sums up my opinion of "Vegas": I loved it. There's not a track on here I didn't like, which is saying something, since on most CDs I own, I have to skip around to my favorite songs. But on "Vegas," all I had to do was press Play (then Repeat All), and I loved every second of it, from beginning to end. Sure, there are a few tracks that I enjoyed more than others, like the astronautical "High Roller" (#4) and energetic "Keep Hope Alive" (#6), though hits like "Trip Like I Do" (#1)--which I remember more from Crystal Method's mix with Filter on the "Spawn" soundtrack--and "Busy Child" (#2) are just as good. Trixy Reiss's vocals on "Comin' Back" (#5) and "Jaded" (#9) are also a refreshing touch to this album. This is certainly one of my top electronic picks from the '90s. Even though it's not entirely mellow, it's my kind of chill-out music. Recommended.

"Vegas" is one of the best techno CDs I've ever heard, right along with mr.deviant's "Techno Obsession". "Vegas" belongs in the top ten of the all time best techno CDs and deserves a spot in every dance/techno fans CD collection. However, don't think this is just a dance CD, this one rocks with an attitude and agression that will satisfy even headbangers and rock fans.
Hot spots include: "Trip Like I Do", "Cherry Twist" and the now classic "Busy Child". When originally released, you couldn't walk into a club and not escape "Busy Child". It crossed over in a big way and put the band on the map.
A must buy for techno fans and rock fans need to give it a listen!!!!