Customer Reviews

Dead Inside

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

i bought this cd after reading the lyrics to "holy" and having them stuck in my head for weeks. the album was a million times better than i'd imagined, especially after reading reviews that claimed it was "too dark" and you "wouldnt want to listen to it more than once".
i completely disagree - and to those who say it isn't catchy - i think it is! i am always running around with lines in my head... it may not be melodic, but it is rhythmic and driving and intense.
my best friend was murdered, and "victim" is very difficult for me to listen to, but "holy" is worth the price of the album, "ride" is genius, and "metal eye" is entrancing.. everything on this disc is art.

This slab of GPs is very different from PURE, but equally as good.
What's good about this album (for me) is it's ability to make you set the words and music to an imaginery film that gets projected from your innermost self across the back of your eyelids. Something Kubrick-esque? Same ballpark ... depends on you imagination.
You'll really like it if you get on with Recoil (who Blackman has also worked with) - the same raw story telling over a meticulously crafted soundtrack. Broken loops, luscious pads, fragments of narrative and foley.

This album is a selfish affair - by that I mean you need to listen to it alone - a great album for the personal stereo or long journey. You almost want to keep this album a secret. Wish that only you were privy to it's content, but it won't be long before you can't help but want to share it with your friends. They'll love it too.

After the phenomenal, sultry masterpiece that is "Pure," Golden Palominos drummer/mastermind Anton Fier said bye-bye to singer Lori Carson, and hello to spoken-word artist Nicole Blackman. The resulting album, 1996's "Dead Inside," is a cold, creepy, disturbing blend of Blackman's poetry & verse with Fier's "sound collage" accompanyment. It's a brave 180-degree turn from the Palominos' previous albums, and it certainly starts off promisingly enough with the opening track, "Victim," Blackman's chilling tale of a shooting victim's thoughts just before her life is ended. But the album ultimately gets pulled down by it's own dark weight, as the pitch-blackness of it all becomes really off-putting after a while. Albums like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" & Peter Gabriel's "UP" are also very dark, but at least they're still very TUNEFUL. But "Dead Inside"....would you really, truly want to listen to this ice-cold album more than once? That's very difficult to say.The Golden Palominos are/were known for the different musical directions they would take from album to album, from line-up to line-up (Fier was the only constant member). "Dead Inside" was obviously meant to be yet another musical avenue for the group to travel down, but it just doesn't work. The Golden Palominos have not been heard from again since the release of "Dead Inside," some recent "Best Of" compilations notwithstanding. I'd hate for this album to be the Palominos' final musical statement, as Fier & company have made MUCH better, warmer, friendlier-sounding albums than this one, such as "Pure," "This Is How It Feels," and "A Dead Horse." I'd like to think that they can definitely do it again. Please come back, Anton Fier, wherever you are.

Dead Inside is a flat, immature version of Pure, one of my favorite discs and the best Palomino release to date. This is odd as it came out two years after Pure was released. Dead Inside is dark in tone, almost a goth feel to much of it, with too much bass (though some interesting rythyms) and it seems poorly mixed. The songs are all about the misapperception and abuse of power in our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with our urban environments. Most of it is fairly sophmoric, as if the group forgot all the Bataille readings that led them to write the haunting lyrics of Pure.

The album is worth a listen, but it isn't one to own.

Extremely disappointing. After "Pure" I thought GP/Anton would deliever something amazing. No wonder Lori Carson jumped off the Palomino. Dont bother!!!!

so, this cd is something that you're gonna love or hate. one of my friends said she found it pretentious; another said, 'damn you, I have to walk home alone tonight'. It's just that kind of cd. the music is thumping, sometimes etheral, sometimes like your heart after you slam on the brakes of your car.

for my money, nicole blackman does outstanding work. from "victim" to "metal eyes" she whispers songs that stay with you long after the cd is off. and yeah, sometimes (a lot of the time) they're not too pretty. but they are beautiful, in their own way.

It's spoken word over electronic music. That's all.
Sometimes the words tell a story in a remarkable way- Victim in particular feels perfect on every level. The background music is a lost world, layered underneath the tension of the victim's voice. But even the best track becomes dull with repeated listens.
Dead Inside is not an exceptionally experimental or difficult album to listen to. It's not even a bad album, but I was disappointed after so many other encouraging reviews.

Funny enough, this was on my recomendations list. I was listening to it while i was brousing. This cd is increadible. Nicole Blackmans seductful voice, raw poetry and unusual music puts you into a trance. Anyone intrested in gothic or etherial music will love this. I've recomended it to many people. A friend sent me the mp3 last year and I bought the cd the same night...

Do not hesitate, do not think twice. buy this now.

Brilliant music, brilliant vocals. Lyrics that cut like a knife.

Listen to the first song in a dark room with the stereo loud. Better yet, through good headphones. Let your imagination go with the words. Frightening. Powerful.

These are not stories often told, yet stories more vivid and real than those that are.

Buy. This. Album. Now.

When I worked at a record store, I need only put this CD in and get on the telephone with the distributor to order SEVERAL copies. Nicole Blackman opens up the inner turmolt and pours ink into lyric lyric into sound. I was introduced to this album from a five second sound bite on, of all things MTV. I went right to my record store and ordered my own copy. If you hear this album and it does not occupy a permanent place in your CD changer, write me and I will personally refund your money. Trust me, it will have that affect on you. It isn't good, it isn't likeable, it isn't catchy, IT IS GENIUS, Antion Fier and Bill Laswell move over and give the mic to a sheer pure genius that has Ginsberg and Kerouac a bit jealous.