Customer Reviews

Science Of Things

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

Bush either hits a home run or strikes out. They have some outstanding songs, but too often they miss to be considered one of the best 90's bands. Chemicals between us is the only track worthy to be published on this disc and it's a great song.

Bush is a great band. I can't stand when people always say they're either Nirvana rip offs or they lost it. I have yet to see, besides Deconstructed, an album that I do not like. Every album I have ever listened to by them has been exceptional. We all know Sixteen Stone, Razorblade, Golden State. But, many consider 'The Science of Things' to be their downfall. Why?

This album has such a change, a variety, a look, that really looks to be the last album that was like that. I mean, I look around now today, and every album looks boring. A lot sound great, but many don't have a look, that original feel, that time and effort when album covers and look was just as important. 'The Science of Things' is an art piece.

I listen to 'Letting the Cables Sleep' all the time. It's such a great song. The feeling I receive every time I listen to it, is just epheral. It's such a moving song. That right there is the pinnacle song on the album. I see so many different images, avid and lucid...all at the same time.

I listen to 'Chemicals Between Us' or 'Warm Machine' and hear the classic Bush, but with a modern touch. These songs are killer, bad ass, and still adrenaline rushed. This is a kick ass alternative rock band.

I listen to '40 Miles from the Sun' and 'Jesus Online' and hear exceptional lyrics. The music is there and to such a damn dismay, it was unnoticed, unrecognized. From here on, Bush was only successful live, so people could see the classic 'hits.' This is a disappointment and one reason I think they dwindled now.

It's a shame because like this, and Golden State which is to be reviewed, I still believe in good music. Nirvana, Bush, STP, Dinosaur Jr, etc, etc...all great alternative. Most of the bands disbanded and I believed Bush could have gone onward, which they did. It's only a dismay that many a people went elsewhere...onto different forms of "music." Rock is in a temperate mode right now, with only a select few that are actually really great.

Bush was a great band and here is one of their gasps of art.

I have to say I love this album. The 2nd album is prolly my favorite with Deconstructed being my least fave. This review is more of a statement about the band. I'm so sick of people comparing Gavin's voice to Kurt Cobains. They have completely different voices. If they had similar voices, I wouldn't be a Bush fan cuz I don't care for Kurt's voice at all. I like some of Nirvana's music but to me the two bands don't compare. If I were to compare anything of Bush's music to Nirvana's the only album that even remotely resembles theirs is 16 Stone. then if u listen to songs like GLycerine and Letting the Cables Sleep, you can tell about different their voices are. Cobain has a grittier voice while Gavin has a smoother voice even on the angrier songs it's just a more melodic voice. For Cobain, the grit in his voice worked for his music while Gavin's smoother voice works for his. If they sounded alike I would get them mixed up but the fact us I don't. Each has a very distinctive sound that can't be mistaken for anyone else. Even my mom, who usually thinks every band on the radio is Creed, can tell what Bush and Nirvana sound like. So stop comparing them and just appreciate the music that each band makes.

Althoug a commercially sucessful band, Bush were never one of the most innovative or creative groups around. Their rock-grunge combination presented some competent, solid songs in wildly uneven records. Their thir release is no exception, just another album that brings nothing new but still has two or three moments that sparkle nonetheless.

This time the band approached a more electronic-oriented direction, going for some experimentation in their sound. Despite this change, most of the songs here still seem like a rehash of previous material, failing to engage and truly surprise. Some atmospheric and laid-back moments like "40 Miles From the Sun" or "Letting the Cables Sleep" are interesting and captivating enough, but for the most part the results are average and not too memmorable. This is a listenable and alright effort, but it gets tiresome fast and there are no big reasons to return to it afterwards.
A decent and somewhat lackluster rock album.

I just picked this one up the other day and its ok. Sixteen stone was obviously there best but this one is still classic Bush. I suggest picking up 2002's Golden State from them. That cd rocks harder! I wish these guys would come to my town of Minneapolis soon!

who cares if they used a little bit of synthesizer effects in this album? i still think its a fantastic solid album and a great follow up to razorblade. i agree that deconstructed was kinda...eh.. but i guess it was just something to keep the real bush fans in their seats as they write more classic bush material. sure, it isnt bushed best work, but it still friggin rocks.

This album recieved a bad rap when it came out and I feel that it didn't deserve it at all.
First of all, I have never really understood what all the talk is about this being Bush's electronica influenced album. Sure, there are some computerized beeps and blips here and there but beyond that there's really nothing else besides the standard guitar, bass, drums and excellent songwriting. There's nothing here that couldn't be replicated live on stage.
This album opens up with one of Bush's strongest tracks, "Warm Machine". Even people I know that don't like Bush really enjoy this song. It's got a pretty uplifting feel to it and it has one of the best chorus' of any Bush song. It's very-well written. Another great song on here is "40 Miles From The Sun". It's a slow one, but it's hauntingly beautiful. It carries an apocolyptic feel to it and the lyrics have some very interesting imagery. Gavin's vocals have a real ache on this track. I'm sure most people have heard "The Chemicals Between Us" at some point or another but another hard rocking song (perhaps their heaviest ever) is "The Disease of the Dancing Cats". This song just pounds you into submission for four minutes and doesn't let up until it's done. It's a great song and I was definitely surprised Bush had written something this heavy the first time I heard it.
However, what I really enjoy about this album is the experimentation with the songs. "Jesus Online" has more of a skeletal, mysterious feel than any Bush's song previous and "Spacetravel" at first hits you like a straight-ahead rock song but by the end it has dissolved into a mirage of shimmering, interlocking guitar lines and gentle drumming. The end of "Spacetravel" is actually one of the most beautiful, unexpected moments in the Bush songbook. "Altered States" has a huge dance groove to it in the verses yet it wildly changes pace to a guitar-orientated stop-start chorus. It's an odd song and while it's not one of their best it at least shows that the band is trying to grow. However, the biggest surprise here is track four, "English Fire". I'm not even sure how to describe this song. Well, for starters, it's not even a song really, it has no standard verse-chorus set-up. Instead it's more like an assault on the ears. The guitars hit the same two chords for most of the song and the drums pound and pound and pound. Yet halfway through it the strings enter and things get really interesting. Most people (even a lot of fans of this album) hate this song. But you have to dig deep and close your eyes and just listen. Soon, you'll start to see the immense beauty that is emerging from this beautiful string melody rising and crashing against these walls and walls of unrelenting guitar noise. It's a stellar moment.
I really also enjoy the lyrics of this album. Gavin really hits on some interesting stuff here. The words to "Letting The Cables Sleep" take on a deeper meaning once you know what they're about (Gavin had a friend with AIDS and this friend decided not to tell anyone he knew about his condition until he was on his deathbed for fear of what they would think of him. gavin wrote this song for him and for the need of people in general to commincate with one another). Another really interesting song lyrically is "The Disease of the Dancing Cats". This song has to do with Minamata Disease (In 1955 the Nippon Chisso company in Japan dumped large amounts of mercury waste into the bay bordering the town of Minamata. This town was largely a fishing community. The mercury poisoned the fish of the bay which in turn poisoned the people and animals that ate these fish. Many people died. This song got its name from one of the effects of the disease on animals. Cats would eat fish from the bay, get poisoned and would die horribly, going into severe convulsions. To many it appeared to be some sort of twisted 'dance of death', hence 'Disease of the Dancing Cats'. Boom, there's your history lesson of the day). There are also some beautiful, yet cryptic, lines peppered in 'Chemicals Between Us' and 'English Fire'.
All in all, I would say that this a very good album. I would recommend it.

I liked Bush's first 2 albums. Sure they had jumped on the grunge bandwagon and were heavily Nirvana influenced, but they still gave enough of themselves to sound good. Then poor Gavin blundered and this band has never recovered and is pretty much dead. What did he try to do you ask? He tried to jump on another band wagon, only he jumped on the wrong one. Let me explain. People were saying techno was the next big trend in music and Gavin must have taken this message to heart. They cranked out this bad album only to see it drop off the charts faster than a Osama Bin Laden Tribute album. Techno rock wasn't the next big trend, Numetal was. Korn & Limp Bizkit shot to the top of the charts while deep sea divers will never be able to reach where this album sank to. I almost feel sorry for Gavin but I don't. Bush is dead but at least Gavin has his royalties & the beautiful Gwen Stefani (plus her even bigger bank accounts). Gee I hope the Bass guitarist is off unemployment. Too bad he didn't get the girl. Bottom line is this album sucks. Stick to the first 2 and even give Golden State a listen. All 3 are much better than this failed effort.

This album truly deserves all the critiscm it gets. For it is a vast step down for bush. The critics have shunned it, record stores have taken it off shelves, and I don't blame them at all. Bush started out their career with their debut album 'sixteen stone' on trauma records. They came into the business with a smash, with hard punk guitar riffs and, excellent songwriting by Gavin Rossdale (guitar/vocals). Then next in the order it came 'Razorblade suitcase' (also on trauma). This album also became a smash hit in sales, and was indeed a great album. But then they had a horrible remix album, and Gavin Rossdale went into hibernation in london. After around three years they come back with their major label debut, titled "The science of things". This more of a poppy album, and was not nearly as much as a hit as their first 2 albums. With it's short lived MTV hits "The chemicals between us" and "letting the cables sleep" it was a complete failurein both sales, and musically. Do yourself a favor and buy one of Bush's earlier albums such as "Sixteen Stone" or "Razorblade Suitcase". Even if you don't listen to me and go out and buy this album anyway, make sure you buy it used, or real real cheap. For it doesn't nearly deserve the 12.99 (or so) it's going for!

Bush is indeed known for their catchy grunge melodies but this album (their fourth one) does contain a little more... some of the best songs on this record are undoubtably Space Travel, Warm Machine, The Chemicals Between Us and Letting the Cables Sleep (which is a song most people know, but no one credits Bush for it). I really enjoyed those songs, yet this album has too much of a contrast.. Bush evidently did some experimenting on this album and, quite frankly, my tip for them would be to simply stick to the old stuff.. the "new tunes" sound like average emo and all they've done is exchanged the typically whiny style of emo with some nonesense text. That's what some of the songs seemed to me. While one song is real good hard rock, the next one is totally flat and boring. I hope this will not develop into Bush's new style...
All in all a neat record with loads of catchy tunes and some nice grunge. It's cool to listen to if you can bare having to skip a song every now and again..