Review Summary: If it isn't broke, don't fix it. Even if it was a little broken in the first place.
It must be hard to be a comedian. Nobody has the same exact sense of humor, so you never know if a joke you thought was genius will be liked or not. Comedy albums are even harder to master. Not only do you have to make enjoyable music, you also have to try your best to make your listener laugh too. So it’s a miracle Starbomb has had their 1st album do well. So how would they follow up their debut that, while having a few flaws, was a good release? Well…
Not much changes from their debut to this one, as most of the pros and cons carry over, which you can take as you will. The beats, produced by Brian “Ninja” Brian Wecht are as amazing as ever. The album sounds amazingly crisp and a joy to listen to. The 80’s influenced production easily fits with the video-game and pop culture related humor, with the synth bringing you back to a time when Mario was the king of the world and Transformers weren't taken over by Michael Bay yet. Also like the first album, the vocals by Dan Avidan are absolutely stunning. The harmonious sound of his voice is just a joy to listen to. Finally there’s the most important factor in a comedy album: the comedy. Let me set something straight: the jokes won’t have you rolling on the floor, laughing your head off. But you will most likely find many songs to be funny if you’re able to understand most of the video game references, which don’t go to deep so more people will be able to get the joke. Comical highlights include Starscream in “Robots In Need Of Disguise”, the townspeople and outro of “The Hero of Rhyme”, the Film noir-like interlude “Atari Mystery Hour”, and surprise cameo by Notch, creator of Minecraft, in “Minecraft Is For Everyone”.
However, as previously mentioned, many of the downsides return for this album as well. Arin “Egoraptor’ Hanson, the weakest link of the trio, has a very energetic and over the top rapping style that can easily get old after a while. However, he does shine on the Legend of Zelda parody “The Hero of Rhyme”, and “The Simple Plot of Metal Gear Solid”, the sequel to a song on the 1st album, “The Simple Plot of Final Fantasy 7”. But some moments his delivery can be borderline cringe-worthy. Another problem with the album, that is present in almost every comedy act ever. While some jokes hit, other joke fall flat on their face. The middle of the album is easily the weakest part, as the jokes just don’t hit. This makes a couple of the songs, which average around 2:30 minutes, seem to last forever. The inconsistency is most shown in, “The New Pokerap”. Concept: Thousands of new Pokemon have been introduced with WACKY names like Clock, Nickleback, and Telechubby. While this absolutely sounds like the worst idea ever, the way the names are delivered give it a couple funny moments. But when they fail, they FAIL. The perfect example of how much of a mixed bag this album can be comically.
Final Verdict? Did you like the 1st album? You’ll like this album. Didn't like it? You won’t like this. The qualities of this are varied. When things are good (production and Avidan’s vocals), they’re really good. But when things are bad (juvenile & mixed humor and Hanson’s over the top rapping style)their pretty bad. Just like the 1st album. As you can tell by the many mentions of the album’s similarity to its predecessor, “Player Select”, while keeping to the same standards, just doesn't do enough to separate it from their debut to really consider this an entire new entity. Consider it Starbomb DLC: adds extra content to a familiar formula. But hey, as promised by the band, there are less dick jokes. If that doesn't count for anything, I don’t know what does.
