Review Summary: Interesting EDM that could never hope to hide Morello's mundane guitar work.
Credit where credit is due; this isn’t what I was expecting from
The Atlas Underground. And quite honestly, when you consider just how uninteresting Morello’s writing has been the last ten years, there’s certainly a positive to be taken from this. Yes, it’s a surprise knowing Tom Morello, a prolific guitar player with numerous albums under his belt, has a solo record out that sees his axe-wielding wizardry taking a backseat. So, right now you’re probably asking yourself what
The Atlas Underground and Morello offer the listener if this isn’t about his six-string, and to sum up, it’s pretty much an eclectic collection of electronic compositions that roll out the red carpet for guests such as Pretty Lights, Knife Party and K.Flay. Unfortunately, this is about where the compliments end. Don’t get me wrong, I give the guy top marks for branching out and trying something completely different, but ultimately the ideas on here fall to the wayside because of obvious pseudo intentions that try to grab at a younger audience than represent a genuine pursuit or artistic remodelling.
Of course, the quality on here varies depending on the guest artist handling the track, but I can say outright any of Tom’s guitar parts remain the same bland signature tropes he’s been dependent on since 1992; the Rage rhythmic bounce, feedback squeals and wailing effects are used in a “just another day in the office” fashion, making his lifting on this almost useless. Which means the interesting segments to these songs fall on what the other musicians bring to the table – and to stop beating around the bush, this equates to Morello basically using these people as a safety net to mask his anaemic ideas. Predictably, the Pretty Lights song, “One Nation”, is the best track here, utilising Derek Smith’s unique producing skills to deliver on Pretty Lights’ distinct electronic soundscapes over haunted guitar notes and Morello’s staccato mute technique; it’s a combination that works pretty well here. Less favourable attempts come from the banality of “Vigilante Nocturno”, an awkward Rage-y number that implements terrible samples and glitch elements and “Lucky One” that sounds like an Audioslave archive riff with K.Flay’s horrendously airy vocals. More middle of the road tracks like “Where It’s At Ain’t What It Is” contains a nice sub-bass groove and some smooth vocal work from Gary Clark, and the album opener, “Battle Sirens”, shows a dissonance between Knife Party’s ideas and Morello’s conventional style that works in an oddly interesting way.
It’s a mixed bag, it’s certainly an interesting LP and it has a nice production, but it’s a hard one to review as it lays primarily dependant on what the listener’s preference is to these numerous guest artists. For me the majority of the guests here make awkward and corny contributions to the songs (the latter half of the album suffers tremendously from this), but some may find joy where I didn’t. I can, however, clarify the guy whose name is on this album offers nothing you haven’t heard already, and for that I’d approach this with caution.
FORMAT//EDITIONS: DIGITAL/̶/̶C̶D̶/̶/̶V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶
PACKAGING: N/A
SPECIAL EDITION: N/A
ALBUM STREAM//PURCHASE: http://tommorello.com/
