Industrial rock has been going strong since the beginnings of the 1970's till this day. It hasn't been endorsed in the mainstream music world all that much (there are exceptions like Marilyn Manson, Ministry and others though) but it has got its own firm audience. A lot of young rock bands start out as underground industrial rockers and move on from there to find their certain niche so industrial rock is also an important gateway genre for a lot of bands. Apartment 26 were an industrial rock band from England who were active during 1999 - 2004. They were one of those young rock bands who were not yet certain about which kind music they would like to play and sadly they broke up before they could find the style that would suit them perfectly, although industrial rock seemed to fit them rather well anyway. Hallucinating stands as their debut and shows a fair amount of potential the band had. Sadly though, this record is also infested with big amounts of filler.
The start of this album is very impressive. First three tracks are all industrial rock treats and represent the band at their best. "Backwards" is a cool industrial rock track and features some interesting programming effects. The vocals are strong and the angsty voice of the singer is very gripping. "Doing It Anyway" is a more alt. rock orientated song which features a nifty main riff. The programming effects and the sounds of a pleasured girl in the background are also very entertaining. "Slicedbeats" ends the three song trilogy. It is probably the best song on the whole album. It is a very high-speed track for industrial rock and the chorus of it could easily compete for the best industrial rock chorus ever. Mesmeric general sound and the distorted vocals make this song a true gem in the industrial scene.
After the first three songs though the album regrettably starts slipping downhill. "Keep You" is an unbelievably boring song, "Apt. 26" is a bit slower song and lacks the energy of the foregoing tracks while "Dusk" is a pretty pointless skit, not offering much. Then though comes another highlight of the album: the title track "Hallucinating" is a very energetic track, once again featuring interesting programming effects and nice distorted vocals. The various programming effects used throughout the song keep the track very interesting till the end.
From there on, the album slowly fades to the end with the only highlights in the sea of dullness being "Basic Breakdown" and "Bruised". The last positive point about this album though comes in the form of the last track "Death". It is a good energetic track featuring high-piched guitarlines and good melody. Also the lyrics for this one are pretty fun, though they are really fun throughout the whole album, going like:
Finish up the beginning
Shine the light on my shadow
Relaxation techniques
Pointing at an arrow
Reach out your arms to be held
Stretch out your mouth to be loved
Can't break the flow - one more push
And when the chorus breaks in with the lyrics like:
Give it to me, You should know that I'll take more from you, Give in to me, You should hope that I will not cut you out, there is nothing more to do then just smile, especially because the singer Biff Butler sings the chorus so emotionally it makes him look like a rapist even though he is a very nice guy.
All in all the good tracks on this album are really great but since the album is 14 tracks long and at least half of them are very weak this record as a whole doesn't quite cut it. It is a good effort though from this young band and tracks like "Slicedbeats" and "Death" are surprisingly professionally done and do provide a fun listen.
Recommended songs:
Backwards
Doing it Anyway
Slicedbeats
Death
Basic Breakdown
Bruised
Hallucinating
Forget that the rest was ever on the album and enjoy these 7 energetic industrial rock tracks because they really are all good and can deinitely bring a smile on your face if not more.
