I came across Kinesis by lucky fortune, I went to see Muse at the Manchester MEN Arena on the 29th of November 2003, and Kinesis were supporting, playing the biggest show they ever would play. This was exactly 2 months after their debut album was released on Independiente Records. Even with the terrible sound quality they had at that concert, I heard something in it, and was excited, so after I quickly purchased this gem of an album. It was simply love at the first listen, and it has never stopped since.
The album opener, One Way Mirror, is a prime example of their skill at producing wonderfully exciting songs. The opening guitar riff immediately grabs the attention, devastatingly simple yet captivating, a blast of energy. The song goes from strength to strength, singer Michael Bromley attacking over-controlling politicians with a raw performance, sounding hoarse in the punk-styled chorus, and the opening guitar riff extended for a strangely unique solo. The perfect song to begin with.
The next song, Billboard Beauty, begins very differently, with a very dance/techno style drumbeat, and then the distorted guitar comes in briefly, only to fade as the quiet verse begins, the beginning drums, a simple sequence of chords on a clean guitar, and singing, seeming to mean a lot without meaning very much...: 'A life a dream the pain a scream, I awoke to my desires.'. Quickly the song erupts into a loud, distorted chorus, attacking the modern obsession with beauty (there is a lot of lyrical attacking on the album). Later in the song, there is a softer bridge, with two tracks of vocals, singing the first verse like a a round (one person starts a line and the next starts it a bit later) with a single flanged guitar playing in the background, then the drums and bass come in and it's back to the chorus, until a similar bridge is played instrumentally at the end.
(Cling To Your) Innocence, later on, takes a new direction entirely. It starts with a gentle guitar part and some softer singing from Bromley. Here, we don't even have the standard chorus. The song is louder, but it still gives off a more tender air, the guitar especially, lilting and melodic, it encompasses the mood change, the song sounds like the quiet moment of speculativeness after all this noise and anger. There is still some anger of course, this is, after all, an album full of anger fuelled songs, even the title is violent in nature. This song, though, transcends that in places, like the instrumental section, where the guitar creates a beautiful landscape of colour and warmth through it's melody.
Everything Destroys Itself is the opposing song to that. It opens and straight away the shouted vocals come in, the most cynical lyrics yet: 'Just like the cross, just more corrupt' and then another loud chorus, only this time with more shouting and political cynicism. This is momentarily replaced with a soft guitar melody, reminiscent of the one in (Cling To Your) Innocence. Then it again switches back to the angry chorus, and the song swiftly ends, the shortest on the album by far at 2:04.
A Generation Devoid of Inspiration. The last song, beginning with some odd noises, then a female voice speaking the title, and then the song begins. A distorted mess (in a good sense) of guitar enters with drums and bass, then most of it falls away to the verse, the vocals strangely distorted, talking, drums, bass and a quiet guitar providing a backdrop. And then (need I say it anymore?) the loud chorus rears its head. This time, however, the vocals are even more impassioned, a near shriek at the end leading to a verse much the same as the last. A bridge section which is simply the chorus instrumentally with random (and tasteful) screams/yelps interspersing. Then it all falls back to a quiet second bridge, wonderfully haunting guitar melodies highlighting the bleak desperation of the song, until it all fades away, the album is finished.
Overall, I consider this a fantastic album. The vocals are passionate and raw/real sounding throughout, the lead guitar (courtesy of Conor McGloin) is always interesting and original. The bass is mostly uninspired, bland even, but it can be said that it absolutely always fits the music well, which is the most important quality in any part. The drumming is always solid, not great, but good, and it always adds to the overall sound. Everything gels together, and actually one of the best things is that it is one of those albums which really stands out as a collection: when played in order, the songs compliment each other to create even better effect. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to ANYONE, in my opinion, it is definitely worth hearing.
Sorry for the quality of the review, if you feel that is lacking in something, it is my first review and perhaps it is a little biased....I would actually like to say, before you go out and buy it after being misled by my opinion, it is not a hugely original masterpiece. It is a collection of quite simple songs done well, and I greatly admire what the band have done.
Peace out.
