Review Summary: Medio-core
So I attain Enter Shikari’s Common Dreads with a completely open mind as I’ve heard and read just about everything about this CD.
The CD opens with a crappy, unimaginative intro(2 minutes long also like wtf). The first real song is Solidarity, and it isn’t too shabby. It opens with a boisterous synth beat leading into a little grunt like sound, and some mildly simple guitar/bass/drum parts. The newish sounding vocals done by frontman Rou are expressive, but very mediocre. Sure you’re singing something, but sing it better would ya? The highlight of this track is when the annoying synth that started the song is over with, and you hear random kind of grunts again, that follow into Rou growling, I would say it doesn’t sound completely terrible, and is one of the heavier moments on the track despite it being relatively quiet. The track is relatively forgettable outside of a few little sections.
Ah the “single” Juggernauts. Where to begin on this one… first off Rou speaking with his clear English accent during part of this is completely unnecessary. The only real redeeming quality to be found here is that A: There isn’t a lot of singing, and B: When Rou bursts into a scream that picks up the tempo to the song, only to be completely ruined by the same boring crap the first half of the song brought. Also why in the hell is this track 4 minutes and 40 seconds long. Cmon now… Seriously? Wall is completely terrible, is way too effing long, and does nothing but stimulate the snooze reflex.
Oh Zzzonked… how come I feel I just gave up my goodies to go for the Super Deal of the day here. Oh nice I might not have gotten the car, but I traded up to get the second prize. This track is actually pretty fun, but marred by Rou doing his newly found speaking in songs skill. Oh he also says the F word in this track. There is really nothing stand outish from this track except for the synths aren’t as annoying, and the vocals kind of suck less. There is a catchy little breakdown here also.
Now see The Jester seems to get bashed on by pretty much everyone. I really don’t know why though I mean look at the damn title of the song. The Jester. Can you have high hopes for a song that has that kind of name? Yes. After just over a minute of nonsense you get some screaming with an annoying backup section. Rou unleashes his most powerful screams on this song by far. At the 2 minute mark you hear this little beat and it’s kind of catchy, and painfully awesome, you probably will want to dance a bit here for sure, and while it goes on for way too long, you still feel there is hope for this band. Oh and this is definitely a filler track as there is really not a lot going on here. It’s just like bad in a good way. I mean the vocals are probably the best on the album, and the synths are not too bad here, but still, this wreaks of being a filler track. And after Havloc 2 which is an intermission track. Awesome. I’m also totally thankful for the Halycon(Intro) being the 13th track on the CD. I mean generally I like my intros to occur far after I’ve heard most of the CD.
Overall this CD is pretty mediocre. Like… this really isn’t that good. They want the listener to listen to the lyrics and want to change the world. Well I’ll get off my ass and do something when this CD sucks less. On the subject of lyrics, they’re pretty meh, like the CD. Rah! Rah! Go save the world! I’ll pass Enter Shikari, but here’s to hoping that you can motivate somebody, because you deserve at least that. The bass is average, the geetar work is average. The drumming is average. The vocals are average. Take it for what it’s worth.
Pros:
Not that generic really
Rou's growling is pretty sweet
You might tap your foot a few times
Cons:
Not that generic, but would be better if it were more generic.
Crappy vocals
Mediocre instrumentation
Way too many instrumental tracks(and tracks period, a fair amount just aren't good.)
Most of the songs are way too long
Rou speaking during this is just bad in general.
