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Review Summary: Despite hints of talent and less glitch than his debut, ‘Unstoppable’ contains too much filler and includes many ineffective tracks that are low on replay value. I guess that Greg Gillis - under the moniker of Girl Talk - should be given some kudos. Not only is the DJ persistent, but he clearly learns from the failed experiments of previous albums. Following on from his truly awful debut ‘Secret Diary’, Gillis uses over-bearing glitch much less frequently on follow-up ‘Unstoppable’, meaning it is infinitely more listenable to.
Furthermore, he has also predominantly ditched the annoying habit of teasing us with samples that were far too brief. Here, each sample is either given the adequate space required for the particular passage of a track, or is intentionally used sparingly to effectively bridge other separate samples. Take, for example, the tidbit from Bernard Herrmann’s ‘Psycho Theme’ on album highlight ‘Bodies Hit The Floor’. The aforementioned track hints at the potential of the man, since it is a fantastic combination both musically and vocally as Kelly Osbourne morphs into Justin Timberlake, and then Reel 2 Real’s ‘I Like To Move It’ flows into artists as diverse as Lisa Loeb and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
Also admirable is Gillis’ genuine attempt to make his tracks be their own songs, and not just mashed-up samples of other artists’ work. He does this by various means, including adding his own beats, adjusting the pace of the samples, and twisting the pitch of the vocals to occasionally make it sound as if a studio vocalist has been used instead of the original. Unfortunately, this is not always for the betterment of each of Girl Talk’s pieces, since too many tracks either end up overlong (‘All Eyes On Me’, ‘Non-Stop Party Now’ & ‘Cleveland Shake’) or ineffective and unmemorable (‘Bang This In The Club’, ‘Happen’ & ‘Can’t Stop’).
In addition, three interludes which are all around the one minute mark are disorienting wastes of time. These come off as originally longer pieces that simply did not work out, but couldn’t be totally scrapped for one reason or another. So when all is said and done, there is a lot of filler on this album which is only 35 minutes long in the first place. In fact, come the halfway mark, you have pretty much heard all that there is on offer.
Retrospectively, it is clear that the experimentation contained on ‘Unstoppable’ gave Gillis the ideas he would use to much better effect on subsequent albums ‘Night Ripper’ and ‘Feed The Animals’. However, taken in isolation, the album does not work as a whole and cannot be given a passing grade due to the amount of filler it includes, and too many ineffective tracks that are low on replay value.
Recommended Tracks: Bodies Hit The Floor & Touch 2 Feel.
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Album Rating: 2.0
Unsure how this review will read to be honest. I started it & just tried to keep my thoughts as concise as possible. Oh well, at least the album now has a review.
As his next 2 albums already have reviews, I'll be leaving them alone & doing Sound-Offs for them eventually.
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a workman-like review davey, which is all one could ask for.
pos
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"workman-like". So if I was a full-forward, I would have only bagged the 4 goals & not Fev's 9!?!?!? I'll take that & a pos Jim. Ta.
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you had to go mention fev's lazy 9 didn't ya. at least the tiges got a little closer this time. round 1 was an atrocious display
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Sorry Jim, I couldn't resist. Well, you can mention Buddy's last quarter if you like...
And this weekend, the kangas & tiges get to play for who gets the higher draft pick. Watch out for one shocker of a last quarter as both teams try to lose.
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You're right this album blows, good review.
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Thanks Scyther. I can see how ratings may differ wildly for this album though. What would be your rating?
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Probably a 1.5. I doubt he put even a fifth of the same effort into this record that he did on Feed The Animals, which is wonderful by the way. I could have slapped this together in a few hours, and so could the majority of people who know enough about computers to fuck around on Fruity Loops and search Pirate Bay.
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am i interupting the girl talk
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It's an interesting point you raise about his effort on various releases Scyther. It would be fascinating to find out from the horse's mouth actually. A fifth? I'm not so sure myself. As intricate & clever as 'FTA' is, I actually think that the different focus & purpose to both albums also comes into play. And as I state in my review, by the time 'FTA' rolled around, he had learnt a lot from his failed experiments I think. Having said that, there s no doubt about which is clearly the superior release.
Shhh Charles, you haven't been invited to this mothers club.
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I think the purpose of his music is basically the same with each album, which is making dance music. He's certainly evolved but its to a point where I think he should have already been at before releasing full-length records in the first place.
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Not my kind of music, still its a good review Davey, slightly different to your normal style but still the quality shines through.
How was Europe? I'm guessing I missed all the talk about your holiday whilst I was on mine.
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Maybe "purpose" was not the right word to use Scyther. I meant the way in which he puts together each individual song. I do think there are differences that show out as his career has moved along. But yeah, I agree that 'Secret Diary' was such an abomination that it would have been better kept a secret. He definitely wasn't ready to release an album at that stage.
Hey, look who's back. Yeah, you know I like branching out into different types of music to test my reviewing Ross.
I hope your holiday also went well. I don't even know where you went to be honest. Europe was indeed great for me. There's probably 2 things to check out to catch up. Firstly, my previous review for 'Secret Diary' which was my first rating of 1. Secondly, I made a list of my top 10 European cities. Turned it into a game to even frustrate a few people.
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nice review, definitely not my kind of music though. And what's with your negativity hahaha a 2.5 for Def, and a 1 and a 2 for girl talk, you must really be freezin' your nuts off in australia to be in this negative review mood
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hey mashupstyles15, are you suggesting that this weather down under could be depressing me? Can you sense me breaking out the Ektomorf? Haha.
It looks like I'll have to break out some fun, sugary, happy-happy music for my next review. I know just the treat.
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Haha I went to Turkey and then Cyprus Davey. You giving an album a 1 really surprises me, I didn't think it would ever happen to be honest.
hmm...
1: Venice
2: Santorini
3: Nice
4: London
5: Paris
6: Dubrovnik
7: Rhodes
8: Sorrento
9: Vienna
10: Amsterdam
from those i have visited i would go 1, 4, 3, 10, 5
but Barca would beat all of those for me haha
Edit: Speaking of Turkey, I have some turkish music to look into now haha, who knows, I may end my reviewing hiatus with a Turkish band.
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Davey I miss your lauded comments on my reviews so I give you this. AMAZING! #1 REVIEW!
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hey mashupstyles15 hahahahahaha lmao that line made my day already and it just started lol
are you suggesting that this weather down under could be depressing me? yes, yes I am, it should be too cold for you
Can you sense me breaking out the Ektomorf? Haha. sadly no haha
It looks like I'll have to break out some fun, sugary, happy-happy music for my next review. I know just the treat oh don't tell me your going to do anotyher Def Lepard review
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Ross, I would have rated an album a 1 sooner had it not been for you stealing Crazy Frog off me. ;-)
Oooh, that's a very exotic trip. It's so easy for you Brits to visit so many countries nearby. I saw a little of Turkey, but I don't think it was the full Turkey. A port island named Kusadasi or something like that.
You must have been high when typing that list as you have put down 10 (ironically Amsterdam) twice! Haha. Barca is nice enough & a lovely city to just walk around & experience, but there isn't a great deal to do there. Luckily I was there on the exact night they won the Champions League in Rome. It added more atmosphere to the city... Although I have no idea why they rioted when they won. Who knows if I would have got out of there alive had they lost!
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Marko, I'm still waiting for you to review The PussyCat Dolls. Haha. Nah, I've been slack of late mate. I think I'm still on vacation in a way. I'll rectify that soon enough.
metalstyles, I have already signed legally binding documents regarding NOT doing more Def Leppard reviews. So you should be safe from some of their more recent "masterpieces"!
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