Review Summary: Atlas Plug deliver a fine album that mixes fast paced electronica with slow melodic orchestral strings.
So Atlas Plug, 2 Days Or Die, anyone who has played the game Crackdown will probably have heard four tracks off the album with tracks 'Get Rolled On, Halfway Till Bliss, Rule The World and The Ace, The Only' on the game soundtrack along with Around The World which is a separate track that does not feature on the album. Tom Salta who is the man behind the music of Atlas Plug composes a lot of Electronic and Orchestral songs for video games and movies, and the influence of electronic blended with orchestral is apparent in the first song 'Halfway Till Bliss' and the two sounds go together beautifully. The songs 'The Ace And The Only' and 'Rule The World' stand out for me as fast tempo songs that always evoke a sense of tension and have a movie soundtrack feel to it, like something from the "Bourne" movies or "James Bond".
As an album it's not a masterpiece and lacks some real direction which is something that these electronic crossbreeds can fall into. Celldweller did a similar thing were one song would have 4 different genres at one time, and it is exciting to listen to but can sometimes lack the consistency that make a real solid album. If I think of my favorite albums almost all of them have a theme or genre they stay within, even the creativity of 'Emergency & I' which dabbled with electronic components had a constant structure, even if the constant was orbiting around planet mad.
2 Days Or Die is a collection of songs ranging from quite forgettable to very exciting songs. My judgement on the songs maybe biased as Crackdown which I played for hours and hours would often bring back fun memories when I heard songs on the album I already new, so it's hard to have a total impartial view, so the first five songs with four of them being on Crackdown came and I liked every song including '2 Days Or Die' which had a slight hint of ska. But the last five songs came and went and didn't do much for me. I have listened to Celldweller, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers and I believe that this album is as good as albums like 'The Fat Of The Land' by The Prodigy and 'Surrender' by The Chemical Brothers, which maybe a controversial statement considering how commercially successful albums they were within the genre but I think it is a testament to this Tom Salta that he made one of my favorite electronic albums. The one thing this album lacks that those two albums had is a solid single that could get airtime to make the album more accessible, but it is definitely an album I advise checking out, for those a fan of the genre.
Recommended Tracks:
Halfway Till Bliss
The Ace, The Only
Rule The World
