posted 11/16/2006 (Thu) @ 12:54 pm
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Bush - The Science of Things (1999)
Alternative Rock / Electronica
Grunge/electronica fusion bomb
- Warm Machine
- Jesus Online
- The Chemicals Between Us
- English Fire
- Spacetravel
- 40 Miles From the Sun
- Prizefighter
- The Disease of the Dancing Cats
- Altered States
- Dead Meat
- Letting the Cables Sleep
- Mindchanger
On the cusp of the millenium, rock artistès caught a whiff of something in the air. The insidious scent of electronica influence and techno beats. Watching the public seesaw towards this “new” sound, many bands, Bush among them, plugged in drum machines and DSP modules as well as guitar amplifiers. In principle, it’s actually a pretty neato idea– if the band can manage the right fusion of dirt and grime, the result can be an out-of-this-world machine-assisted sound with nuanced flanges and touches that are hard to reproduce with just ten fingers and six strings. Unfortunately, it’s hard to think of an album from the ’90s that really accomplished this. Bush’s 1999 album “The Science of Things” comes pretty close, and it’s this band’s most interesting and rewarding release for it.
A “Sgt. Pepper’s…”-esque sonic transformation seems to have occurred between “Razorblade Suitcase” and this. Without besmirching the power of past singles like the heartfelt “Swallowed” or “Everything Zen” (with its screwdriver slide guitar intro), “The Science of Things” is simply the better effort as an album. Their goal of fusion in mind, Bush whack out their artsiest and most experimental record, relying on syrup-thick six-string tones and very subtle, well-camouflaged electronica couched in jagged, echoing guitar leads, to entrance curious ears.
The infamous “The Chemicals Between Us” (the big single) is undoubtedly the best cut on the record, as well as the best example of how to meld rock with electronica successfully, vomiting evil-sounding, overcompressed power chords and then introducing filtered drums and “glass break” musique concrète for the chorus. In short, this track combines the best elements of both worlds from which Bush draws. Other tracks, like “The Disease of the Dancing Cats,” manage to recall the enigmatic lyrics and rawhide guitar tones of Nirvana’s “In Utero,” but with a trance breakdown.
But it’s the softer, blurrier edges of this album (unlike the more pedestrian bluster of stuff like “Warm Machine” and “Dead Meat”), exhibiting a foreign intrigue Bush isn’t typically known for, that will win over more discerning listeners. “40 Miles From the Sun” and “Letting the Cables Sleep” are tight exercises in the impact of metered, slow-dripping emotion… and great pop tunes, too. There’s “Altered States,” which opens with a tenebrous, echoing soundscape, and more expertly blends the lines between genres, without curdling into cheese. And even harder-sounding tunes like “Prizefighter” and “Spacetravel” are somehow more cerebral than past outings.
On the other hand, “English Fire” is the worst song they ever wrote next to “My Engine Is With You.”
But too many people seem to get hung up on this fact, and on the acrid taste the words “electronica influence” leave on the palate of some. At the time of its release, the marketing for “The Science of Things” may have suggested ’80s Casiotones and ultra-cheesy drum beats in the subconcious of rock listeners, but a quick look around at today’s scene proves that records like this one pioneered the concept of “electronica influence that actually works… really, really well.” It’s Bush’s most killer record.
