Still conflicted with myself. Got a few tracks that I love but still I M fighting my long time preception regarding music with lyrics in it, which is not a positive one.
I will probably end up embrasing this album as I did to all of Twisted’s productions..
but it may take a while…
BTW you can’t ask for opinions without giving your own.
Gotta say I was on the less enthusiastic side when I first heard the singles “Shine” and “Night Lead Me Astray” but after listening through every track multiple times, I love Vaccine. I honestly feel bad for doubting Simon, Benji, and Ru in the first place… very good stuff all around. I mean personally the most enjoyable tracks for me are System 700 and Tetris(at the moment) but I love them all. Great work guys, can’t wait to hear you live again (with possibly the chance of hearing some Crumblenaut thrown in as well ). Hope the album does well cause you all definitely deserve it
BTW you can’t ask for opinions without giving your own.
I think it’s pretty interesting and I may just love it. I don’t really pay attention to the lyrics, except for a few little snippets here and there, but I do like Ruu’s voice, it reminds me of Sting’s. I think the music is really well conceived and expressed, and from a purely pop perspective I think it definitely pushes some boundaries without losing the plot. It may not be a mind-bendingly psychedelic in terms of the electronics, but it is nuanced and mature in that department. It might succeed at both really, and it’s lovely to listen to. A stretch for Twisted, but probably a good one for them, and quite a nice addition to the catalogue. I know people will slam me for this, but it does remind me of Radiohead (with a bit less guitar virtuosity obviously, but hey, practice makes perfect). Frankly I don’t listen to pop music, but this ain’t exactly that, and I predict I’ll listen to Vaccine many more times. A-.
I like it. It seems that YB may not have had the luxury of composing a purely psychedelic album appealing to a relatively small niche fanbase, and decided to appeal to the masses in the classiest way they know how. Critics of the album complaining that they “abandoned” their fanbase or were somehow “lazy” should really take into account the context of music as livelihood and business. It would be nice if creativity could blossom free of financial interests, as it may have during the days of FOB, when file sharing wasn’t so rampant and economic times better, but sadly, it can’t.
Nothing personal Jah, but this use of the word “mature” annoys me like the word “intelligent” in describing electronic music. The question is always “Relative to what?” FOB or LDOG were hardly juvenile. If anything, they were as sophisticated as electronic music came at the time, and imo still are. Lack of psychedelia doesn’t denote maturity, just a change in style.
If FOB is a full on acid trip, then Vaccine is the joint, the so-called gateway drug that invites the listener to delve deeper into the Twisted’s catalog, into the past, and maybe even the future.
I thought the album was a reflection of how the artists perceive the world around them - often changing - via videos, interviews, and online posts.
I was always looking for a modern ‘Floyd sound - and this one hits it dead-on. Its original. Pop music? No. That stuff is crap - and you know it distinctively. The lyrics throughout carry multiple contexts - an extremely lovely component of this album. The psychedelic is there, the sound is there, its refined. The 2 or 3 years of work are definitely present. Thanks for the music!
Gotta say I was on the less enthusiastic side when I first heard the singles “Shine” and “Night Lead Me Astray” but after listening through every track multiple times, I love Vaccine. I honestly feel bad for doubting Simon, Benji, and Ru in the first place…
Felt the same exact way at first. But now that ive got a good number of spins out of this album, I love it. Still not to big on Shine and Night Lead Me Astray, but every other song on the cd is great. I loved the song interpretations they sent out in the YB pledge e-mail too. Thanks for the great tunes once again, Twisted is never a let down!
If anyone would like me to post the interpretations from the e-mail that hasn’t read them just say so
Nothing personal Jah, but this use of the word “mature” annoys me like the word “intelligent” in describing electronic music. The question is always “Relative to what?” FOB or LDOG were hardly juvenile. If anything, they were as sophisticated as electronic music came at the time, and imo still are. Lack of psychedelia doesn’t denote maturity, just a change in style.
I should have used the word sophisticated instead. I definitely didn’t mean that this album was all grown up and the previous ones were immature! I meant to imply that instead of crazy trippy sounds there are more tiny little tweaks.
I’ve been listening to this album alot and I don’t have issues with vocals. Before I heard of shpongle etc I used to and still listen to music with lyrics. This album is growing on me.
Above all I think the music and production of this album is fantastic. Top notch quality.
I love Crystalline. This track, to me, reminds me a little of early psy pop Floyd with Syd Barrett. Ru has a similar voice.
Shine I really like. I think the way the lyrics are written and sung is very well done. Until the continous shine, shine, shine etc. One small minor put off for me.
Pound a rhythm is a really good track. However I personally feel Ru’s style of singing isn’t right for this one.
I also love Train. This and Crystalline are my top tracks from the album so far.
Overall I enjoy listening to the album. I think it has great quality. A new style and direction isn’t a bad thing. Musical diversity is better than same old same old imo. However lyrics don’t have to be the centrepiece of the band. The vocals can fit in with the music and not have the music to back up the vocals.
Funny I’d have expected more negative reviews here :p I’m currently listening to it on youtube, there are definitely some very good things on this album. I think Train to be overally pleasant from begining to the end, and Ruu’s vocals to be fitting quite well. Crystalling is also quite enjoyable in general as system 700. Pound a rythm was quite interesting to me too, and is probably the one that has the most ‘pulled off’ and succedeed approach to a pop song as it doesn’t sound as borrowed and conventionnal as the other pop songs on the album, i also quite liked the first half which has a bit of a folk feel to it in ruu’s singing, and the drum and bass part that followed is nicely done and builds in intensity with the return of the chorus. Same for safety in numbers, a lot of very good and original things in it, the guitar/kazoo riff is quite catchy but in a good way as for chorus’ singing . On the other hand, really not enthusiastic about shine, night leads me astray , Sonnambula and Tetris…Which feel to me like the bad side and other extreme to this new change of direction, for the composition as for Ruu’s singing…
But I can’t help, I’m hearing a lot of things that remind me of several other bands, whether it’s air, radiohead or coldplay. Whether it’s a bad thing or not depends of the point of view of the listenner and his affinities. I liked some of these bands for a while, but the listenning pleasure came and go…
I have to say even though you can still hear some of posford earlier influence, the spirit of the music has DRASTICALLY changed, it’s really not the same atmosphere and the intentions are really different. The sound has changed a lot, I think it has a lot to do with the constant presence of real drums, i don’t particularly like it nor think it’s somewhat an improvement compared to the old electronically crafted and eastearn flavoured percussions. I do understand though the need to experiment new things in music, and i think that it was probably a challenge for Simon to record an album in such a way… And bouncing off from that, I want to say in general, that this particular eastearn flavour that was always here in the older albums(in shpongle too) is completely gone too!
So overall, some good explorations in this album, some didn’t turn as well as the others to me. Still not sure i’m gonna buy though, gonna listen to it in youtube in the meanwhile…
Was a bit pessimistic about the album after first EP, now love them both. My mother likes it Actually almost everyone I know likes it, so keep on going YB.
P.S. Live show made a great deal for reevaluation - new sound really has it’s own distinctive benefits.
I’m somewhat surprised with the amount of positive reviews as well, not that it’s a bad album because it’s not at all, it’s just different. Not really my taste, but glad they’re having fun with a new style. My girlfriend really likes the album, although she was not a fan of FOB or LDOG. I’m curious how the sales of this album will compare to previous albums. I hope they’re able to get more mainstream appreciation, I think they will.
I was always looking for a modern ‘Floyd sound - and this one hits it dead-on.
it has a couple of moments that remind me of pink floyd, but i think the style of the album (as a mix of different styles) is actually quite original - it’s actually one of its best characteristics.
if you want a modern pink floyd sound, try the orb - metallic spheres
). Hope the album does well cause you all definitely deserve it 
