Rjd2 - The Third Hand

Subject: Rjd2 - The Third Hand Tue Aug 19, 2014 2:30 am

ABOUT: Released in 2007, The Third Hand is the third full-length studio album by RJD2. The album is considered more of a traditional pop/rock record and has RJD2 (not to be confused with R2D2) singing and playing live instruments on nearly every track.

LISTEN ! http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/The+Third+Hand/1087791

TRACKLIST

1. "Intro" – 1:00
2. "You Never Had It So Good" – 4:04
3. "Have Mercy" – 3:18
4. "Reality" – 3:01
5. "Work It Out" – 3:26
6. "Laws of the Gods" – 2:10
7. "Get It" – 3:30
8. "Someday" – 1:22
9. "The Bad Penny" – 4:04
10. "Beyond the Beyond" – 3:57
11. "Sweet Piece" – 4:00
12. "Rules for Normal Living" – 4:03
13. "Paper Bubbles" – 2:49
14. "Just When" – 3:28
15. "The Evening Gospel" – 2:53
Total time: 47:05

My Review:

There's a smoothy edge about this music and the 70s-ish dreamy like vocals--everything about it just sounds so soft; coupled with lots of dynamic qualities...lots of different noises and influences..so many sounds including an electric orchestra at one point..and electronic rap sounds on "Beyond The Beyond"

I liked the song "Rules For Normal Living." Kinda clever how it starts out with breathing--or at least that's what it sounded like..and I liked the deep base lines used in the song.

The problem I find on this music is the shiny, polished vibe feeling that I'm getting....there are a lot of songs on here that just feel like musical experiments.... Oh, and lots of those synthy sounds; too much electronic noise for me...not to mention I feel like I could create some of these effects from my own MIDI keyboard...that's how cheap the effects sound to me...And by the end I'm starving for a real guitar sound or two.

Overall it does sound better to me after giving it a second listen, but there's just too many electronic synthy noises my ears have to get over...that doesn't mean it's totally bad to me--just really different. Smile

Subject: Re: Rjd2 - The Third Hand Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:12 pm

First time I listened through the album it was at 7 am, I’m not a morning person and this didn’t put me in a bad mood so that says a bit about it. I guess I can say I overall liked it, the fluffy cloud softness of the first track You never had it so good, followed by a sort of mysterious dramatic bubbling state with a repeating chorus that worked for me, are my two favourite tracks on the album. Starting out with my two favs wasn’t proftiable for the rest of the album, but I felt it was held together through its sound and seemingly experimental parts, such as ”Get it” that was one of a few that made me think they’d just played a random chord after the other while writing the song for fun, and then sticking to it - I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Reality felt a bit like a meat loaf. It filled out the album. Work it out felt a bit like a mixture between Pink Panther in the intro and then two different artists, whose identity I can’t put toghether atm...... Not that bad, although I don’t really get the last long tone. .. I liked the bassy and sort of deeper moments in The Bad Penny. Beyond the beyond first felt a bit like stepping into some spaced out old hip hop thing, the part between the welcoming vocals and the beginning didn’t feel too exclusive though. ... While some of the instrumentals still makes me go back and think about Super Mario, the vocals never disappoint me, and I guess I didn’t give the lyrics enough attention to feel it was too mellow, which I definitely don’t think.