Tweet

Album Details

• Artist: The Faint
• Album: Danse Macabre
• Label: Saddle Creek
• Year of Release: 2001
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: EsteeS on 2004-12-08

Media

I don't dance. I don't tap my foot with oomph or wiggle in my chair when a song with a heavy beat comes along. Well, I didn't until The Faint's Danse Macabre was released. I purchased this album with only the knowledge that Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) was an original member of this band. Apparently, he left the band that was then; "Norman Bailer" and when he asked to return, the band wouldn't let him rejoin. Anyone that has the balls to reject Connor Oberst deserves my money and respect entirely.

Synthesizers are usually strongly affiliated with the 80's, and although I don't deny that The Faint was at all influenced by that era, The Faint achieved somewhat of a new-fangled sound. The Faint, well put by their vocalist Todd Baechle, attained a "clean but not sterile sound" on this album. The acoustic drum set, the cello, and the live bass, gives The Faint a warmer, more personal feel, steering it astray from the conventional techno sound. The occasional philosophical lyric offers substance, a rarity, and the theme of death is unusual for an indie dance album, if that's not unusual enough, giving Danse Macabre an edge.

Thought to have originated in medieval times, the danse macabre were skeletons that were depicted singing or playing instruments. The belief was that their music cast a spell over their audience, drawing them towards the "dance into death." This dark album is a glance into a young, seemingly arrogant, group of boy's outlook on mortality. How they choose to internalize the inevitable, and voice their fear of conformation.

"The drones work hard before they die, and give up their pretty little homes." (Agenda Suicide)

In "Glase Danse" The Faint tries to illustrate how everything achieved (or not) in our lifetime makes no difference, and how we all have the same fate.

"An infant tries to danse as it grows up then dies. That's simplified but uh...when your complexion dries. You wake up cold and think. You wish it'd been this way."

This album, ironically, made me dance. Danse Macabre is an impressive gothic, punk techno album that I have been listening to on repeat for the last three days. I suggest you pick up a copy of this album, maybe a little something with alcohol in it too, and go on, "danse."

User Reviews and Comments

Log In or Register to Rate Albums