Album Details

• Artist: Enter Shikari
• Album: Take To The Skies
• Label: Ambush Reality
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: symphony on 2008-01-17

I have a problem, readers, and that is when an album I've anticipated to be stellar and awe-striking--an automatic favorite--doesn't deliver this happiness. I get upset and I get upset bad. I hate being upset, to be frank. Honestly it requires me to dwell and dwell and I fucking hate it. I'd rather, at this point, chuck the album into oncoming traffi. This is one of my musical extremes. The other is loving an album as if it were my child.

Not this. Enter Shikari's long-awaited debut, Take To The Skies, is not eargasmic, as I would say, it's criminally disappointing. For one, I've heard a vast majority of the songs on previous singles in their demo form and I find them better. If I enjoy the demos more than the album version, you have failed epically. It's cardinal sin. The album, while energetic and fun, is also dull and not as appealling as the build up lead me to believe. It's good for one, maybe two spins, then it just gets dull. "Labyrinth" sounds like every power-chord heavy song, just with the addition of dull and uncompelling synthesizing.

"Return To Energizer" starts off with the oddest vocal intro ever, as if they recorded the vocal track while they were sitting on the john. It's atrocious. "Sorry, You're Not A Winner" is an excellent track, contrastly, featuring the best vocal performance on the album.

Another irritating feature is the copious amount of interludes. Seventeen tracks and five of them are bland interludes or an intro track. I'd rather you just didn't bother, because the attempt is just horrid. Ugh.

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2011-03-18 Richo Said:

Came out in 2007 but I had to review this after seeing it got a 2.5 on the scale! My god! This is one of the best albums I have ever had the fortune of listening too.

I wasn't a massive fan when I started listening to them but everything from "Stand Your Ground, This is Ancient Land" to "Closing" is just a masterpiece.

The beginning of the album hits you like a brick to the face demanding you to pay attention "your life's about to flash before your eyes" is one of the lyrics and at their gigs trust me this happens.

"Mothership" and "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour" are amazing. This is why I love this band they just write about what ever they want, not like other bands who just write about love and girls.

Moving on to the second part of the album, yes there are interludes, yes if you heard them on your ipod you would skip them, how can anyone judge an album that has 3 seconds of silence (I counted once)

The intro to "Sorry You're Not A Winner" is dancey and will have you up on your feet. Moving on to Jonny Sniper which was really intended for radio I think but doesn't move away from an amazing album.

Adieu is an accoustic song by the band which in itself is beautiful and prepares you for "Okay Time For Plan B" and "Closing" the two last songs in which the band demand you go go nuts and lose yourself in lyrics and meshed up instruments!

Fantastic album by a fantastic band
Rating: 9/10