![]() The album is formatted like El Cielo with longer, traditionally structured tracks interspersed with flavorful, instrumental jams. Now that The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion is finally out, most fans, myself included, are a little ashamed we doubted these crunchy geniuses from Los Gatos, but are left feeling Dredg's balance of pop and art, something that for all of its variance had never before been in question, is now off its axis. Effectively, they unsold the vacuum cleaner they had spent the past eleven years selling. Dredg, despite their clean sheet, had steadily built up negative hype around their release. Regardless of this overt poppiness, "Saviour" was anything but, and felt like a failed attempt at experimenting with electronic production. The punchy electronics of "Saviour" lacked elegance and the lyrics seemed to be crafted with an active disdain for being poetic. Throughout the writing and recording of The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion, this fan base devoured acoustic demos and live performances only to be disappointed. After proving they could compose both an art album and a pop album, Dredg had a blank canvas and a frighteningly hungry fan base. Dredg crafted a sensational album by carefully choosing elements from their more experimental and wandering early days and packaging them in concise alt-rock gems that blew the listener away with efficacy and meticulousness rather than their forays into the unknown. This gravity is what made 2005's Catch Without Arms surprising. Ignoring the typical journalistic strutting of the writing, this review () has keen insight into the true character of El Cielo it is unabashedly an "art" album that seeks excellence through grandiosity and by expanding borders rather than by refining and revising ideas. However, one negative perspective rings out in my mind. It even invoked old-school psychedelia, satisfying all but those those who felt like music died with Syd Barrett. It was a breath a fresh air for those disenchanted with the places popular rock had been in the preceding years (remember nu-metal?) yet also satisfied most indie aficionados. When Dredg released El Cielo in 2002, it wasn't met with much negative criticism. Review Summary: Dredg's fourth album is a centaur of pop and art that walks with a limp but has a heart of gold. ![]()
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