Concentration (studio album) by Machines Of Loving Grace

From RichardSauce 10/10/2015 20:33

This band, and specifically this album are must listen for anyone looking back to the industrial scene of the late eighties/early nineties.

Their music and lyrics show the breadth of style emotion that was to be found at this time, and largely veer away from the anger and fury that would come to eclipse the entire genre in the wake of NIN's Downward spiral.

Benzel's lyrics are remarkably intelligent and cogent, and immediately set him apart from from most other lyricists of the genre. Over the course of the album he draws from Foucauldian post-structuralism, chaos theory, post-modernism, etc... making him possibly the most well read lyricist of his time. None of this is to say, however, that Benzel ever loses track of the most important thing: carnal pleasure.

The album is not perfect however, tracks 7 and 8 are not bad when taken alone, but are far too samey to be grouped together, and track 9 is the definition of filler. and as a result the album lags in it's third quarter.

All said, this was a classic album that never got its due. Too early to crossover into the mainstream, too late to be lumped in with the old guard, and too rock influenced to for the purists. As a result, it has remained criminally under-appreciated.

Best tracks: Perfect Tan(Bikini Atoll), Lilith/Eve, Ancestor Cult, If I Should Explode