Richard D. James Album

by

Aphex Twin

Edit

Richard D. James Album is the first ten tracks of this album:

1. 4

2. Cornish Acid

3. Peek 824545301

4. Fingerbib

5. Corn Mouth

6. To Cure a Weakling Child

7. Goon Gumpas

8. Yellow Calx

9. Girl/Boy Song

10. Logon Rock Witch

When bringing the album to America, the record companies decided that 32 minutes was too short for an album and added on the (entertaining, but IMO inferior) 5 tracks from the Girl/Boy EP.

11. Milkman

12. Inkeys

13. Girl/Boy Song [£18 Snare Rush Mix]

14. Beetles

15. Girl/Boy Song [Redruth Mix]

Those five tracks are BONUS TRACKS - they are NOT part of Richard D. James Album. Please consider this when reviewing the album.

As for my opinion, RDJ Album is a masterpiece of Drill n Bass, which is the term for the lightning quick, spastic drumming that is so prominent in this work. Note that this rather up-tempo drumming isn't always intense...it can actually be quite soothing (For the best example of this, see Flim from the Come to Daddy EP). For this, I couldn't do anything but give it 5 Stars. Once again, Aphex Twin has released something completely alien to my ears and I love it.

I know exactly why people rate this much higher than i have. I'm not criticizing anyone who rated this higher; this is just a personal opinion. Basically, after hearing what Richard D. James is capable of, this just fell short of a few expectations. I LOVE most of the songs, but there are a couple of songs i dont like as much that drag the whole album down for me. Tracks like "4", "Peek", "Girl/Boy Song", "Yellow Calx" and "Milkmen" are GREAT! I love listening to these tracks because they're so cleverly made. But, for example, the high pitched keyboard in "Corn Mouth" and the whilstles in "Logon Rock Witch" just come across as annoying. I respect experimentation in music (please dont get me wrong), and i listen to a lot of music like Merzbow, Sunn0))), Sonic Youth, but when i hear some sounds on this album, i skip a track. I'm not sure what others think of this, but it's just these tiny things that ruin it a little bit for me...

HOWEVER, i still think people should buy this. I'm giving this 3 and a half stars, because a majority of the songs on this album are freakin awesome but it's just those couple of tracks that i could have done without. I recommend people to buy "Selected Ambient Works" and "I Care Because You Do" first.