The 1998 debut recording from Omaha, NE's the Faint is a far cry from the danceable, beat-heavy records the group went on to produce, but it is nonetheless a fine record and a worthy addition to the collection of anyone who enjoys the music that has come out of the band or their town's overflowing music scene. 12 tracks. Saddle Creek. 1998. Album Description
 |  | Great album, but in an entirely different way |  |
Media is completely different from any other album by The Faint. If you are looking for an indie/emo feel, then this is an excellent choice - if you are looking for more of the electronic sound that The Faint puts out now, then this might not be up your alley. For someone buying this after enjoying later Faint CDs, try Some Incriminating Photographs to start with - it is probably the closest to anything they've put out more recently.
The album's got a much more raw feel than the others, and if you appreciate fledgling college alternative music, then it will definitely grow on you.
February 11, 2008 | | one of the most underrated albums ever!!! | |
I was so surprised when I heard Some Incriminating Photographs. I couldn't believe it was The Faint. I had to google it to make sure it was them for sure. This is a great album because it captures The Faint as they were trying to discover themselves as artists and you can hear the youthful energy. I think that alot of people are afraid of that kind of honesty in a band...the kind that says we can have a song that sounds like Depeche Mode and a song that sounds like KMFDM...why the heck not? When I went to high school, alot of my friends used to say that KMFDM meant Kill Motherf@#king Depeche Mode, which was not true. They were just too embarrassed to give Depeche Mode a fair try. Little did they know that Depeche Mode was a huge influence on KMFDM since industrial is nothing but synth pop made edgier with heavier beats and guitar rifts. I'm saying this because I notice alot of reviews that sound narrow-minded. I mean, if you really like an artist or music in general, you would take the time to understand and appreciate a point in a band's path to defining themselves. Putting up barriers on what's cool and what's not doesn't help anyone grow as a true lover of music. All kinds of music exist and are there for us to discover and bring into our realm of creativity as a musician or just simply rocking out in our cars while driving around in circles. I'm tired of hearing and reading negative commentary about bands like The Faint who actually can make an album like Media and then find another sound and go into a completely different direction. No sound is any better than the other. It's all good. Take Ministry for example. They used to be synth-pop. Listen to early Ministry...circa Twitch days. Remember Everyday is Halloween? Now compare it to a song on Psalm 69 or The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste. Emo, Punk, Industrial...Indie rock...ehhhh! Yuk! All of these titles are just false labels made to box us in...made by the man. Don't be fooled kiddos. Damn the man. Listen to it for one reason...cause it makes your ears happy.
August 18, 2007 Ok, the Faint. The Faint are an amazing band. The sound they create is constantly evolving and original. Their music is passionate, fun, and addictive, and in fact, throughout the period I've listened to the Faint, each one of their albums have appealed to me at different levels. However, having recently listened to this album, I can say honestly say that I was thinking of making love to this wonderful peice of music.
And really, it's not about the sound of their music, or their lyrics, because I love it all. I would never dis The Faint's later music for being too manufactured or their early music for being to conventional or emo. The Faint have always had something all of their own. They manage to create dark unconventional melodies and sparatic rythmes while being extremely catchy. However, Media just does it for me.
The Faint's 1998 debut is just great. It is in no way electronic, yet it obtains an electronic feel. Throughout the Faint's later work, like "Danse Macbre" or "Blank Wave Arcade", The Faint create vivid electronic soundscapes. The unsteady balence that the music hangs on is edgy and vibrant. The Music on Media is similar, exept there are no keboards or electronics. With this they pull of an original, great album before they had even started with their electro hybrid sound.
The Music is just great. It's never boring, and the musicianship is most excellent. Media was a great start to an amazing bands career.
January 20, 2007I'm glad this is their old sound and not the newer stuff - It's good to own if you're obsessed with the band and desire to own all of their albums, but it's really not worth listening to at all.
September 4, 2006Listening to this album after you've heard The Faint's more recent releases will completely convince you that their change of sound was warranted. If they'd continued on in this direction they'd have become just another obscure emo band churning out mediocre, self-absorbed pop for college students too unrepentantly normal to seek out more unusual musical fare. Both this original sound and their current sound are "generic" in the sense that they adhere strictly to genre definitions, but since New Wave is a far more musically interesting genre than emo, fans of their contemporary sound will find this album to be a total disappointment.
January 23, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(16 reviews)
