Human Drama ? Cause and Effect
Projekt 2002
Genre: Gothic
Track List:
1. I Am Not Here2. Look At Me Now3. Quiet Desperation 4. Imitation Of?5. Goodnight Sweetheart6. Lonely7. Madame Hate's Mad Search for Love8. Bang the Drum slowly9. The Mystery10.Cynthia's Journal11.The Battle12. About Michelle13. Dance Me to the End of Love
Human Drama is one of the best bands the mainstream has never heard of. Fronted by Johnny Indovina, they are a band that can be considered gothic, art rock, or even post punk, depending on which appellation appeals to you. Cause and Effect was one of Human Drama's last albums, and the style varies musically between light rock, jazz, and blues, though the acoustic pieces could mislead one into thinking there was a country ballad or two on there. The only clue to Human Drama's gothic nature (besides their record label), is in the lyrics - Indovina's singing style has a lot of tonal variance that the casual or uninitiated gothic listener would not expect.
Overall, the disc has a depressing quality, yet the melodic arrangements (such as on Imitation Of) somehow makes this album appropriate for a rainy dark night at home, or a bright sunny day driving down the highway. None of the instruments ever seem to overpower the others. However, I think the real draw is in the clarity of the recording, and the depth of the lyrics. If one listens hard enough, there's a lot of commentary on the human condition or the human drama, if you will):
'You're an imitation of what you want to be' -- Imitation Of?
'All the tears I cried for you/all the hope I never knew/ to think I'll never hold your hand/ touch your face or look into those eyes again' Goodnight Sweetheart
'Assist madame hate/on her mad search for love/she so desperately wants to find/yet constantly chases away' Madame Hate's Mad Search for Love
'The mystery keeps haunting me/every clue needs another it seems/high and low I will search, all my time it is worth/to learn what happiness means' -- The Mystery
'But what I believe/battles what I have seen/leaves me lying in wait/old wounds start to bleed again' The Battle
I think that even these snippets can't really do the songs justice, because they don't convey everything about the songs. In amongst the despair, missed opportunities, and the self-perpetuated problems of the antagonists in the songs, there is also a feeling of inner strength and a sense of overcoming to press on, for whatever reason, good or bad. Everything on this album is consistently excellent.
Overall: 9/10. This is an excellent album that you can just put into the CD player and go with, but the lyrics require a lot of thought to get at their meaning, and if you don't sit down and listen carefully, you will miss an important part of the album. The flow of the album is excellent, without any major hiccups.
This article was originally published by CyberArmy.net in the CyberArmy Library.
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