Dropped

Dropped, Mindfunks second album, is by far their best. It draws influences from the (then hugely popular) "grunge" movement (distorted guitars, angst filled lyrics, etc.). Dropped sounds a lot like an early Soundgarden album, which doesnt come as a surprise seeing as it was produced by Terry Date, who produced "Louder than Love" and "BadMotorFinger". This is not to say they plagarized anything from this or any other band.

Mindfunk is sometimes refered to as a 'b-level supergroup' due to the fact that during their existence they had members of Celtic Frost, Soundgarden, Nirvana, M.O.D. and Ministry. Though none were parts of any classic lineups or helped make classic album with those bands. Example: Jason Everman was in both Soundgarden and Nirvana but it he only participated in each band minimally.

The vocals, provided by both Jason Everman, Louis Svitek, and Patrick Dubar are really solid. The lead vocals are really strong, with a filling backing vocals. This helps complete the music, and add an extra dimension. Though, on some songs the vocals seem to cut through the music and instead of flowing with it.

The guitar work is pure grunge, as mentioned above. Though the guitars posseses a more metallic edge than some other similar bands.This helps make the music closer to a metal band than a "grunge" band. The bass is heavy and fluid, a bright spot really, one of the few things that doesnt seem totally taken from another band. The drums are solid, but sometimes the seem to be pushed back in the mix.

The Production is really good. Terry Date helps provide a solid groundwork for MindFunk to work around. From my description you might think that this is just a copy of some "grunge" album, but, in reality it just takes a lot of influences from them and mold them into something similar but at the same time different.

My favorite songs are "Goddess" into "Closer", which are bridged by a distorted guitar, and give it a more organic feel (not to mention the insect/nature effects at the begining of "Goddess"). The first half of Dropped is really strong, not to say the end half isnt but it feels less focused. Also "Drowning" is a decent song, with a catchy chorus. Another decent song is the thrashy "Mama, Moses, and Me".

In all this is a really good album if you are into this era of music. Also if you really like Soundgarden this a great band to check out. Overall Dropped is an slighlty above average album from what you might call a "b-level supergroup".

On their second album, the sneeringly-titled Dropped, Mindfunk make some fairly significant sonic changes while venting a little label-related bitterness, and attempt to separate themselves meaningfully from the funk-metal pack. World-class producer Terry Date delivers the slowed-down grooves in an airtight, vacuum sealed muscular-as-hell package that would presage the work he did for Soundgarden on Badmotorfinger. Its worth comparing the two albums as Dropped does contain more than one obvious nod in the direction of Seattle (and not just because they induct alt.rock's version of Pete Best - Jason Everman - to play second fiddle to Louis J. Svitek's lead guitar).

Opener Goddess, with its excellent riffing and understated solo work, and the insistent, almost middle-eastern drone metal of In The Way Eye are to me the most interesting of this rather lengthy, mostly mid-tempo sophomore set. Having lost drummer extraordinaire Reed St. Mark to Celtic Frost, much of the rhythmic energy and flashy musicianship of their self-titled debut is gone. Lead singer Pat Dubar also completely drops the sleaze-metal act of the first album, opting towards a more honest, naked vocal approach. Stripped down, the songs reveal themselves to be brooding, intensely focused groove monsters that can occasionally end up just slightly on this side of meandering. The downbeat mood is enhanced by the solemn but sumptuous packaging (most impressively displayed in the vinyl version).

The album's biggest sin is its sameness, and towards the latter fourth of the album it starts to get a little long in the tooth. Mama, Moses and Me is probably the only track that recalls the manic energy of the debut, more often than not replaced with more moody, solemn work like Drowning. Solid, almost classy in some ways, but it could have really used one or two more uptempo tunes and a few of the psychedelic excesses shaved from the third album.