[.ca] Title of Record

Chronique amazon.fr:
C'est en 1994 que commence l'histoire de Filter, lorsque son leader Richard Patrick décide de quitter son rôle de guitariste pour le compte de Trent Reznor au sein de Nine Inch Nails en faveur d'une approche moins électronique de la musique et plus centrée autour des guitares. Un album plus tard, divers morceaux sur des B.O.F. (X- Files, The Crow 2, Spawn), Title Of Record confirme le potentiel de l'homme parti en solo. "Welcome To The Fold" donne le ton, tant ce morceau d'ouverture projette une impression de puissance destructrice. S'enchaînent ensuite "It's Gonna Kille Me" et "The Best Things" qui n'ont rien à envier aux meilleurs des Tool, Helmet et autres Deftones. Toute l'énergie et la hargne, mêlées d'émotion et de sensibilité, de Richard Patrick pourraient se résumer au morceau "Take A Picture", titre d'un hymne FM mélange de murs de guitares et d'acoustique. --Sébastien Prieto

From Amazon.co.uk:
"Hey Man, Nice Shot" may have been a fluke hit, but Filter's Richard Patrick has spent four years working on the follow-up album, mastering enough sonic variety to ensure that Filter stick around the moshpit. Programmer Brian Liesegang is gone, but Patrick continues on, picking up the slack and yielding nothing. Crowd reaction is impossible to anticipate, but at 70 minutes, Title of Record is an exhaustive collection of hyper-kinetic guitars, subliminal melodies and thunderous dynamics--which is to say, it sports plenty of hard rock aggression, but is firmly rooted in the pop experience that keeps the songs in your head. "It's Gonna Kill Me" has a stalker's vibe in its techno-metal roots, while "Take a Picture" and "Captain Bligh" are radio-friendly unit shifters that suggest that underneath the technology rests a beating, and often bruised, human heart. --Rob O'Connor

more driving than short bus:
With Title of Record released 4 years after it's predecessor Short Bus (in 1995), some people were skeptical that Filter was dead. This, of course was hard to evaluate since the original Filter band was only composed of two men, Brian Liesegang and Richard Patrick. Since programmer Liesegang dropped out in 97, Patrick retained the group name for the next release. In 1999, after a 4 year wait, Title of Record was released and it was without a doubt, a better effort. It sounds smoother, further industrialized, and the songwriting is improved. In other words, today's Filter is way better than the latter day Nine Inch Nails. This is ironic, since Richard Patrick was a guitarist for NIN's earlier work. "Title" is clearly a driving record that never lets up. By late 1999, Korn's "Issues" and Marilyn Manson's "Mechanical Animals" were the only other monster albums out there. NIN offered the long-awaited "The Fragile", which was a letdown for many since The Fragile's songwriting was less developed than "Title of Record's".

Title Of The Record Is Up There, But Not The Greatest:
I guess you can say Filter has shown their best on this cd, but certainly better than Short Bus rather. The problem with their first cd is that they didn't have a lot of variety. The songs were the same, same type of heavy metal all over again. This also applies to the tracks released for soundtracks, not as impressive. When Title Of The Record came out, and "Take A Picture" was their first single, my immediate thought is that these guys are good. When I picked up the album, I felt less impressed then I was with single, but still the album brought me to my feet. 1. Sand - This is the most weakest start to a cd. It should have been a part of Welcome To The Fold. So, overall the most boring track on the cd...2/10 2. Welcome To The Fold - Heaviest song I have heard in a while. A wall of guitars applied with a cool bass and awesome drums. 10/10 3. Captain Bligh - Richard Patrick's words saying "I am grieving man I can't believe the things I've done to you"...would not be the lyrics I would pick for the song, even though it works well. The song has a good song structure, but not as strong to my taste. The only part of the song that moves me is the outtro to the song in which it is acoustic and electronic drums and the vocals are perfect with Rich singing "I've tried to pray yes I will give it a shot." 7/10 4. She's Gonna Kill Me - Spectacular song, the lyrics could have been improved but yes it's pretty good. 9/10 5. The Best Things - I don't really know why this song wasn't really successful on the radio. It is a great song. 10/10 6. Take A Picture - This was one of the most popular songs on the radio, but it's nothing compared to any of the other songs on the cd. Still good though. 8/10 7. Skinny - It is a great tune. The lyrics in the verses are the main problem, though. They don't really have a good feel to the song. The chorus brings out the song, again showing that they can be heavy. 7/10 8. I Will Lead You - Possibly one of the best songs on the cd. This song should have been a single. Great song to listen to over and over again. 9/10 9. Cancer - Good song, though a horrible structure to it. When the final chorus kicks in, and it's all heavy, it's the best part of the song. 6/10 10. I'm Not The Only One - Bad song, this song is when the singer screams "I'm Not The Only One" in the chorus over and over again. It's too much, it gives me a headache. 5/10 11. Miss Blue - This is the actual best song of the cd. Everytime I listen to it, I almost cry because the vocals are beautiful so are the lyrics. The guitars are excellent, the drums just give an excellent feel to the slow beat of the song. 15/10 I would not put this cd on a chart of the best cds in years. I wouldn't put this on the best cd of 1999. Although, if you are a big fan of Filter and you want to hear some of their old stuff, this is a must buy.

In response to Matts Review:
Filter will never surpass Nine Inch Nails. Richard Patrick has a good album here but it will never be a masterpiece like the Fragile or Downward Spiral. The Fragile is masterpiece that will be remembered longer the "The donward Spiral" It's sad your like the rest of the people and didn't listion to the album and just hoped for another "closer". Sorry your to blind to see the real meaning behind album.

In response to Mark for Illinios:
Mark thought the record was bad because the rest of the songs weren't like "Take MY Picure", and that annoys me because that is just a music preferance. Anyone who clicks on the music clips can realize that Take my picture is the exception, not album's genre. For anyone who likes this type of music, this is a great album. Welcome to the fold is precious rareity, a true rocker that's intent isn't radio play time with a 3min. length and predictability, but a long song that spirals through great parts. All Marks seems to want is mainstream pop hits, but that's what makes this album so good, it refuses to mold to mainstream junk and remains unique heavy metal minus the satanic voice that so many heavy metal bands have these days, this is a band that I can still wait for a new album from since STP and smashing pumpkins both broke up. The review is suppose to be of the album, not the band, obviously if you don't like the band you'll hate the ablum. It's like going on to a Johny Cash album review and giving it bad marks for all the songs not being like "Hurt", the NIN cover he did that is the only song that younger listeners propable know of his. Don't judge a band by the one song you know of their's, and assume that that's what all their songs sound like, just because so many junky mainstream band do so.

In response to John:
When I write a review, I "call 'em as I see 'em". There is no denying Trent Reznor is was very talented at what he's done. His songwriting was more impressive than Filter or Marilyn Manson and on that level I agree with you. However, NIN is not in a competition with Filter but rather with themselves to always top their previous work. For a band to release only once every 5 years is inexcusable.

• Sand
• Welcome to the Fold
• Captain Bligh
• It's Gonna Kill Me
• Best Things
• Take a Picture
• Skinny
• I Will Lead You
• Cancer
• I'm Not the Only One
• Miss Blue