Rob Dougan – Furious Angels

music on vinyl need to pick this album up for a remaster. perhaps a double LP with the instrumental versions too that came with the extended version of the album.

either way, the whole album is fantastic, from the menacing clubbed to death to the poignant there's only me. any one of the tracks could easily fit a James Bond film as Dougan mixes the best parts of trip-hop, modern classical and electronic music. his vocals are interesting on some of the cuts but never outstay their welcome. just a shame he always promises a follow up but takes literally years to tease it and then it vanishes altogether.

this album is stunning from start to finish.

Rob Dougan is justly best-known for his track "Clubbed to Death," which first appeared when Mo'Wax was a can't-miss label. And the cinematic quality which marked that track (as well as the track itself) reappear on his debut album, _Furious Angels_. More interesting, Dougan adds his hoarse vocals to his creations, which veer more towards country-western than to pure electronic music. It's an interesting combination, if not an entirely successful one. The title track has a gospel chorus that add tension to some potentially overwrough lyrics. "Will You Follow Me?" sounds as if it came straight off a soundtrack -- John Williams would be proud. Not sure what Mr. Williams would think of the dirge-like "Left Me for Dead," however. At times, Dougan sounds as if he's straining his voice in an attempt at emotion, and it's at odds with the elegant orchestrations. When he doesn't try as hard, as on "There's Only Me," he gets across a sense of desperation and sadness much better, as does the melancholy trip-hop and warbling falsetto of "Nothing At All." Not surprisingly, on the instrumental disc, the tracks in which Dougan's vocals proved problematic feel improved with just the strings, but the ones in which the vocals were an asset feel slightly empty. But the most surprising track would be "Drinking Song," which has much of the simplicity and directness of the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York." It brings romanticism to a drunken haze -- reminiscing with a gravelly voice.

"Furious Angels" and "Clubbed To Death" are simply amazing tracks. As an added bonus, the rest of the tracks are good also, but can sound a little repetitive. Having never heard any of his tracks besides the aforementioned, I was pleasantly surprised. You better like strings though, because Rob Dougan appears to need to put huge orchestral arrangements on every track. While these are well done, we don't need it on ALL the songs.

The instrumental versions on the second disc are basically the same as the normal versions (without the lyrics of course), with the sole exception of "I'm Not Driving Anymore". The second disc also contains videos of "Furious Angels" and "Clubbed To Death".