Apoptygma Berzerk ‎– You And Me Against The World

"Pick up this album if you like good music. Leave it alone if you expect another futurepop-trip." Kind of a contradictory statement - so futurepop is automatically bad music? (I generally don't like most of it, but that statement is just ridiculous). I don't know why there are all these Apop fans that erect such strong defense over the "newer" Apop indie rock sound. As if they are afraid of being critics themselves so they pour all this praise on the new sounds just to stay fans. The fact is, this album, Sonic Diary, and the latest album are all pretty bad rock albums. I'm sorry, that's just how it is. I'm not some die hard 90s EBM fan who will never like anything else. I'm just telling it how it is. These newer Apop albums are simply annoying to listen to. Groth is not a real rock musician but obviously wants to be. He can certainly write catchy songs, but doesn't have the impact a true rock musician has. I honestly don't care what style Apop does - EBM, rock, salsa, or gay disco - but I am not afraid to say that this particular music just is not good.

Apoptygma Berzerk is indeed a band that constantly re-invents themselves. They have gone through a lot of changes through the past decade, with members joining and leaving constantly. One force remains though, Stephan Groth, and he is msotly responsible for the band's sound.

Now, before you pop in this record, I just have to say that you must leave your expectations behind. This is not like the Apop you heard in 2002 or even less the Apop you heard in 93. This is a new Apop, and if you can't accept that fact, I think you should leave this album alone.
Because while Stephan's characteristic vocals remain and his lyrics are even better than usual on this album, the sound is heavily influenced by 80's rock music(sort of like A-Ha's Scoundrel Days album), and it shows heavy use of guitars and live drums.
You And Me Against the World shows that Apop is not a band that makes "sequels", they constantly go through changes, re-inventing themselves, and I think a lot of people find it hard to follow such a change.
Myself, I have never been alienated by this album, I always find something in it that I like, mostly because he hasn't completely left the elctronics behind, you can hear synthesizer basses and leads on most of the songs, even if they sound mroe vintage and analogue than on the previous VST-sounding albums.
Pick up this album if you like good music. Leave it alone if you expect another futurepop-trip.