Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians

The fact that this album is a double shows a bit of Infected Mushroom's situation nowdays. They started out pushing music limit's as far as they could, and made a sound so different from the rest, it became their trademark. Infected's sound is now Infected, and I don't think something outside that would be much well received.

The second CD is an effort to keep very experimental while the first sets foot on their trademark. I think it's a way of gaining new audience and keep pushing limits while keeping old fans. And YES they're both very good, and well produced the way you would expect Infected to be.. I didn't like much the vocals though, but you can see beyond them.

CD 2 is a total burner a n d straight to the purpose. Has no one listened to the lyrics of track 1 yet? "Converting Vegetarians"... Hallo? This CD was created to "convert" fans of other musical genres to electronic music (or maybe specifically psy-trance). That's why the artists made it a perfect patchwork of numerous influences. I love it.

I think all you Infected fans are either too caught up with IM's oddity to notice or just plain deaf. The entire second CD are just remixed songs from all genres of music. What's better is they're all side B tunes, so they're not as familiar as say a chart-topping hit and with IM's eerily natural sounds these tunes are masked just enough to come off as original, but they really ARE.

Listen closely to the second disc, you'll hear the sounds you recognize from many songs you probably hear every day and just don't focus on them. "Selecta", for example, is the 'Super Mario World Score'(from the SNES)with all its parts neatly rolled into one Epic. Amazing, isn't it?

As a Dj, this album is, not only, fun to listen to while admiring the genius required to produce it, but also a challenge because I fear I may be tracking down the original tunes for the rest of my life... >:(

The second disc is a masterpiece of re-creation, following the electronic music genre's fashion of remixing and it put a smile on this Dj's face. As far as the first disc is concerned...I believe IM hit a home run, because something about the way they subtlely get their point across, "yes we're extremely odd, but manage to fit in, nonetheless", leads me to think their goal with the first disc was a psy-trance album that could be remembered(quite so, as uniquely as Infected Mushroom could merit), but also forgotten just as easily. A+ after A+, IM...keep it up. =)

ok...i think these two are push the psy-trance scence to another level,altough the trance side didn't get closer to the previous albums...the other side is one of my all time favourite cd,every track tells a different stories with sweet\deep\dark sound...and if listen really well you can find some sound layers that you didnt heard on the 1st and the 2nd time you listen.
the sound is perfect very unique very sharp everything is on time
my mark is:
trance side 6\10
other side 10\10

As everyone would notice this is a double side sword.

A) The first CD is a standar quality psy album with 3 songs that go over with almost a 9.

B) The second CD is for me one of the most fresh and innovative albums that I've heard in a long time. Just check that the styles are mixed very smooth. I feel that this has to be hard and requires lateral thinking (how would you mix psy sounds with ragga or with western music?¿?¿). Last but not least the music is very BEAUTIFUL and relaxing (i love the brilliant sounds on Elation Station, they remind me the dolphin voices).

Al last, the production is REALLY good. The sounds are lovely split and fit PERFECT. This double album is a must for me, being the second a lot better than the first.

In The last 5 years, Psy-Trance music became very boring and repeating itself, And than came these two...
This is one of the most interesting Psy-Albums from the last few years. Infected shows that they can create music in different styles, but still keep their psychdelia.
I guess they took some serious risks, by releasing a double album with so many uncommertial tracks.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I think both CDs make up an absolutely incredible album! While the first album is pretty much standard fare for IM, that 'standard fare' is some incredible music that will take control of your mind and body! (In a good way of course!) The second disc just shows how fantastically talented these guys are as musicians. They strive to keep from being pigeonholed into playing only full-on psytrance, and I believe it is a wildly successful effort! The key to enjoyment of the second disc is to keep your mind open and give it a few listens. I especially love 'Song Pong' on CD2. Buy it! Buy it!

This CD is clearly not Infected's best, that title is deserved by Classical Mushroom, however it isn't as bad as has been suggested. The first CD is pretty much standard infected produce, with a couple of notables such as the slightly mental but very catchy harmonium use in 'Semi Nice', and the brilliant guitar riffs in 'Deeply Disturbed'.... The second CD is entirely new ground for Infected, made up of tricky to categorise ambient/chill/psy combination, and is presumably an effort by them to break out into a different style, as it's pretty much evident they have conquered (if it's a psy trance event they always headline) the Psy-Trance scene who can blame them?

...but still, imho, this release doesn't match infected's first two albums (looking exclusively at disc one - i will not air my views concerning disc 2 at this time), though yes, it beats "b.p. empire". i do find there to be a lack of power in most tracks; i have to pump up my hifi to get reasonable bass from most - the bassdrums are a bit weak. not that there's basically something wrong with the emphasis not being on pounding rhythms, but in this case... in this case it could do with slightly more punch. or a good dose of it for that matter.
still, with the loudness switched "on", it's a good listen. in terms of melodic wizardry and overall insanity, this is classic infected material, and it does not sound like a quick-and-easy production, made in a couple of weeks by a couple of amateurs. even though it doesn't touch the genius displayed on "classical mushroom", but that's just my humble opinion.

The previous comment is not quite true in my opinion. The vocals are intended to sound that way, which is far from amateur. The entire track collection is obviosly made to match the very specific trance audience (such as myself) as I find it relaxing and innovative because of it's classical background, spacey atmosphere and simple harmonics. Like it's commented before: Infected Mushroom is probably the best ambient psy trance in the world.