The Crystal Method – Legion Of Boom

Strange this never became a collector piece, especially since it was mixed into 5.1. Great sound and easily found for a reasonable price.

Awful and out of tune, I have no idea how these clowns procured a record deal.
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C. V. R. The Bard
4th/Jan. 2k24

After a "Tweekend" punctuated by the participation of celebrities from the rock scene such as Tom Morello (ex-RATM, Audioslave) and Scott Weiland (ex-Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver), many were waiting for The Crystal Method at the turn. Indeed, it is difficult to compete with what they themselves brought three and especially seven years earlier. The answer came in early 2004 with a new and third opus called Legion Of Boom, whose name is cleverly suited given the merciless beats.

What about the casting for this LP? Well, it turns out to be quite varied to say the least. Ken Jordan and his sidekick Scott Kirkland understood the importance of being around the right people, and it’s almost no surprise that we find a guitarist from the rock scene in the person of Wes Borland, at the time unemployed from Limp Bizkit. He co-wrote two very successful tracks, the first single “Born Too Slow” accompanied by the scorned voice of John Garcia, as well as the disturbing “Weapons Of Mass Distortion” where he seems to be enjoying himself.

The choice of the vocalists is more daring, since we find among others the one and only Milla Jovovitch (unforgettable scenes from "The Fifth Element incoming...) who shows us during the 6 minutes of the superb and soaring “I Know It’s You” that in addition to being an iconic actress, her bewithing voice can match the Nord Lead sounds without problem. By the way, if you're a hardcore "Vegas" fan, "I Know It's You" is the one that comes the closest to this atmosphere.
Also invited to the party is Rahzel from The Roots and who's featured on three choons. However, the only banger that sounds close to hip-hop is "The American Way" when "Starting Over" and "Acetone" are pure breakbeat productions.

Legion Of Boom also seems to be heavily influenced by the world of nightlife and urbanization, as suggested by the artwork depicting the Nevadan duo sitting on the top of a building aside huge speakers, an impression later confirmed by the presence of the title “Weapons Of Mass Distortion” on the soundtrack of the vampire film "Blade : Trinity".

For the rest, "Legion Of Boom" has nothing revolutionary in it except a more homogeneous sound which also feels darker and where the breakbeats definitely predominate over keyboards and other sound layers, unlike "Vegas" and especially "Tweekend" where each track has its own identity and a plethora of samples. It began to be noticeable with the first "Community Service" and is unmistakable in the second one.

Despite it, the beats remain strong, crystal clear and the general atmosphere is awesome with the electric tension of "True Grit", the funkiness of "High and Low", the "Vegas" vibes of "I Know It's You" and the 'fury' of "Acetone" being my personal highlights. Still closer to a 5/5 than a 4/5 for me.

Fantastic DTS 6.1 mix. I wish more albums would be mixed like this.

First good album from Crystal Method since 'Vegas'. Just about every track on this album has a gritty, rock infused sound but it is still good. The mixing is very clean and the beats are solid.

this is the epitome of a 4 star outta 5 album. every track is good, but none are groundbreaking. they simply went with their strength which is making big beat infused with rock. 4 stars still means it's a great album.