Continuing their trend of putting three years between each album release, Lords of Acid updated their established EBM style with more of a breakbeat emphasis on their third album, while holding fast to lyrics revolving around sex (suggested by track titles like “Rubber Doll”, “Cybersex”, and “Pussy”) while Jade 4U’s vocals can swing on a dime from sultry to banshee. Hot-edged synth sizzles come in looped bursts, downbeat drum fills are smoothly inserted, and bass-line surges roll through the arrangements with flair.
The vocals get overwhelmed in the mix from time to time, but as they’re often verging on chants of a verse (e.g., “Spank my booty!” in “Spank My Booty”), it doesn’t impact things too much. Aside from that, for all the juvenile vulgarity and over-the-top lustiness, the music shows impressive knowledge on the technical side of its composition, with loops tweaked and re-engineered for post-chorus returns, dozens of layers fitted together without undue acoustic clouding, and bass swells that assert their presence without making things swampy. A trio of remixes and a previously-unreleased bonus track on the remastered edition help round off the original’s semi-abrupt ending, with the down-side of leaving things a little bloated. While the album’s content may alienate some, it also puts across a sense of being exactly what the band intended to create, and being carefully crafted to achieve that.
Here’s the alternate cover art.
And the remastered cover art.
Scrambled Brains 