2006 / February 15^th/ Refused: The Shape of Punk to Come

Summary

The Shape of Punk to Come is a revolutionary album. Not only is it truly genre-bending, but it’s a damn good album to listen to. I must admit, the first time I heard the album I was a skeptic. I just thought it was a bunch of crap thrown onto a CD. My mistake was listening to songs, and not the album as a whole.

Song Listing

1. Worms Of The Senses/Faculties Of The Skull
2. Liberation Frequency
3. The Deadly Rythm (Of The Production Line)
4. Summer Holidays Vs. Punk Routine
5. Bruitist Pome #5
6. New Noise
7. Refused Party-Programme
8. Protest Song ‘68
9. Refused Are Fuckin Dead
10. The Shape Of Punk To Come
11. Tannhauser/Derive
12. The Apollo Programme Was A Hoax

The Album

The Shape… is an album that absolutely must be listened to as one whole piece of work. The individual songs have very little initial value when separated from the body of work that is the album. Each song flows into one another through a masterfully produced string of effects. These effects range from crazy techno beats, clips from radio shows, live recordings of the band itself, and just playing around with a synthesizer.

When it comes down to it, the production of this album takes it to a whole new level. The mix is different from song to song, each song’s mix fitting it’s mood. The mix’s often vary throughout the song itself changing the texture of the sound as the sections of the song are released. A great example of this is “Liberation Frequency” which starts off as a distant, dry sound that explodes with color during the chorus. It’s one of a thousand examples of excellence in production throughout this album.

Which brings me to the next point… the music itself. From the odd beats, to the overpowering guitar chords, this album is full of amazing musicianship. Varying meters and keys keep the listeners on their toes while the harsh vocals mixed with calm talking mend it together to form a perfect harmony of clashing that just works.

I’m not sure I can explain how amazing this album is… needless to say, it is and forever will be one of the most amazing albums in my collection.

1. 

   Natalie

   February 20 | #

   Thank you, for a great review. I love music, especially finding new stuff - I’ll take a listen…

2. 

   Natalie

   February 21^st | #

   … you know, I’m not a big fan of the screaming, but you’re right… in its entirety, a decent collection. There’s some rough classical stuff in there which is cool, and some awesome jazzy kind of bass in “Apollo” that I love. I can get past the stuff I hate and in fact, good music is supposed to make you feel more than luke warm anyway. If you’re not hot or cold, loving it or hating it, it’s just not great music. :)

   Actually, I should take that back about the screaming… Kids in the Way is a band that can pull it off. I guess it just depends on the presentation of it, and well, my being in the mood for it.

3. 

   Oonagh

   March 2^nd | #

   I don’t agree that the individual songs have not much value for themselves. ‘New Noise’ was dancefloor-magick back when I still went to ‘indie’ clubs, but sadly, the new noise didn’t come. I can’t watch people dancing to that song like to any other anymore, because it is a cry for a musical, but not just a musical revolution, and people dancing to it like nothing was wrong makes me sick.

4. 

   Drew

   April 12^th | #

   Hello,

   EVeryone has a band that you “must hear”. Sometimes it’s annoying how enthusastic people are while shoving a mix CD in your hands, wanting to discuss it to no end. Wit that in mind I’ll keep this short.

   I really think you’ll like the band “Burst”, also from Sweden. iTunes has them, finally: “Prey on Life” is a good place to start, or the latest called “Origo” is great. It’s all great, actually, which is not something I say often even about bands I really like.

   Absolutely beautiful music, quiet and loud. Hope you get a chance to dig ‘em.

   -Drew

5. 

   9rules Featured » Blog Archive » The 9rules Music Community Recommends (No. 1)

   June 29^th | #

   [...] 05. Refused: The Shape of Punk to Come. Epitaph / Ada 1998. Recommended by Kyle Neath of warpspire.com. [...]

6. 

   paul

   January 24^th | #

   great album from beginning to end… wish they were still together…

7. 

   Luis

   September 10^th | #

   I cannot believe there’re people that unknows this album. It was the first of his category, marking the follow up in the hardcore sound for the bands today!

8. 

   Phil

   October 19^th | #

   Refused are still alive? I saw them live somewhere in the mid-90ies and they were great. I’ll check the new one…

9. 

   some guy

   January 6^th | #

   this album was released on October 27, 1998. it’s ten months shy of being a decade old. how old is the author of this extremely belated “review?” and what’s next, a review of The White Album?

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