Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix review

5 June 2009, nancy @ 5:26 pm Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix review

Hey … wait a second, wasn’t Wolfgang Amadeus’ last name Mozart? Oh Phoenix, you sly foxes – I see what you did there. I can’t say I see any similarities between this cheery Europop and 18th century classical music by a child prodigy – the dude that Beethoven looked up to. I find this tongue-in-cheek album title a little arrogant. Just a little.

But, as I always say, it’s best to use specific yardsticks when evaluating music. For cheery, synthy Europop, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is not a shabby album at all. The entire album actually has a classical music theme. The first track, “Lisztomania”, is a reference to how popular 19th century Hungarian virtuoso pianist Frank Liszt’s performances were. The video for said track was filmed in Bayreuth Festspielhaus, an opera house in Germany. Fancy, but I liked the fan video a lot more:

Apparently, Phoenix did too. I’m not really sure why they chose to have a classical music theme. Classical music is never going to be cool, guys. Trust me, it was at least 40% of the reason no one wanted to talk to me in middle school. I’m glad they didn’t do the (19)80s thing either though. The video is fun but obsessing about the 80s is so 2002, it’s all about the 90s now – Freaks and Geeks, anyone?

Anyway, back to the music. This album actually reminds me of a Frencher, more optimistic Dancing Echos/ Dead Sounds by the now dissolved band Codeseven. “Fences” especially just reeks of Codeseven. I like it! The only song that sort of rubbed me the wrong way is “Love Like A Sunset”. That interlude in the middle made me slightly suicidal.

When it comes down to it, the album isn’t indisposable. Thomas Mars’ voice gets on my nerves if I’m listening to it too intently. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix would be best listened to live while sipping on a rum and coke. With a sold out show at the Phoenix (haha), I’m sure many Torontonians will be doing just that.

AWmusic