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Alternative PressAs Minus The Bear stray further from the prickly, smartass math-rock of thier early days, the group seem focused on crafting the perfect album to launch them into another dimensuion entirely--and Omni, with its brainy intricacy and adventurous heart, may just be that spaceship. [Jun 2010, p.106]
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Omni is accessible yet not watered down; complex and engaging all at once. Its catchy and progressive elements will surely dig its way into your cerebellum.
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Omni doesn't reach the same dizzying heights that some of their past releases have attained, but it's a solid piece of work. Definitely something to keep blasting in the car for the upcoming summer months.
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With erotic themes, smooth production and the use of a Japanese Omnichord synthesizer, the band's fourth album, OMNI, proves that there's still plenty to explore.
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FilterMinus The Bear is still boasting its trademark funkadelic rock grooves meshed with electro-pop quirk, but now with a smoother and more linear structure. [Spring/Summer 2010, p.108]
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It's syrupy, heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, so slickly produced and acutely cornball that it has no logical place on the record of any semi-obscure, self-respecting indie rock band. And yet Omni remains intriguingly smooth and flip.
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While the ten tracks here can switch from sexy to mature, dark to funky, and the differences make themselves further known with extended listening, the heavy reliance on the synth does, unfortunately, keep that complaint intact. Omni is still a very solid record.
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All the pieces that make Minus the Bear an entertaining listen are still here, but rather than experimenting with more progressive arrangements, the goal is to carefully control the mood of the album, creating a soundscape that's more restrained than anything they've ever done, but just as affecting.
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For the most, the album shows Minus the Bear tinkering very little with the sound it crafted on past releases. However, in the few instances on OMNI when the group does step away from its tried-and-true formula, the result features less forward-thinking experimentation and, instead, contains a larger does of '90s alt rock.
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Kerrang!While Dave's guitars are still engaging, their spirit is undone by a lack of soul underneath. [28 Aug 2010, p.54]
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UncutProducer Joe Chiccarelli curbs their proggy tendencies in favor of chromed-out, geometrically precise arrangements embedded with bull's eye melodic and instrumental hooks. [Jul 2010, p.115]
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Q MagazineNaturally, they can't resist chopping and changing course at the drop of a hat, but the melodic sheen clearly serves notice of more mainstream intent. [Oct 2010, p.120]
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Tracks such as "Excuses," "Animal Backwards" and, in particular, "Into the Mirror" caress the ears with hypnotic funk, yet these triumphs are only ripples against a stronger tide, as lyrically Omni is a damp blanket.
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If the world wants to point at the band's best album it's easily Planet of Ice, but if we're in the business of recognizing a group's ethos, Omni stands as the prime example of what Minus The Bear want to achieve.
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The spacey, psychedelic flourishes and harmonies have been ditched in favor of blandly inoffensive solos and big, arena-rock choruses. And there'd be nothing wrong with any of this if the songs were stronger.
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MojoWhile the band's strength lies in inventiveness of their composition, the end result isn't as enjoyable to hear as it surely was to make. [Sep 2010, p.102]
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It's overproduced as hell, filled with all manner of electro doodads and backmasking effects, but it also boasts an immediacy and pop smarts heretofore unheard from the band. Unfortunately, that directness applies to the lyrics as well, and they simply cannot be ignored.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 22
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Mixed: 1 out of 22
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Negative: 5 out of 22
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May 3, 2017