Review of Don't Be Afraid by Green Muse
"My wife picked DBA, being she was a fan of old InSoc and saw the Numan cover
on it (we had just been to the Atlanta leg of Numan's Dominion Day Tour). Personally, I
never cared so much for the "fluffy and geeky" quality of old InSoc, but when we played
it in the car as we drove home, I knew I was balanced between [as the voice in DBA notes)
love and fear. I couldn't stop listening to it, even though it kept me in a strangely
wonderful mood of pleasantly morbid discomfort. Normally, I loathe this sort of music,
but this is not a celebration of nightmares, but of coping with and understanding of
them. Kurt's pleasantly melodic voice invites you in deeper where the tired pop-90's
grating and moaning vocals annoy you and push you away from sharing in the experience.
It's only been three days, and I put my headphones on to listen to it as I go to sleep.
I don't understand the synergy (familiarity with Larry Fast nonwithstanding) here, but
this album is a must have for those who want to be gently lead musically through the
extremes we must cope with in life and not be left a smoking wreckage. I wasn't an InSoc
fan four days ago. I am now."