Inclusion in different forms of media is old hat for the Crystal
Method, a band that is no stranger to corporations bent on
“hippifying” their products. Overall, the Crystal
Method’s new CD, The Legion of Boom, seems to be more
like a three-step business blueprint about how to write marketable
music.
- Janna Hutz
Step 1 — Stick with what you know. Several of the songs on
Legion of Boom sound exactly like their first CD,
Vegas. A good move, if the aim is to sell music for
commercials, as nearly all of the songs from Vegas were
included in car ads. “Broken Glass” has a stolen melody
from their old classic “Trip Like I Do,” and
“Weapons of Mass Distortion” is completely lifted from
the Splinter Cell soundtrack.
Step 2 — Recruit guitar “genius” Wes
Borland.
Step 3 — Make covert references to products before the
tracks are sold. A sample from the song “The American
Way” was initially perplexing, for the subject of the title
was never specified. Repeated listens reveal that the Crystal
Method likely included this song as bait for an American car
company to swallow.
Making a marketable CD is not entirely a bad thing. Indeed, for
most electronic acts, this is the only viable option for financial
success. However, this album fits so well with videogames like
“Splinter Cell” because it is so melodramatic,
seemingly made for people who say that they live their lives
“one second at a time,” or who tell people that they
wear suits to conceal their silenced pistols or some ridiculous
tripe like that. While the Crystal Method still produce danceable,
rhythmic music, this CD still sounds like they are remixing their
own catalog to cash in.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.