Words fail me when it comes to William Control’s new album and music video. For once it’s not a good thing.
The Album
Although not a total loss, Noir is a pretty big disappointment. Many of the songs lyrics feel hockey and forced and the music is less unique than Hate Culture. Over all it has a gimmicky feel, as if he’s forcing the music to fit a stereotype. Some of the songs sound more like noise than music and a couple of them make me question why I bother listening at all.
“Why Dance With The Devil When You Have Me?” stands out as probably the most annoying song. It doesn’t sound remotely like anything I’d expect to be on a William Control CD. And the rap towards the end just makes it worse.
But not every song is a total waste. The one that beautifully stands out as a reason to get Noir would be the title track, “Noir.” It’s a ballad of metaphoric lyrics beautifully accompanied by piano. The lyrics are magnificent and are a shining example of what William could do. The question is, why didn’t he do it with the rest of the album?
When “Noir” ends, it’s seamlessly goes into the next track, “Epilogue.” The beginning of this song is the piano from “Noir” played in reverse accompanied by the sound of rain. Than the epilogue starts, which is in fact the epilogue of the 2004 film, The Libertine. Fans will note that the track “Prologue” on Hate Culture is also taken from this movie. This adds a sense of connection between the albums and is a fitting end to the CD. Or would be were it not for the annoying hidden song at the end of it.
Overall I expected much, much more from the album. I know William can do better. I just hope that if he makes a third album, that he learns from this and makes the music we know he can make.
The Album
Although not a total loss, Noir is a pretty big disappointment. Many of the songs lyrics feel hockey and forced and the music is less unique than Hate Culture. Over all it has a gimmicky feel, as if he’s forcing the music to fit a stereotype. Some of the songs sound more like noise than music and a couple of them make me question why I bother listening at all.
“Why Dance With The Devil When You Have Me?” stands out as probably the most annoying song. It doesn’t sound remotely like anything I’d expect to be on a William Control CD. And the rap towards the end just makes it worse.
But not every song is a total waste. The one that beautifully stands out as a reason to get Noir would be the title track, “Noir.” It’s a ballad of metaphoric lyrics beautifully accompanied by piano. The lyrics are magnificent and are a shining example of what William could do. The question is, why didn’t he do it with the rest of the album?
When “Noir” ends, it’s seamlessly goes into the next track, “Epilogue.” The beginning of this song is the piano from “Noir” played in reverse accompanied by the sound of rain. Than the epilogue starts, which is in fact the epilogue of the 2004 film, The Libertine. Fans will note that the track “Prologue” on Hate Culture is also taken from this movie. This adds a sense of connection between the albums and is a fitting end to the CD. Or would be were it not for the annoying hidden song at the end of it.
Overall I expected much, much more from the album. I know William can do better. I just hope that if he makes a third album, that he learns from this and makes the music we know he can make.
The Music Video: “I’m Only Human Sometimes”
Where to begin? This left me speechless, but not in a good way. There were so many things that felt wrong about it.
First the story of the video was pretty predictable. I’ve never watched a music video with a story and was able to predict it. And using the whole drugged, having some organ stolen, waking up in a bathtub with a note to dial 911 is cliché and not in anyway original.
Second, William is married and making out and appearing to have sex with 2 different women in the video made me feel like I watching him cheat on his wife. It was uncomfortable.
Third it was a little too explicit. As the founder/admin of a fan site dedicated to him I know he has younger fans. I don’t think this video sends any of the right messages.
Overall the video felt like porn. It was not entertaining and left me feeling disgusted. I’m pretty sure this could have been done differently in a way that doesn’t give me a negative view of my favorite artist. I don’t think I’ll be watching it again anytime soon.
In the whole, I feel like I’ve been let down by a friend. With William Control being my favorite musician, I feel somewhat embarrassed to admit so, because of the poor quality of the album and especially because of the artist. I feel torn over this in such a strong way that I am even considering taking a short leave from running the site to think over everything. I will be back; I can’t lie Hate Culture is still one of my favorite albums.
I second what you said about the video. I hate to sound dramatic but it left me kind of sick to my stomach, and I lost a little respect for him. It didn't feel right, it was messed up (even for William Control!) I liked the album, (Dorian Gray being one of my favs-I think that's the one Liza Graves from Civet (<3 her!)did vocs for (the chorus) but it wasn't as good as Hate Culture. And the video def was over the top. He needs to calm down. Honestly, if I were his wife, I'd beat the hell outa him if I saw it-and trust me, he would definitely NOT enjoy it.
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