Kalistani Major History

[Doc]

420 Drops "Magnum Opus" Electricity
Rock Concept Album a massive departure from anticipated fusion sound
Neveras City, Neveras
April 30, 5054


Imagery of a motherboard as a City Skyline set against a Sulari Sunset adorns 420's massive Concept Album Electricity

420's most recent album Electricity, which can only be described as a concept album, was released yesterday to critical dismay. Lawrence Simmons of The Republic called the album "dreadfully long and played out", while Doris Browne of rock blog Slash/7 called it "self-indulgent, boring, predictable and bizarre."

"Gone are the lyrics about being original or smoking good buds in the sunshine," said Vince Lourenne-Gilbert of the Canrillaise-Language Musique du Jour, "and what we find is a stupid, arrogant album that talks about aliens trapped in Terra, planets that have been blown to bits and harnessing free energy. Who even understands this nonsense? And the music: what's with all these whirls and zaps and spaceship engine sounds? While there are maybe enough good songs on this record for an EP, overall 420 and producer Mica Rawlins really missed the mark entirely and blew up on take off."

The band was not deterred. "We have released our magnum opus," said lead singer Nicholas Ross. "We compromised a lot on the Blue Album So we could sell enough records to keep us comfortable for the rest of our lives. That accomplished, we decided to make the record we always wanted to make, and the critics can go jump in the Strait." The lyrics seem to support this attitude: on the song "Jovial" the lyric says "One thing I've got to say before sales dive/Be positive and love your life."

Doggo, the famously incomprehensible bassist for the band, added "Like, you know when these dudes hang out behind their computer, and then the letters, these little white squigly things on these black keys, climb up their fingers and pull those fingers toward the computer, and suddenly, like, it has their mind, and they just read what others say, and the words become sounds, like some alien speaking from beyond the transdimensional door into the orbit of a neutron star more than six hundred thousand light years away... Its totally amazing brother." as MC Guillermo Rodriguez nodded in agreement.

Regardless of the opinions of the critics, the record, which was both previewed and released on the band's website and was published by LCR, reported sold 152.000 copies in the first ten hours, adding another gold certification to the band's impressive tally. "I bought my copy the first day, on digital download" said 420 fan Willy Pietro, of Kaliburg, "and have been listening to it pretty nonstop for about the last twelve hours, just trying to catch all the nuances and messages." Fan Michelle Jones added "Yeah, see, the key is mushrooms. If you've eaten mushrooms, like ever, the music is brilliant. It is meaningful. It is enlightening. If you don't use drugs, well, you're lame anyway and this record ain't even for you."

KRTVN seems to be split on whether to listen to the critics, or to the fans. 420 fans flooded the call in show "Week in Demand" and the video for the lead single, "MOSFET" which is a kind of transistor common in radios went to number 3 on the countdown this week. Meanwhile, the record still hasn't charted on the Modern Rock Albums chart. "F--k the naysayers," said Ross. "Like we said, they don't mean a thing. This is the style we're bringing now. And we've got nothing but love from the fans so far."

The controversial album itself is evidence that the shine is off the poppunk boom. Even stalwarts like 420 miss some times, and as the sound matures and artists become more experimental, the audience for the sound will become more selective. But generally speaking, the Dana poppunk sound which has dominated Kalistani airwaves and record sales for the last half a decade remains in full swing, with associated bands still outselling non-associated bands by a factor of 2:1.

In related News, the long rumored GanJam sponsored by the various labels in the Kalistani Recorded Music Industry took a step forward today, as a development committee was named, to determine the feasability and profitability of a new festival.

You can check out the entire album Electricity here on the band's website.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3uxlgUn6iA]