This review covers the alternative rock track LostProphets – Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja.
This track was released in 2000 on the album The Face Sound of Progress.
The track starts off with a guitar. A second guitar joins the track. After a snare roll, the lead guitars and drum kit join the track. Some subtle scratching also makes an appearance here.
After that, the vocals come in. Both main vocals and backup vocals appear. The track then drops back a bit with the lead guitars leaving the track. By the time the lead guitars return, the track is into the main chorus.
From there, the lead guitars hit shorter notes as the vocals take the track into the next verse. The lead guitars drop out, leaving the more acoustic guitars behind.
After that, the track goes back into the main chorus. After a bit, the lead guitars hit longer notes. An instrumental section then takes over with scratching in the background. No lead guitars are present on the first part, but they join the track in the second part. A phaser effect also makes a brief appearance. The guitars then lead the track out.
For me, the most obvious standout positive is the guitars. They work very well and give this track both a nice heavy sound while at the same time, pulls back to offer a softer side of the track.
An additional positive is the scratching that was thrown in. Not a lot of artists were doing this at this point in time, so it is actually a fairly novel concept depending on what you listened to at the time. I think that if you are listening to rock mostly, this is fairly novel.
As for the vocals, I’m actually split on them here. On the one hand, they generally sound quite good. On the other hand, I understood almost non of the lyrics. So, there wound up being almost no meaning in this track as a result of that.
Overall, if you are listening to a track for an overall sound, then this is going to be a recommended track. If you are looking to derive any kind of meaning from a track, I think this track is disappointing. It’s a decent enough track, but nothing spectacular in my view.
Score
7/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
