Stephen's CD: Add N To X's "On the Wires of Our Nerves"

At, or near, the heart of my having accumulated too many possessions over the years is my desire for completion. I will admit to owning some things that are perhaps "sub-par" or "not quite up to muster," primarily because they belong to a greater collection of things. This is mostly bad, but it can be good for the sake of providing context.

Such is the case with my small (three CDs) collection of Add N to X albums. Here, I shall review them in order, as I recently listened to them. Upon listening to the first of the discs, I thought to myself "Why do I have this aimless thing?" but by the third CD, I knew precisely why: analog genius, revealed over time.

I am fairly certain I purchased this CD sometime in high school on the basis of the cover alone, although I am sure the track listing probably helped. Clearly, an album with song titles like "Gentle Germans," "The Black Regent," "Planet Munich" and "King Wasp" can't be all bad. And it isn't. However, I should say that, rather than really liking this CD, I more so appreciate it. Almost every song has a great intro and often, a great first minute or so, full of thick synths, burbling, beeping and zooming away, much of it backed by solid non-programmed drums. After that, though, the whole thing just bogs down. Either the song merely repeats itself over and over, or the changes are entirely based on some typically aimless noises. Perhaps this is all intentional, and the members of Add N to X are in some monochrome pub, drinking opaque fluids from filthy and tarnished devices, laughing about how annoyed they made me. And yet, I have kept the CD and bought two more from the same band...

Grade: C+ (the + is because there are just so many lovely analog keyboards happening and because the cover features Ann Shenton having a lovely Moog Rogue being inserted into her womb)

Shall I keep it? Yes. (See album cover, above) Stephen_, StephenCD_