IAMX: album reviews and ratings

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Reviews & Recommendations

	IAMX (Chris Corner)

Artist Listing:

S - Z

"Chris Corner was 15 years old when he and his friend Liam Howe started making music together. They later started Sneaker Pimps and went on to make one of the best trip-hop albums (or whatever you want to call it), namely 'Becoming X'. Their sound soon developed more and more into electronic pop, with its own flair. Now that Sneaker Pimps is on hiatus, Chris has found the time to work on his own music. He is no longer becoming X, he is X. "

-- Johan Carlsson, releasemagazine.net, 4/06

"I don't know exactly why I love almost anything that sounds like it's from 1984, since I was only 10 at the time. But it's why I had a soft spot for most electroclash and still listen to Depeche Mode and Human League regularly. I Am X (Sneaker Pimps' Chris Corner) suffers this same affliction, though, and ably takes his love affair with synth-driven pop to its logical conclusion."

-- Paul, 75orless.com, 12/04

IAMX Discography - Album / CD Reviews

2004: Kiss + Swallow
"With Becoming X, Sneaker Pimps changed the course of American pop music. Five years later, Sneaker Pimps founder Chris Corner aka I AM X embarks on a solo journey to showcase his exceptional production and songwriting talent. 'Kiss + Swallow' is really all about songs: dark, futuristic ones expressed in an electronic environment. From Kiss and Swallow, an upbeat radio anthem, to the 80’s influenced Heatwave or the end of days White Suburb Impressionism, the album swings moods flawlessly and captures the listener. This is an electro-pop masterpiece, owing as much to the contemporary electronic productions of Berlin and Detroit as to the pop of Prince or Cabaret Voltaire. Chris Corner’s voice is the unifying thread, at times similar to the howlings of Cabaret Voltaire, always with the emotional clarity of Curtis Mayfield. "

-- amazon.com

¼ 2006: The Alternative
"... alluring, super-sexy solo album from Chris Corner ( former front man of London's Sneaker Pimps ), now signed to Major Records with his solo project IAMX ( pronounced I Am X ). 'The Alternative' is a sexual, melancholy, synthetic, dark and melodic album - a mixture of Electro / Glam soundscapes and technoid dancefloor maneuvers further enhanced by frantic guitar noise and breathless, erotic vocals... For anybody seeking an appealing, electro-infused album full of real songs, masses of depth and repeat play potential, look no further than this. 'The Alternative' is an assured and unmissable album destined for future classic status. "

-- musicnonstop.co.uk

"Equal parts electro, synth-funk, rock, trip-hop, and Chris's signature vocals combine to create a truly unique sound. Standout tracks include the title track The Alternative, Nightlife, and Lulled by Numbers. The Alternative is an extremely catchy funk-rock stomper that I found I had to listen to several times in a row before continuing on to the rest of the album, mostly due to the strength of the vocals. It's definitely one of the strongest songs Chris has come out with to date. Nightlife is a thumping electro tune that would find a happy place on any dance floor. Lulled by Numbers finds Chris returning somewhat to his Sneaker Pimps roots, creating a brooding trip-hop tune laden with glitchy electronics and slow, deliberate drums. Much of the rest of the album continues in the same vein as one of these three tracks... Also worth noting are After Every Party I Die and This Will Make you Love Again, Sneaker Pimps B-Sides that were re-worked for this album, much to their benefit."

-- Dan Helvick, ipodmonday.com

¼ 2009: Kingdom of Welcome Addiction
Tracklisting: 1. Nature Of Inviting 2. Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction 3. Tear Garden 4. My Secret Friend (featuring Imogen Heap) 5. An I For An I 6. I Am Terrified 7. Think Of England (FREE Download) 8. The Stupid The Proud 9. You Can Be Happy 10. The Great Shipwreck Of Life 11. Running
"The first track Nature Of Inviting is a beautiful way to start, harking back slightly to the sultry trip-hop of The Sneaker Pimps. Pulsating drums and thoughtful electronic elements dominate whilst Chris Corner’s lyrics are soft and seductive as always. A highlight is the unusually high notes which he uses within the chorus, this is spikey electro-rock at its best. The title track Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction is haunting at its opening, fine piano and defiant synths form the backbone for the first minutes. (...) An I For An I has a rock hard mentality which is scratched heavily by sharp electronics. It’s one of the most hard-hitting tracks on the disk and it’s an un-relenting and scathing attack on humanity as it is today. I Am Terrified sways back and forth. It sees Corner’s ego attacking itself. Here he has created an anthem for himself and managed to make it sound like the least selfish thing he’s ever composed, powerful, brutal and brilliantly done. Think Of England studies the composer's love/hate relationship with his home country. As the lead single it remains true to IAMX’s alternative appeal whilst managing to be more "poppy" than most of his previous work. Drums standout here shoving the tune forward accompanied by charming piano work and soulful vocals that reflect just how the conflicting feelings about both Berlin and London still rage within the artist. Follow-up The Stupid The Proud balances enchanting acoustic melody with vitriolic lyrics attacking organised religion and how much it affects on the world every day. (...) The Great Shipwreck Of Life powers up with a militaristic beat and a sweet whisper geared to seduce and evoke. Soon this rock anthem explodes into the ear with vicious drums and cutting indie guitars. (...) ‘Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction’ is the strongest album we have heard all year, and we can’t put it any other way. It’s great stuff. If you like rock, industrial, classical, alternative or electro music, you will find something to enjoy here."

-- The Dom, spheremag.co.uk, 03/09

2010: Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (reworks)
Tracklisting: 01 Nature Of Inviting - Black Light Odyssey 02 Tear Garden - UNFALL CHOCOLATEFURWINE 03 You Can Be Happy - Combichrist 04 Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction - Aesthetic Perfection 05 The Great Shipwreck Of Life - Pull Out Kings 06 Tear Garden - UNFALL ART DECO 07 Think Of England - Miss Derringer 08 The Stupid, The Proud - Index 09 My Secret Friend - Omega Man 10 I Am Terrified - Alec Empire 11 An I For An I - UNFALL X-Mess 12 Nature Of Inviting - Terence Fixmer 13 Running - Cook/Kirby
Release date 19.03.2010

½ 2011: Volatile Times
Tracklisting: 01. I Salute You Christopher 02. Music People 03. Volatile Times 04. Fire And Whispers 05. Dance With Me 06. Bernadette 07. Ghosts Of Utopia 08. Commanded By Voices 09. Into Asylum 10. Cold Red Light 11. Oh Beautiful Town

"Sometimes there is no winning for trying. Sometimes a bar is set so ludicrously high, that no matter what an artist does it will pale as compared to what has come before. The better the work, the increasingly impossible to reach those heights again.(...) 'Volatile Times' is a markedly different album than 'Kingdom of Welcome Addiction'. Clearly representing different sides of what makes Corner tick, while the earlier album played on some of his most powerful gifts – namely his talent for bombast, for huge, anthemic, calls to action, this album goes to the darker quieter, sometimes sadder places. No less beautiful and differently powerful, we nonetheless miss the bigness of what we know IAMX is capable of. (... )In some ways, this is a quieter, more contemplative album than IAMX’s previous work, and it takes its place filling out of the Corner oeuvres. It’s an extremely solid album, dare we say, a great album. It doesn’t hold a candle to KOWA, but few albums do. Given how much Corner despairs of the state of the music business and how hard it is to be a professional musician of his ilk in this era of downloads and narrowcasting within the record companies and touring industry, we are simply grateful he continues to play the game, to give us a piece of his tortured soul when he deigns to pick up pen and paper and later synths and mics."

-- softsynth.wordpress.com, 03/11

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Recommended Links:

IAMX: official website
IAMX on myspace