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Mew - A Triumph For Man CD (album) cover

A TRIUMPH FOR MAN

Mew

 

Crossover Prog

3.04 | 17 ratings

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Time Signature
3 stars This album is more of a 90s alt-rock effort than a progressive rock album, yet, it is very interesting. Unlike Mew later more symphonic releases, 'A Triumph for Man' (ATfM) is quite minimalistic, containing noise rock elements and obviously inspired by acts such as The Pixies.

This being said, the album is not at all devoid of progressive elements and it seems like Mew does aspire to appear as some sort of art rock act. For instance, the relatively simple opener "Wheels Over Me" includes a French horn and "radiowave noise" as part of the instrumentation and the complex drum pattern is both at odds and evens with the simplicity of the rest of the song. "Now Shadow Kick", while a typical 90s alt-rock song, is sung in an Asian language rather than in English, and the chorus - the catchy part - of the similarly Asian themed "I Should Have Been a Tsin Tai (For You)" is in an 10/8 meter. ATfM also contains, as the odd man out, a symphonic version of "She Came Home From Christmas" with a string ensemble and piano in addition to the typical rock instrumentation. There are also quirky elements on ATfM such as the fillers "Pink Monster", the bridge in "Panda",

While not progressive as such, the album is characterized by occasional use of unusual chord progression and guitar chords that were atypical in rock music at the time. ATfM may not appeal as much to progheads as to people with interest in melancholic alt-rock, but the inklings of prog certainly are there, and personally I enjoy listening to ATfM.

Time Signature | 3/5 |

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