Reviews by Kevin Seibert
melody
melody was the first record ever released by joy electric. as more and more joy electric albums were released, each one had a diffrent trait that made them more distinguisgable from the many others. melody's defining characteristic is that nearly all of the 18 now classic songs are love ballads.also, the beeps and gurgles of ronnie martin's synthesizer are brought more to the front on this record rather than having the electronic noises hide behind the keyboard tune as is the case on the other albums. melody has more of a happy sound than many other joy e cds. the standout tracks are drum machine joy,the girl from rosewood lane, and candy cane carriage. ronnie's work on melody should be an example for all who wish to write great pop songs to follow.
five stars for failure
five stars for failure was the ep that followed the release of melody. among the seven other songs included are two remixes of drum machine joy and a remixof sorcery and the girl from rosewood lane. included with the remixes are three new songs: keep him in your thoughts,courage, and five stars for failure. the overall sound of this particular cd is a lot darker than melody. drum machine joy (the woods are haunted mix) has ghostly keyboard melodies floating through it. sorcery sounds as dark as it's title implies it would. the track does an excellent job of conveying the depression that are conveyed in the lyrics. although sorcery and courage are the best songs, every song that appears on five stars... is musical poetry at it's best.
we are the music makers
of all the joy electric cds, this one is the most unique. the entire record has a medieval theme. this is the disc that ronnie picked up the identity of count ronald martin for. there weren't any of joy electric's typical happy songs appearing on this record. all of the songs are dark and haunting. as was the case with the two previous cds, the songs were all poetic, but the defining charchteristic of this record was that all the songs were made from scratch on the synthesizers by count ronald himself. from music makers onward, every joy electric album has had this quality. the best song on we are the music makers is without a doubt, burgundy years.
old wive's tales
the theme of this ep is that of fairy tales, hence the title old wive's tales. this is the cd that features the fan favorite, the cobbler. everything about this album is good. it even includes remixes of burgundy years, i beam, you beam, and candy cane carriage. probable the best songs are the cobbler, and it feels like old times.
robot rock
somewhere between old wive's tales and robot rock, ronnie martin totally changed the image he wanted for joy electric. he went from "count ronnie" to "ronnie the punk". he ditched the gothic themes and long intros, middle sections, and conclusions to his songs. the result is songs like taking over, robot beat, and forever is a place. the synth work is incredible and the songs on this cd are more easily dancible than any previously released joy electrc cd. and robot rock is the album that arguably the most popular joy electric song appeared on: monosynth. the best two songs are monosyth and sugar rush.
land of misfits
shortly after robot rock's release, land of misfits ep was released. land of misfits could also be reffered to as themonosynth single, because that's essentialy what it is. there are only five songs: monosynth, a remix of the cobbler, remixes of i'm your boy from robot rock and sugar rush, and the never before released ballad, the north sea. the theme is of this album is drum and bass. sugar rush and i'm your boy are both put to drum and bass beats. the cobbler is a house remix of the version that appeared on old wive's tales. the north sea is a sad, yet relaxing song and after the two drum and bass tracks it is a nice change in the sound. land of misfits ep dosen't get repetitive at all; all the songs are easily distinguished from each other. the best song is definitely the north sea.
children of the Lord maxi-single
children of the Lord, released early in 1999, features the songs children of the Lord (album version), a cover of mxpx's i'm ok, you're ok, a cover of keith green's make my life a prayer, and a remix of children of the Lord. children of the Lord is one of the best joy e songs of all time, ranking up there with classics like drum machine joy, sorcery, and monosynth. this song and i'm ok, you're ok is a must listen to for any mxpx fan. make my life aprayer is more relaxing and slower than the two previous "punk" tracks and pays the tribute due to keith green. and of course, the remix of children of the Lord just plain rocks.
Christian songs
the nameof this cd should say it all. anyone who ever thought that just because songs were Christian they automaticly sucked, should listen to this cd. the songs completly rock and this is joy electric's best material to date. songs that would normally be my favorite on any cd other than Christian songs are my least favorite. not that i dislike these songs either, it's just the record is that well done. the songs don't run together at all. disco for a ride is probably one of my favorite tracks, and it has a kind of dark sound to it. birds will sing forever is another personal favorite, with it's slow tempo and sad theme. and the magic of is the ultimate joy e fantasy song ranking with fan favorites like the cobbler, and sorcery. every other song on this cd should be a big hit with fans. this is without a doubt the best joy electric cd yet.
