Rave Age by Vitalic was my first introduction to the electronic producer and at the time was one of more favorite electronic albums. But that was the only album I heard from him, I had no idea if that’s how all his work sounded or just that particular one. That was a while back now and I hadn’t really given it too much more thought but when I saw he was dropping another album in Voyager, it was my chance to get a good second opinion about the producer.
I think after giving Voyager a listen, I have an even less clear image of just who Vitalic is as an artist. Rave Age was loud, fever pitched electronic music with unrelenting thumping rhythm that really stood out to me from the rest of the crowd. Voyager is decidedly more dialed down than that album, and while that isn’t a bad thing in itself, I do think it now has a more generic sound than before. There are few notable moments with songs like “Levitation” and “Use It or Lose It” but all in all the whole affair is only mild. A far cry from his previous album, and “Sweet Cigarette” and “Don’t Leave Me Now” are awful.
“If you can’t feel it, you don’t need it
They call it faith, I call it hate
It might be real, but I don’t believe it
Am I depressed? Is it to late?”
The majority of the album is without vocals of any kind and honestly the whole album would’ve benefited from none at all. The few times he does employ guest vocals, they turn out to be meaningless, empty facades. I don’t know why he chose to move away from the fever pitch of Rave Age, but it was a bad choice.
Have you heard Voyager? What’d you think about it? Was it a step in the wrong direction? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your rating for the album.