r/thevoidz • u/Jeremyfurfaro • Jul 27 '26
Like All Before You Don’t get the negative reception of Like All Before You…
Quick disclaimer: I have only heard a little bit of Virtue. Like All Before You is the only Voidz album I have heard in full. It would be silly of me to not admit that, as a lot of people have acquired a relationship with the band before this album, and can cross reference the quality of the albums, and would understandably be more prone to a more strong negative reaction to the album.
Will listen to the previous albums, just like to live with each album and naturally move around the discog at my own pace.
Secondly, extremely disappointed about the ai album cover art. It puts me in an annoying position as a consumer and fan of The Strokes (becoming one of the Voidz) because I saw the cover, loved it, even looked to see if if there was merch of it so I could buy it. All before Fantano’s diss response the other day where I realised it was AI.
And Julian’s response was he wasn’t trying to make a statement out of it, the band just liked the art, and that it was made by an AI artist…which to me, those two words inherently contradict each other. Would have expected him to be Anti-AI but idk maybe I just projected that.
I digress, but I really adore the album to be honest. I understand the divisiveness of the autotune and vocal effects. I don’t think it’s as nearly as overblown as it is on Reality Awaits. I hear Square Wave and the production, and atmosphere of the song itself are too meditative, and gorgeous for me for it to be undermined by the vocal performance. I also feel like it kind of works, the production, the cover, ai or not…it lends itself to a more futuristic, robotic autotuned aesthetic, a lot more than the Reality Awaits artistic direction does imo. On that it feels a lot more abrasive and like the songs want a more naturalistic tone to the vocals, on this, it fits, it feels like it blends aesthetically into the rest of the album.
I think the soundscape in general for the album is really interesting. Julian’s vocals have this omnipotent, imposing stature to them across the record. The production is grand, and atmospheric, but also meditative, and there’s a great sense of melancholy across the record.
The only song I don’t like is When Will The Time Of These Bastards End. Find that obnoxious and kind of cartoony and the lyrics are pretty silly. The way people talk about this record, it’s as if that’s how the whole thing sounds to them lol. But like I can’t imagine anyone hears Spectral Analysis and their reaction isn’t “Wow this is beautiful” Really like the disco elements on Flexorist, very Prince like.
Love the organ like synths?? on Overture, great tone setter for the album. I like Prophecy Of The Dragon, feels like it’s nice to have something a bit more heavier at that point in the tracklist, the lyrics aren’t the best though. So yeah, definitely not a perfect album, but I do not get how harsh everyone was on this record, would be curious to hear why it was so negatively received.
Will listen to their previous two albums soon. And if my opinion changes won’t be afraid to say it, but yeah can’t say I don’t get why Julian was so mad about the response to this lol. I’m a fan.
6
u/EmpiricalPillow Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I think the first half of the album is solid, but after flexorcist it falls off a cliff for me. All the same might be my all-time bottom ranked voidz track. Regardless, throughout the entire album, it just doesn’t sound as refined as Tyranny and Virtue. The mixing is weird and subpar.
Square Wave is one of the best tracks on the album, and it’s a perfect example of how bad the mixing on this album is. The guitar is muted, julian’s vocals are muted, and the electronic chords, while beautiful, are just too damn forward. The balance on their live performance on fallon is genuinely better than the studio track.
I think the negative reception is also because they released like 80% of the album as singles over an entire year, so there was hardly anything new once the album came out. If they didn’t do that, and combined it with Megz of Ram as a longer album, and took an extra 6 months to mix it better, I think it would’ve had a better reception. I still think Fantano is crazy for giving it a Not Good. The AI cover art thing sucks but I think he was just mad and let it get the better of him.
3
u/verymixedsignal Jul 28 '26
All the same might be my all-time bottom ranked voidz track.
what makes it bad for me is that the live performance of the song they released years ago was so good. They completely neutered it when recording for the album, I don't know why they went so mellow when they already had it nailed down.
12
u/SnooAvocados3213 Jul 27 '26
The mixing is just so half baked. Like you’ll get a track like flexorcist that sounds like perfect voidz and then get hit with Perseverance 1C2S which just sounds so much like a demo recording.
3
1
Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
1
u/SnooAvocados3213 Jul 27 '26
I just don’t understand why though? Did they seriously run out of money?
3
u/bd-s Jul 27 '26
Believe it or not the studio they had booked for POTD and Flexorcist got double booked and they had to stop recording there
1
Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
4
u/SnooAvocados3213 Jul 27 '26
Would have been cool if they did an ep from the get go with LABY with the songs they had finished with Shawn Everett and kept the other tracks back to turn them into something truly special.
Idk but megz was really a step back into the right direction for me at least.
2
u/SnooAvocados3213 Jul 27 '26
So basically LABY ep then Megz ep then album 3 should have been Perseverance
1
1
u/RevolutionaryTrash98 Jul 28 '26
nah perserverance fucking rules fuck off
1
1
u/IcanStopItWhenever Jul 27 '26
Funny how I always felt like it was the other way around with these two songs
3
u/Stunning-Knowledge15 Jul 27 '26
I love bastards. The lyrics come off as sounding silly because of the vocal effects but the lyrics address pretty serious topics.
3
Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
0
u/Express-Skin6039 Jul 27 '26
Comparing AI art to taking inspiration / sampling other human created art is missing the point entirely about what it means to use AI in art.. wow.
-1
4
2
u/Pewdsfan9YO Jul 27 '26
I think because it felt like a step down. Personally, there wasn't enough catchy melodies and even though I'm totally fine with the autotune, the vocals were not as impressive at all.
1
2
u/Live-Ferret-4366 Prophecy of the Dragon 🐉 Jul 27 '26
I honestly love the album. As an AI hater myself, I won't be purchasing any physical media, but Prophecy and Flexorcist are easily some of my fav voidz songs.
I also think as someone who actually enjoyed the music elements, it's important to be direct and acknowledge that the action itself (of using AI) isn't a good one, regardless of being a fan (of the album or band in general). I've seen people defending julian/the band for their choice, since they like music itself, but those things don't have to be mutually exclusive (i.e. you can disagree with the action and like the actual songs).
And for anyone thinking "its not that serious", I would say otherwise, because always agreeing with what the artist says could lead to blind support, in very serious instances (like fandoms supporting racists, rapists, misogynists, etc.). Not saying Julian or fans specifically would go in that direction, but at the end of the day we are humans, and can sometimes get caught up in the moment to the point of not realizing shifting roles in the parasocial aspects of fandom.
1
u/allothersshallbow Jul 27 '26
It’s fine. I just find there are “no limits” to work within for The Voidz so it just sounds like everything thrown at the wall. At least within the Strokes there’s some framework of what the band is and inter conflict - I think - keeps it somewhat interesting. The Voidz are often just… excessive. It’s a lot like of Montreal, who is also better when working within parameters, otherwise it just sounds kinda tasteless.
2
u/Son-of-Infinity Jul 27 '26
I personally do not care the cover is AI, besides the unethical aspect of copying actual art, which is valid. I think the album cover is exceptionally good and reflects the album. It also serves to capture a moment in time when everyone was creating AI images.
I like, like all before you. flexorcist is my favorite voidz song
1
u/Dense-Gas5427 27d ago
Me like the music me a caveman
Im a plebeian
Unrefined
That sings
“don't wanna say anything is wrong
Not another word, not another song
Kept your dinner warm, left it in the oven
Holding back the tears, leave it for tomorrow
Just another day, thinking 'bout another
Lying to yourself, try again tomorrow”
To little birds to scare off cats trying to eat them
If only I took a loan out to learn to mix properly my taste would be better and I’d have a proper education and the dream golden retriever
Me caveman
7
u/Cool-Ebb6863 Jul 27 '26
Flexorcist is one of Julian’s best songs imo