All images courtesy of TATY Press Portal and t.A.T.u’s official Pinger.
Bad vocals and uninspired beats make up most of Waste Management, the long awaited third English album from Russian faux-lesbian duo t.A.T.u .
When Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova burst into the electropop scene in 2002, they caused much controversy with their hit single “All The Things She Said”, showing both girls kissing in their music video.
Lena Katina (sporting red hair) came to Singapore during the MTV Asia Awards 2004. The feisty girl even told the cheering crowd “Silence, please!” when she was giving her speech on stage. Unfortunately, Yulia was “sick” (but later confirmed to be pregnant) at that point of time and couldn’t be there.
Oops, lesbian-cover blown.
Remember that edgy pair in their other hit single “All About Us” that showed tough fighting, a shoot out and both of them singing forcefully? Forget those girls now. They’ve gone soft with weak vocals in most of their tracks.
Okay, English may not be their first language but the least they could do was to put more strength into their vocals instead of concentrating on the pronunciation. Their 14-track album was nothing but one long bad dance party with brief glimmers of hope.
The Hits
Their second track, “You and I”, had slightly stronger vocals and a catchier hook than the rest of the songs. “You and I” (also known as Finding t.A.T.u) was also part of the soundtrack for the movie of the same title, starring the girls themselves as well as Mischa Barton.
The saving grace of the album was definitely the Russian song “Marsianskie Glaza (Martian Eyes)”. Maybe, because it was sung in their native tongue, the girls seemed much more at ease with this number and they could focus on their vocal quality instead of the language. It was definitely a nice break from the terrible beats of the previous songs with soothing guitar riffs. It reminded me a little of Nelly Furtado’s “All Good Things (Come To An End)”.
“Fly on the Wall” was also another great track, with a good hook minus the boring rhythm overpowering the girls voices. Without a doubt, this number proved itself to be a danceable song.
There are also 3 bonus tracks: the remixed versions of “White Robe”, “Don’t Regret” and “Running Blind”. The first 2 sounded infinitely better in Russian and the remaining track had a foot-tapping beat that would be suitable for the dance floor.
The Misses
The album got off to a bad start with “White Robe” as their first track with their monotonous vocals and boring bass beats. The lyrics make no logical sense but they make a load of lyrical sense. It would’ve made a better poem than a song.
Subsequent tracks “Sparks”, “Snowfalls“ and “Little People” headed down a slippery slope to the trance/techno genre that will remind you of being in a club playing bad music. Ditto to “Running Blind”.
“Don’t Regret” was mostly forgettable and tired and almost devoid of a note-worthy chorus.
And then, out of nowhere comes “Waste Management”, which was a tad strange as most people would expect an instrumental piece to kick start the album. The record suddenly takes a tribal turn with the track “Time of the Moon”, but the instrumental was let down by the girls’ vocals and blasé tone.
The Verdict
Even if you’re t.A.T.u’s number 1 fan, I would strongly suggest you get the original Russian version of this album Vesyolye Ulybiki (translated as Happy Smiles). The girls don’t seem to be able to catch the beat of their own songs singing in English.
Title: Waste Management
Artiste: t.A.T.u
Language: Russian and English
Record Label: Coqueiro Verde Records
Release Date: Dec 15
Track list:
1. ”White Robe” – 3:14
2. “You and I” – 3:14
3. “Sparks” – 3:09
4. “Snowfalls” – 3:16
5.”Marsianskie Glaza” – 3:09
6. “Little People” – 3:28
7, “Waste Management” – 2:05
8. “Running Blind” – 3:40
9.”Fly on the Wall” – 3:57
10.”Time of the Moon” – 3:24
11.”Don’t Regret” – 3:09
Bonus Tracks:
12. “Beliy Plaschik” (Fly Dream Remix)” – 5:32
13. “Running Blind (Transformer Remix)” – 3:53
14. “Ne Zhaley (Sniper Remix)” – 4:58
9 Comments at "Chuck Waste Management into the Bin"
Fly on the wall, Running blind, White Robe and You and I are all amazing tracks.
All in all, it’s a solid album.
4-/5.
this article is too negative, i really think that the new vocals are way better than in the previous albums. a russian-english voices ♥. and some lyrics are just perfect (Don’t Regret 4example)
I also thought this review was really negative… I agree at some points (Yulia’s vocals are weak in songs like Time of the Moon and Sparks — she sounds bored and even sick) but, overrall, I think it was a bit exagerated. Lena sings quite well (Little People is great and Snowfalls too, they’re so inovative) and the beats are unique. Fly on the Wall — are ytou joking, it rocks!!!
Hardly a decent critique of the album. The album in the Transcendent version is a far stronger affair than Veselye Ulybki. The little instrumentals that tie each track together work very well and give this album a freshness not found on VU. I think this is review is mighty biased… and please, get over the whole lesbian thing. To keep raking it up in 2009 is boring and comparing everything they do to what they did back in 2002 is mightily unfair.
wow i love these delusional fans. you want to hear what really amazing songs sound like when sung by this pair? listen to dvesti po vstrechnoi… their FIRST album (an emotional tour de force that got them recognized internationally before ‘all the things she said’ was even in development because the MUSIC was so effing good – you couldn’t even download or watch Russian music videos internationally -without serious headaches- in 2002). this new “album” is merely a collection of poorly thought out compositions with no development tied together by non-sensical vignettes designed to draw our attention away from their insipid lyrics and tired, strenuous lyrics
Yeah, this album consists some weak vocals and instrumentals, but it’s nice music overall
those gulz r amazing, these album contained lotz of great songs, YOU AND I, FLY ON THE WALL, DON’T REGRET, but when it comes to their Russian songs, we don’t get it, wish if they can translate all their Russian songs to English, so we can enjoy it, coz when you read the translation its really cool, after all they sing great lyrics.
I can’t say it’s the best album I’ve ever heard, and I’m not even a fan, but the reality about Waste Management is far from this description. Very, very far.
The person who wrote the article hasn’t even listened to the album. There are too many things in the review that don’t connect, thus proving her lack of knowledge, but I’ll only give one example:
She says “the remixed versions of “White Robe”, “Don’t Regret” and “Running Blind”. The first 2 sounded infinitely better in Russian”
The truth is that:
-the “White robe” remix IS in Russian already!
-and guess what?! The “Don’t Regret” remix is in Russian, as well! Wow, how unexpected!
If she had listened to one single word of those tracks, she wouldn’t have written that. Do you get paid per word, sweetie?
She probably just listened to the first three seconds of each song and formed an opinion. Very objective, what can I say? (note my sarcasm)
She should get fired for not checking the information. I’m not kidding. Giving false/unchecked information (especially when you do this for a living and get paid for it) is as bad as fraud.
I think what she means is White Robe and Don’t Regret being sung in english for the original version.
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