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Davide Sonar – Natural Review
Controversy is the first word that comes to mind when one speaks about Davide Sonar these days. And even though whatever we say about it will always be critisized by someone, we still feel it is our duty as independent reviewers to take a closer look at his latest release – Natural.
First of all, let me say this: I will review the release unbiased and to the best of my capabilities. I am fully aware that whatever I say about natural will spawn a shitstorm of FUCK UU SKENTREKZ ZUCKZ and LOL U SUK I LOVE TEH BRONNON HYRTS but as I said, we did not start this site just to let the most interesting review opportunities pass. What I’m trying to say is, please keep things civil in the comments, thank you.
Alright, so let us get down to the musical part of this piece of writing. Natural is a classic example of how long it takes Scantraxx to release their stuff. Annoying as that may be, it doesn’t affect the quality of the song itself of course. It is introduced by an intro with generic kicks but some fresh, crisp background sounds. Following that is a simply delicious mid-intro with a rough, tearing synth. Note that Sonar has been known for simply using VST presets in the past and I am not aware if he did that again here.
It is probably safe to say that the way the mid-intro dissolves into the break is the highlight of this song. The tearing synth slowly fades away as a beautiful string section comes up. Unfortunaly, the strings are short-lived and followed by a synth buildup section that is engineered quite well, but at 2 minutes, it’s simply too long. The way the intro and break are built up you would now expect a huge climax with a double melody line and lots of uplifting goodness. Unfortunately, after laying the foundations for a stairway to heaven in the break, Sonar decided that for the climax, a simple rope ladder would do. It certainly is not bad, in fact it is nice and quiet, it’s just that it could have been so much more. The climax really doesn’t fit the song at all. What’s more, the lead doesn’t fit the climax, as even that would have been better suited to something bigger, more epic, over-the-top nustyle.
The outro is, as usual, just some repetition from the intro and doesn’t manage to make up for the disappointment that the climax really is.
Dedication, the B-side, is a lot less enticing than Natural is. The intro and outro are nothing special and the melody doesn’t stick; a prime example of generic nustyle. The melody, even though it doesn’t particularly appeal to me, might completely hook some people though – I’m not necessarily saying it’s bad. What catches the ear most about this song is how it does not have a single one of those little things I have to discuss here that Natural has. Oh, one more thing – the main melody from Natural would have fitted into this track too. Or alternatively, the melody from Dedication could have been added to Natural at some point for even more epic and drama.
So what’s our end conclusion? Even though the part about Natural must have sounded pretty negative, I don’t actually think it’s a bad song. The intro, especially mid-intro and first 15 seconds of the break, are in fact very good. The climax is actually nice (yes, the use of the word ‘nice’ is appropriate here) when you forget about the rest of the song; it would be good as one of the first tracks in a set, leisurely setting an atmosphere. All in all Natural is inconsistant, but pretty good. Dedication on the other hand is a complete bore; the melody is pretty and easy to listen to but the track is just too much generic nustyle to take in at once. End conclusion: just check it out, because it’s a very personal thing to like these tracks or not – the melodies just have to appeal to you.
Only what question remains: what causes all this controversy surrounding Sonar’s tracks? It is one I am not able to answer – I don’t hear anything outstandingly good or bad on this release. Maybe a commenter can enlighten us…
Tracklist:
- A. Natural
- B. Dedication
I agree with your review on most of the points. Allthough I think 70 might be a bit low, especially compared to B2BW. But I think it comes more to personal taste on this release, I really like Natural. And I think Dedication is a decent track. Overall I think I would rather listen to this release, then, for an example, B2BW. But again, this comes down to personal taste. But when analysing the tracks, a score of 70 might be appropriate.
Once again, this is a very well written review. You have talent for these things.
Nice review. I agree on most points, and I also agree on the score. Natural > B2BW, imo
great review…
can't say i'm a fan of this vinyl though, after a repeated listen it's just boring…
Nice review ool!!
Very nice indeed!!
But… i do think that the score is a bit low for such a quality song.
Cheers!
heh….well…i dont think the score is that low, afterall its not the BEST vinyl out there
but yeah, nice review…UNBIASED
=D
Well written Ool, i agree with you, but the score is a bit low, i liked this one better than B2BW
i really miss the darkness of sonars tracks, Beatz 4 U, Reactor etc are tracks i remember from the start when i started listening to hardstyle. and those tracks are still 2 of my favorite tracks. Natural is plain crap to me but dedication is an “OK” track. sad he aint producing bombs anymore
the hitsong of 2009
Must be personal taste because Natural is my favourite Hardstyle song, though I can understand it not being everyones first choice
natural is one of the best hardstyle tracks