Question: what´s the thing that comes to your mind when the last name of an artist is Random? Well, I am pretty sure we will all most likely think the same thing – this guy must be a comedian. If that was your first thought, then you are completely right.
Max Random´s Analog Man kicks off with a satire to the international infamous and beloved Japanese monster (am I the only one who finds that ironic? People loving a monster?) ¨Godzilla¨ with clever and funny lines and allusion to the story we have watched in different movies released so far. This song in some way sets the tone of the entire record where no one is save from Max´s jokes and funny lyrics from pessimists to Lesbians, the latter a (real?) story about a guy that learns the hard way what happens when you mess with them. So every music/comedy piece is great and I did find myself laughing few times, which I guess for Max that means his mission has been accomplished.
From a music perspective, I could spend a lot of time criticizing the whole thing though the more you listen through this whole record there´s no doubt this isn´t meant to be a music album in any way, so to even think about reviewing it as one would be a waste. Now, as a comedy album, it´s one of the best I´ve heard. Just like it´s moniker indicates, every song in this record is full of random content and topics with perhaps the ¨Godzilla¨ and ¨Lesbians folk song¨ maybe working as an exception. Not everything is comedy but there´s also some subtle social and political comments.
Overall, sadly he´s far from being a comedy genius to be honest – there are so many great musical comedy groups that put more effort in making not only writing funny lyrics but musical arrangements as well, something Max didn´t archived with this record. Once you read his bio there´s no doubt that´s not his intention as he even acknowledge the three and four chords progressions which is cool at first, but eventually it gets boring and sadly you don´t pay attention to nor enjoy any of the anecdotes. So my recommendation will be to work on the arrangements, add more instruments as he did in ¨Monster Hash¨ and I am sure that will really improve his set. Just look at Tenacious D for example, top-notch material. That being said, if what you are looking is to have a good time and laugh of the crazy, sometimes weird things in life: Max Random is your man and this is your album.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Michelle Lopez
