Richard Durand – Wide Awake
Pin It"Richard Durand is on fire!!" was my first thought, when I first heard the whole preview of his new album ‘Wide Awake‘.
Richard belongs to one of my favorite artists, and I’m still sentimentaly remembering that night, he rocked the hell out of Prague, with his ‘ISOS 8‘ party last autumn. Probably the best party I had a chance to go to. The way he enjoys the music with the crowd, is something unseen. He really makes you feel it, by every inch of your body.
And that is exactly what he did with this new album. He put his perfect whole feeling for music into it. It doesn’t matter where you are when listening – home, on a train, bus, plane, you will still completely freak out from the great music that get’s thrown at you.
I’ve heard opinions like: "Baaah, Richard has done another album… so what?" So, even I dared to be a bit sceptic about it at first, but that was before I first heared it of course. Let me tell you, these "haters" haven’t heard nothing yet! These 17 tracks will get you moving very easily. Richard shows once more, that he is one of the most talented producers out there. Heavy beats, sweet melodies, perfect voices of great vocalists. Especially the melodies, that is something that Richard does in a completely different way than others. Other artists usually bet on trebled, emotional melodies, with long break downs. Well, Richard grabs it from completely different levels. Deep melodies get mixed with great bass-links + the unstopabble kick, equals? Massive tech-tunes!!
And when I say massive, I truly mean massive! For example. "Tiger’s Apology", play it at your home, and then, imagine yourself in the crowd, in a filled club, and Richard drops this bomb, in the middle of the night. You’ll get goosebumps by just thinking about it. I had a chance to experience that live, and by that moment, I screamed with happiness like never before.
A very similiar tune is called "Real Deal", and it truly is the real deal. Tech melody gets you interested at first, then heavy beat comes through and gets you moving. And finally, altogether, you’ll loose it. There is really nothing more that I can say to this tune, because, something like this, deserves your own experience!
Like I’ve said before, Richard is one of the greatest "butchers" in today’s world. Yet, there is also his other side here. The emotional one. Intro of this new album, called "Burning Piano" is the ultimate proof, that this side also exists in Richard’s soul. No beat, piano sample of course, combined with a beautiful violin, and at the top of that, gentle drop of guitar. It’s one of the most beatiful intros I’ve ever heard. Your heartbeat completely changes when you listen to something like that, your soul gets so happy and pleased, it’s barely possible.
Also "N.Y.C.", with featured vocals of JES is a very nice tune. Interesting and sweet voice of JES mixed with deep beats, and interesting bass links makes this a great tune for party or home listening. Thumbs up for Richard on this one too.
To end this review… I would say, that Richard should be one of the TOP 10 producers in this world. This album is a really epic piece. Richard put his soul into this, and when listening, you may feel a bit strange feeling in your body. In my opinion, that is Richard telling your soul exactly what it wants to hear! :)
I’m really honoured, that I was able to hear this, as one of the first people in the world.
For more info related to Richard Durand check out the following links:
www.richarddurand.com
www.myspace.com/richarddurand
www.facebook.com/pages/Richard-Durand/31155219661
www.twitter.com/richard_durand
Reviewed by: Zdenda Břečka
