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Pictures | 
 enlarge | Artist: Timo Maas
Label: Wea
Category: Music
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £3.87
You Save: £12.12 (76%)
New (34) Used (7) from £2.28
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 21626
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 825646242924
EAN: 0825646242924
ASIN: B0009R34IO
Release Date: June 20, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Shipping from New York, USA which takes 7 days
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| Tracks:
| • | Slip In Electric Kid | | • | Pictures | | • | First Day | | • | High Drama | | • | Enter My World | | • | 4 Ur Ears | | • | Release | | • | Big Chevy | | • | Devil Feel | | • | Burn Out | | • | Like Siamese | | • | Havent We Met Before |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Pictures is the second artist album from Timo Maas; his debut Loud was a combination of techno and big beat with enough drunken party tunes to give Fatboy Slim a run for his money. Here though, Maas is trying for something a bit different with more emphasis on song structure and arrangements than big hooks. Placebo's Brian Molko lends vocals to the title track and lead single, "First Day"--the former a deadpan delivery over a very tense, new wave tune made dancey, the latter a catchy radio-friendly piece more akin to "Shifter" from the first album but without the funk. One of the best things about Pictures is that it gets better and better as the album progresses. The aforementioned tunes are good but not special when compared to the spooky and sonically masterful "High Drama" featuring Neneh Cherry or the progressive epic "4 UR Ears" with long-time collaborator Kelis. Maas' confidence for composing clever, melodic lines that weave in and out of each other has grown immeasurably for this second album (demonstrated perfectly by "Devil Feel", another indie-dance crossover more in-line with the Chemical Brothers) but the orchestration of synths gives it an edge and more importantly a unique, definitive sound for Maas. If you're after pure dancefloor killers then you'd be better getting one of his Music for the Maases remix compilations but if you want something more substantial that's great for listening, Pictures is the perfect album. --David Trueman
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| Customer Reviews:
Pictures of September 28, 2005
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Timo Maas took a long time to craft "Pictures," the follow-up to his debut "Look" -- apparently, it took two years. A mix'n'match of catchy big beats and ominous electrofunk, this sounds a lot like an intense party going on in a haunted house.
That sound starts off in the second song, which is also the title track. Brian Molko of Placebo takes over most of the vocals, and intones ominously how he won't touch or hurt the subject "unless you ask me to." Man, it's creepy. "Now take off your clothes/I wanna take pictures of you/I wanna capture you... in digital..."
After making your skin crawl with that one, Timo Maas opts for some straightforward dance tracks, full of expansive flourishes and wild big beats. After such a sinister opener, they sound rather lightweight; they're not, but that's the first impression I got. It takes awhile for the darker vibe to gradually return, in the uplifting bubbling of "Enter My World."
Then this album shifts into the hip-hop vibe, and it's not a change for the better. Things are okay when it's just Kelis murmuring above a dancey guitar melody, but then we reach the raw synth, Latin guitar and distorted rap of "Release." The latter should have been left off; the lack of dimension doesn't suit Timo Maas's sound at all.
Fortunately, Mass then shifts back to the dark synth, explosive beats and rapid pace that he does best of all. Some of them are gritty, some are epic, and some are ethereal. But all of them are vaguely ominous, and Molko's eerily dispassionate singing is even better than it was in the early songs of this album.
Fortunately, that dark sound is what dominates this album, and what keeps it from being just another album you can shake it to. Despite some disappointing remix albums, the German technomaster proves that he still has it; the creepy soundscapes, vocals, and eerie sputters and electronic beeps -- in some songs, it sounds like lightning frying a computer.
This isn't a perfect album by any stretch; the hip-hop sounds contrived, and there are spots of filler material. Yet Timo Maas's "Pictures" is a darkly atmospheric album that takes awhile to sink it, but is worth it.
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