Alan Vega
>> Power on to Zero Hour
After the dreary Deuce Avenue, Alan Vega returned to form with Power on to Zero Hour, which may seem a bit ironic since even more than Deuce, Power is cold, electronic, and dissonant. As futuristic as some of Vega's albums may have seemed before, this is the one that seems the most mechanical, primarily because Vega has stripped whatever human properties his music had before. Even his vocals, usually by turns manic and delicate, have a chilly, mechanical feel. Throughout the music is fuller than the spare minimalism of Suicide (or his early solo work), even though the album is a duo work from him and musician Liz Lamere, who also worked on Deuce. Here, however, the collaboration, while not as arresting as some of his other albums, is a bit more successful, mainly due to better songwriting. The hyper-kinetic "Sucker" is just one of many tracks that share a hopped-up drum and bass rhythm meshed with a catchy chorus. Vega also incorporates hip-hop rhythms; "Jungle Justice" even lifts the beat from Ice-T's "Lethal Weapon." Still, the relentlessly cold atmosphere tempers some of the musical inventiveness. Not a bad release, but not necessarily Vega's high point either.

Victor W. Valdivia : All music Guide
01 Bring in the year 2000
02 Sucker
03 Fear
04 Doomo dance
05 Automatic terror
06 Jungle justice
07 Full force of them nuclear shoes
08 Believe it
09 Cry a sea of tears
10 Quasi
Original release 1990
Back to discography
Tracklist & Credits