Back in 1995, I freelanced in journalism by writing music reviews of bands I was interested in for various indie publications, most notably Control-Alt-Delete. Here is one of the reviews I did for the band The Diary.
The Diary of Claude S:
After years of stateside and international success fronting Anything Box, Claude S has released Page One by the pseudonym The Diary. This is a more introspective body of work that shows the darker side of Claude’s writing, but also sheds light on music hitherto unheard of by fans of Anything Box. From the structured simplicity of ”Simpleton” to the emotional grandeur of ”Interleave,” Claude inspires and incites, with traditional instrumentation to augment his voice and machinery. While his inspirations are obvious throughout, the centerpiece of the CD, a full instrumental version of Joy Division’s ”Love Will Tear Us Apart,” makes the influence of Ian Curtis a prominent one, even though Claude’s own ”World Without Love,” is in fact, a better song. The crunchy ”Degenerate” and the piano interlude of ”Sadness” shape the sound and concept of this ground-breaking album, and the closing piece, ”Dusk” a five minute soundscape of rain, makes the perfect soundtrack for the soul, with Claude’s definition of “Alternative for the Alternative” more true than ever before. Page One is a timeless record, fulfilling the promise of Worth and leaving a legacy for Claude’s work to follow, as The Diary goes back in ”The Box.” While not so much a pop album, The Diary’s Page One harkens back to modern classics like The Cure’s Disintegration and Martin L. Gore’s Counterfeit E.P. It seems that for years Claude S has been making records to make us happy, and with Page One, he has finally made one for himself.
You can find The Diary on Facebook.
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