Here's an example of the quality of their sound:
Here's another:
I am not kidding any of you when I say that this band has obscene musical talent in terms of instrumental prowess and lyrical genius. I would show you a song that showcases just how epic these albums are, but that could only be appreciated if you listen to the albums in their entirety. These albums are ROCK OPERAS and should be treated as such, meaning that you should start at the beginning, and listen all the way through for the best effect.
I IMPLORE all of you to give their music a listen, and if you don't, you are doing yourselves a HORRIBLE disservice. Furthermore, if you call yourself a fan of Megaman and do not at least give The Protomen a chance, you are not a fan of Megaman at all in my eyes. I'm not saying you have to like it, I'm just saying you should do yourself a favor and open your eyes to the brilliance that is their music. The Protomen are so good in fact, that I am going so far as to consider their story canon for the entire series. To add to that, I'm actually going to go out and buy the physical copy of their albums even though I already downloaded their music, for the simple reason that they deserve every bit of my hard earned money.
If there were a scale from 1 to 10 that would illustrate the level of importance it is to listen to this music, it would be an automatic 10 for Megaman fans, and around an 8 for anyone else who has any interest in operas, plays, 80's esque music, or music in general. If you listened to the two sample songs I gave you, I'm sure you've realized that you can appreciate the music even if the theme is not in your particular tastes. Truth be told, their second album, Act II, doesn't require any back story whatsoever to understand, and could be treated as an original rock opera in and of itself, regardless of where it's inspirational themes are drawn from. Just listen to me when I say that I don't want to seem like I'm forcing them upon you, I merely want you to be as happy as I was when I heard these guys for the first time.
I know that people are usually hesitant to pick up on things that others are drastically enthusiastic about, I get that, I'm one of those people. A friend will come up to me and recommend a particular band/movie/book and ask me to give it a chance - I usually listen/watch/read , but the initial push they give me tends to be lacking in enough force to get me out of my cushion of laziness to go out and actually take their advice. Most of you know me well enough to know that if I go out of my way to make a post like this, it means I'm really passionate about something, and I wouldn't just be doing this for no reason. I hope my extreme bias isn't enough to deter you from investing some time in The Protomen.
What's more is that The Protomen are downright hilarious.
They are quoted as saying this about themselves:
The band does not break character for interviews, so the Protomen's own descriptions of their history are delivered with the dramatic flair of their storyline concept. According to members Murphy and Panther, the band met by accident in "the middle of the state of volunteers" and "delivered the fury from (their) instruments and an army was discovered."[5]
The band also maintains that they spend their days in a compound called the Thundercon "high atop a green hill overlooking the desolate undertakings of an unrelenting new pop-country shit-storm." Within the Thundercon, the walls are transcribed with the sacred tome which they are meant to spread to the masses.
As far as I'm concerned, these guys are made of pringles and gold.
If you do decide to heed my word, then I would highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend that you go to any lyric website, pull up the lyrics to each individual song, and read along as you listen. The albums were produced with back story that isn't actually sung during the songs, but those bits of story are present in the lyrics, and if you don't read along, you may miss some things and end up confused.
If you've come this far, why not check out their website as well? I swear these guys exhibit a level of passion that is borderline ludicrous.
P.S.
Start with their album: Act II: The Father of Death
And now, allow me to bombard you all with reviews to show you that I'm not crazy:
http://www.wingdamage.com/music-review-protomen-act-ii-the-father-of-death/
"The lyrics are lovingly-rendered poetry, balanced precipitously *just* over the top, without verging into melodrama. The singing varies the full range between sorrowful whispers (growl, in Dr. Light's case) and full-on hair-metal screaming ala Act 1, but at no point ceases to bring a smile of awed joy to my face."
"So there you have it. If Act 1 was a child-savant's nihilistic Megaman-oriented hair-metal seizure, Act 2 is a Bearded Man's Megaman-oriented whiskey-tinged lament; it's more experienced, it's more professional, it's all around a better album.
(This is the part where you buy it.) "
"The Protomen's sophomore entry into their Megaman-inspired Rock Opera is somewhat misleading in its title. Act II: The Father of Death is in fact Act 0-- a prequel to the story told in their self-titled first album, which is destined to be spoken of as Act I from here on out. But closer examination shows the truth in the title: rather than a forward evolution of the story told in Act I, Act II is the evolution of the band itself, and in that department it's a quantum leap.
Pretense aside, just about everything in Act II is a staggering improvement over Act I. The musicianship, writing, storytelling and the raw emotion poured into it exceeds their first effort, which in and of itself was of a far better quality than a video game rock opera has any right to be. Central to this seems to be the musical philosophy of the group itself. In comparison to other VG inspired groups like the Minibosses, Powerglove of the NESkimos, the Protomen do not bind themselves to the music of the games. Not that this would normally be a bad thing; the Megaman series has some of the best VG music this side of Sonic and Castlevania. In Act I, they instead took to sprinkling their songs with accents from the source material-- most notably in the track "The Will of One"--, using it sparingly in concert with their stellar original work to remind the listener just what they're hearing. In Act II, though, a more confident band eschews this approach, and in fact were it not for the supplemental material provided with the album's notes along with the knowledge of their fanbase, it would be easy for Act II to stand alone as a rock opera without its ties to the Megaman franchise.
And originality is key to the success of Act II. Act I could be seen as an amalagam of the first three Megaman games, detailing the creation of Protoman and Megaman, the latter's fight against Albert Wily's machine army that controls the world and the fateful confrontation of Megaman and his brainwashed and disillusioned brother. It's a stretch, but Act II goes even further: it's the story of Megaman's creator, Thomas Light-- how he sought to remake a kinder, brighter world than the harsh one he grew up in that took such a toll on his father, and how tragedy and deceit destroys that vision and replaces it with the oppressive, megalomaniacal rule of Dr. Wily. And what is most surprising is that it basically works on every level. The character of Dr. Light, with his deep, gravelly voice, is a tragic figure as he sees the future he envisioned slipping away. In contrast, Dr. Wily acts with Mephistophelesian cunning, drawing in his partner and conspiring to turn his dream into his own dystopic wonderland. Yet even he isn't without humanity: in "The Hounds", as he watches as his old friend is hunted by the police after Wily frames him for the death of his beloved Emily, he pauses to consider the outcome: "If there was a time/if there was a chance/to undo things I've done/and wash these bloodstains from my hands/it's past and been forgotten."
The character dynamics carry the album; many of the songs function as conversations or arguments between two or more characters. The most interesting of these is in "The Good Doctor", where Dr. Wily tempts Dr. Light into using his machines not just to better society, but to elevate the two of them to being the new gods of the world: "We've spent our whole lives searching for a way to make a better world/Giving everything to them, asking nothing in return/Well here it is, a chance to take back everything we've earned." The relationship between the two of them is surprisingly compelling, even more so given that their source material are a pair of quite literally two dimensional characters.
Act I was about what it means to be a hero, but in Act II, the two protagonists struggle with the trials of just being human. Dr. Light is wracked with guilt and regret for how his actions not only upset the world and the one person he wished to save, seen best in title track, "The Father of Death": "What have I done?/Though I did not pull the trigger, I built the gun that he holds in his hand." In the second half of the album, the street punk Joe is introduced, who finds himself set against the stagnation and fear that has overtaken the city under Wily. His song, "Breaking Out" was released as a demo, and is one of the musical and emotional cores of Act II: "We're given only what we need/only the chance to survive/And even then it's a coin toss/a roll of the dice." The Protomen took a leap of faith in approaching this much more universal theme, and manage to strike a home run on all fronts.
Musically too, Act II shows progress. Going back to the pretensious nonsense at the beginning, if Act I was Tommy, then Act II is Quadrophenia. What's most impressive is the variety of styles that they exhibit. Act I was largely a work of melodic metal, especially in "The Will of One" and "Sons of Fate." But Act II shows much more freedom and experimentation. "The Father of Death" is an acoustic spanish guitar ballad punctuated by Morricone-esque horn stings, which is immediately followed by "The Hounds", which has a driving drum, horn and guitar line sounding like a sinister Stray Cats. And the centerpiece of the entire album, "Breaking Out", strikes a chord of anthemic Americana brought about by thumping Springsteen piano rythym and singer Raul Panther's deep throated Boss voice. Those three alone justify the purchase of the album.
Act II isn't faultless though. Largest among them is that without the notes provided by the CD booklet, the story as told by the songs has some holes in it. The reason for this is that there are three songs without lyrics-- "Intermission", "How the World Fell Under Darkness" and "The Fall"-- that signify important progress in the story, but which can't be properly relayed simply through musical motif. That alone is reason to pick up the album over simply downloading the MP3s, although the story can also be found online for the curious. The other glaring problem is that of the singer codenamed "the Gambler" who voices the character of Emily Stanton. While the voices for Light, Wily and Joe are sung all out with full emotion, her lyrics seem lifeless and fall flat, which is a shame since she is present both in "The Father of Death" and the concluding track, "Here Comes the Arm." They aren't so bad as to torpedo said songs, but she is the weakest part of the album.
Those are fairly insignificant faults in an otherwise incredible performance. It's likely that some critics will ask why the band insist on adhering to this source material, implying that it's somehow holding them back from real achievement. But it's easy to see from Act II that this is story that the Protomen are deeply invested in, and even from Act I have made it very much their own."
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