Life in the So-Called Space Age |A&M, 1998|

1. Intro, 2. Rearrange, 3. From Your Mouth, 4. Can’t Come Down, 5. Alone Again, 6. Behavior Modification, 7. The Rush Is Loud, 8. Dress Rehearsal for Reproduction, 9. Happy?, 10. Vapors, 11. Medicated to the One I Love

God Lives Underwater (GLU) is a band formed in 1993 that had tried to capitalize on the industrial rock sound as shown on their 1995 debut album titled Empty. Fast forward a few years later and the band changes its sound to create the second album, Life in the So-Called Space Age.

As just mentioned, GLU changed their sound on this release. While still maintaining some industrial aspects, the band focuses more on a trippy-techno sound. From consistent and eerie keyboard leads to unsurprising drum beats, the album consists more on the electronica elements rather than anything else. David Reilly’s vocals still match the music perfectly, but they aren’t prominent unlike GLU’s first release.

The guitars are another example of the overshadowing that the keyboards and drum beats create. Songs such as “Alone Again” and “Dress Rehearsal for Reproduction” make good use of the guitar, the latter actually distorting it into chopped up pieces. Then there are songs such as “From Your Mouth” which doesn’t even contain a guitar, but in that song’s case, it’s not exactly needed.

The trip-hop influence is found on each track, and if a track doesn’t contain something special about it (such as the guitar in “Alone Again” or the eerie keyboard lead in “From Your Mouth), then it’ll sound mashed and repetitive with the rest of the album.
Overall, the majority of the songs aren’t noteworthy by any means. Yet, it’s still an improvement for GLU and the album can’t really be compared to anything else on the market right now. (Xenerki)