Song of the Day 22: 'Urban Science' by Outspoken

It's day two of this Song of the Day series so as I follow Met's track list, the next one to be reviewed is Urban Science. What Met had said in his prologue gives people a general idea of what to expect, but I'll give my opinion on it as well as the details here.

The first eight seconds starts out very simple, where the song starts out with snapping. From about 0:09 to about 0:15, more is added such as clapping and slapping noises. Lower sounds are added at about 0:16, and altogether it's a pretty decent percussion section (without actual percussion instruments). However sometimes the beat that it produces sounds a little bit off, like when more sounds are added at 0:08 for instance. At 0:24 even more sounds are added which make the entire thing seem rather catchy. At 0:33 another thing is added in there; some very quick notes that try to create more to the rhythm for which the song is playing. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to match up very well with the beat, but it's close. At 0:48 everything cuts off, leading to a transition at 0:51. I really don't think that was a very good way to transition to the next section; it would have been better if there was at least something there instead of complete silence. At 0:52 a steady snapping is the beat which is by itself until 0:56. Here, there's bass that produces a melody. The bass could have been just a little bit louder, but generally it's fine since there was nothing else to really back it up other than the snapping. Speaking of which, this section seems empty. At 1:21 there's more clapping to help add to the beat. At 1:30 the beat is lightened a little bit. There really isn't much to this section, and it kind of irks me. At 1:40 there is somewhat of a harmony created by the bass, although I would say that the harmony sounds a little too low in pitch. At 1:53 the song steps it up a little bit by having the melody get higher and pitch as well as crescendo. The harmony at 2:01 is pretty nice; it really adds more despite the fact that it's still very simple. At 2:15 the melody continues, and more sounds from the beginning are playing once again. At 2:24 some synth is added which really creates more atmosphere in the song. That then takes over the melody, with the bass as a backup. However at 2:40 that sound ends up dropping, and it's just the beat and the bass again. At 2:47 it becomes a bass solo. Altogether it's pretty simple, but at 2:54 it the bass does this really good slide up in pitch. Oh, and the beat comes back at 2:56 also. That slide comes back at 3:03 and 3:10 as well. At 3:12 the bass goes back into a solo, and pretty much repeats itself from back when it played at 2:47. The beat comes back at 3:20, and it becomes what it was back at 1:21. It does have some differences though, such as the combination of the solos the bass would play and the main melody being played. The slides are there also, which make the song sound much cooler. More is added at 3:36, where more of a higher pitched melody is put in and played. There is a much more unique melody here and it doesn't repeat itself as often as the bass, which repeats itself frequently. The harmonies for the melody with the bass didn't sound all that good though; it basically sounded like a mesh of sounds that didn't really work. The high melody drops all the way at 4:24, leaving the bass and beat again. Fortunately, the bass melody is slightly different here. The beat lessens once again at 4:49, leaving only the snaps left to play with the bass. At 5:04 the entire beat is gone by then, and it's just the bass that finishes the song.

Pros: There was a really unique percussion section, with its variety of sounds. The bass also did a good job of playing the melody role, and the occasional synth that came in really put a lot into the song. The bass slides during the solos at 2:47 and 3:12 were pretty cool also.

Cons: This song was a little too simple. Sometimes the sounds at the very beginning didn't quite match up with the beat. The bass was quiet when it first came in, and the transition at 0:48 could use a lot of work. There was a huge lack of instrumentation here, and altogether it was rather empty.

Overall: The song could have gone much better. There were some good things about it, but it does need some work with filling in those gaps.

Rating: 6.9/10