I sitting here in my living room listening to Rob Dougans first album titled, Furious Angels and Im wondering why exactly this wasnt released in the U.S. sooner.  Dougan's music is exactly what the music industry needs todaysomething with a little pizzazz.  The industry needs to back off the NSync and go with some more obscure bands because frankly, theres a lot of good stuff out there thats original and totally amazing. 

            For those who might not know, Australian native, Rob Dougan is the guy who fashioned that awesome song in the towards middle of The Matrix; you know the part when Morpheus and Neo are walking down a street and Neo catches eyes with the lady in the red dress.  Yeah, that song.  He was listed on The Matrix soundtrack as Rob D.  For years I was never able to find out who the heck Rob D. was, then one fateful afternoon, his debut album popped right into my lap.  I did some research on the album and found out that it had been released in the U.K well over a year ago. 

            Rob Dougan is a masterful composer.  He combines chorus with techno and orchestral music.  He even lends his own deep voice for several of the tracks.  Furious Angels is easily one of the most hypnotic and original pieces or work Ive heard in recent years.  Like I said, some may have heard his songs from various commercials and films (he has also been featured in Matrix Reloaded and Driven) before and may find that this album feels more like a greatest hits CD rather than a new and fresh CD.  I guess Time Warner is to blame for not bringing his album out in the United States sooner, but I actually thank them for it.  The original U.K release featured only 14 songs and was one disc.  This album features 15 tracks on the first CD and a bonus CD chuck full of instrumental versions of ten of the albums more prominent tracks.  Both discs are truly wonderful and worth every penny. 

            If thats not enough, track 11, Speed Me Towards Death, will sell you.  This track is really the culmination of everything I mentioned above.  I wish they would have used this song for the latest Bond film as it would have worked far better than Madonnas trashy Die Another Day song.  How tragic.  Besides the obvious hits, Furious Angels (track 1) and Clubbed to Death (track 6), other honorable mentions are: track 5, Im Not Driving Anymore and track 3, Will You Follow Me.  These are both wonderful tracks and worth listening to over and over.

            I guess my only complaint is that even though the second disc features ten tracks, two of them are exactly the same as on the first disc.  It would have been great to see The Matrix Reloadeds Chateau included on the second disc or some of Dougans remixes.  Either way, this is a fine deal for the price of one CD. 

            Another oddity is Dougans mildly apparent religious theme.  Furious Angels and You Left Me For Dead are just two of the tracks that seem to have a message beyond the typical, Why did my girlfriend leave me? theme contained in most of todays albums.  In these tracks, he seems to be either yelling at Christ or at the people Christ died for, but after several listenings, I still cannot figure out what Dougans motives are.  He has made them so ambiguous that its very hard to tell.  Perhaps thats exactly what he was going for though.  If not, then he needs to improve his overall message in the next album.

            As for extras, the disc also features two music videos.  One for Furious Angels and one for Clubbed to Death.  These videos were obviously made before this album was widely released and they are; well, very corny at times.  Dougan should stay out of his videos as much as humanly possible.  He looks awkward and uncomfortable and the camera is right on him the whole time.  Very embarrassing.

            I cant wait to see what Dougan does next.  His first CD hasnt been a commercial hit yet, but I think its defiantly an album that will gain street credit fast.  Being a rather major composer on the Matrix Trilogy helps too.  If his CD isnt noticed, Im sure his tracks on those CDs will be.  Rating A.

Pros:  It features great tracks that were hard to find up until now.  The CD is full of original music for people who love techno and orchestral mixes.  It is also very expansive, stretched out over two discs for a total of 25 songs and two music videos!  A very good value.

Cons: The enhanced stuff is sort of embarrassing for Dougan as an actor and his deep bass vocals can be irritating from time to time.  Dougans religious message is covered up with confusing lyrics that seem to point to something, but simply arent clear enough.