I've owned 'Chasing The Ghost' for well over a year now and its been in heavy rotation ever since. It's hands-down my favorite album and nothing's come remotely close to outdoing that position. Many people describe their music as erotic and I'd have to agree with them. KaRIN's voice is like a dark siren call that's seductive and distinctly alluring as her ethereal singing style caress the senses with poetic lyrics and beats laced with trance-like quality.

As much as I love their debut, 'Beneath The Skin', and their latest release, 'Some Kind Of Strange', 'Chasing The Ghost' is lifetimes ahead of them both and far less alternative. Collide's remix excursion with 'Distort' apparently set the groundwork for a more electronic-based sound that fuses guitars and drums with a dancier EBM flow that's incredibly hypnotic. Collide (a two person group: kaRIN - voice/lyrics, and Statik - "noise") may never garner the inconceivable attention and recognition they deserve but, in my eyes, they will forever remain one of the world's greatest Goth bands. The melodies are all unforgettable and they never cease to draw me in deep as they run with remarkable consistency. And while every track is beyond amazing, none other has surpassed the trip-hop of "Razor Sharp" as my all-time favorite Collide song.

This is sure going to be hard to exceed.


KaRIN And The White Rabbit Collide On The Way To Wonderland   March 23, 2006
 22 out of 22 found this review helpful

If Tim Burton remade the film 'Alice In Wonderland', 'Chasing The Ghost' would be the soundtrack. With its slow, melodic pace and electronic dissonant sound evoking a near trance-state, the listener is progressively hypnotized with each successive track moving you deeper and deeper into a dreamy, surreal world of multi-layered shadow.

KaRIN is not so much singing, but whispering to us to follow her on a journey down the rabbit hole. It has a somewhat disquieting affect, as though someone else is listening in and she doesn't want them to hear.

All -10 tracks- work well together as they seamlessly weave there way through the ever-shifting darkness. I particularily enjoyed -track 4- 'Dreamsleep', -track 5- 'White Rabbit' (great cover of the Jefferson Airplane classic) and -track 8- 'Monochrome.'

So turn out the lights and sit back and enjoy. No need to light any candles, the Cheshire Cat will arrive shortly and his glowing eyes and wide, mocking grin will provide all the illumination necessary.


like you want to believe   April 24, 2004
 13 out of 15 found this review helpful

I finally got around to buying Collide's "Chasing the Ghost". I bought their last studio album "Some Kind of Strange" several months ago and liked what I heard. I was quickly reminded of Switchblade Symphony and Curve with its sensual vocals and trip hop-influenced grooves. I had been putting off "Chasing the Ghost" for awhile because I kept finding cds that I really wanted. I finally got "Chasing the Ghost" in the mail yesterday and have been listening to the cd non-stop. I absolutely love kaRIN's sensual vocals. She reminds me of Toni Halliday of the band Curve as well as Lucia Cifarelli of KMFDM/MDFMK/Drill fame. As good as "Some Kind of Strange" is, I find myself enjoying "Chasing the Ghost" slightly more. I was rather blown away with the duo's cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". When I first listened to the song, I didn't recognize the song but I knew I had heard it before and then I looked on the back of the cd and saw it was the old Jefferson Airplane song. Collide gives a darker edge to the psychedelic classic rock song. I thought it was cool that Faith and the Muse's William Faith and Monica Richard contributes on the album for a couple of tracks. William Faith contributes his guitar playing on "White Rabbit" and "Dreamsleep" while Monica sings background vocals on "Monochrome". All those songs are great songs. kaRIN sounds incredible on all the songs. I particularly loved listening to her sing on "Razor Sharp" and "Dreamsleep", two of my personal songs on the cd. Statik does an equally great job giving the music that dark, sensual, electronic edge. Collide is truly one of the better up and coming neo-goth bands that exists today.


Good tunes, good beat, good Lord let's eat!   May 5, 2002
 12 out of 14 found this review helpful

For pure computer pop, "Chasing The Ghost" is dang sexy. As another reviewer stated, this album does have possibly the greatest CD cover ever, a less abstract spin on the Dave Mckean style.

kaRIN's (her spelling, folks) vocals are sultry, and the effects don't overwhelm the beauty of her voice. Sounds like confession and afterglow at the same time. Plus, she's singing good lyrics: "Your wings are tired / you can not get there from here / where you aspire / you can not fly there from here." Got it, take the bus.

The melodies throughout the CD are laced with Middle Eastern flavor. Statik gives the whole thing a decadent, exotic vibe. William Faith (Faith and The Muse) lends guitar on the tech-a-delic cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." If Morocco is one day populated entirely by robots, Collide's music will be their version of Mozart.

Since the songs all have a similar style (light synth drums, gently sung vocals, multiple keyboard tracks), it's hard to list standouts. For that reason, if you like one song, you'll like the rest. There's already a band called Android Lust, but Collide's music exemplifies the term. If you ARE an android, don't play "Chasing The Ghost" if you have to be up early the next morning.


Great Follow-up...   November 18, 2000
 11 out of 14 found this review helpful

I see that an earlier reviewer pretty much said everything I would have said on this review... so I'll keep this simple.

It's not Beneath the Skin. But after listening to this a few times I'm glad it's not. Collide hasn't quite reinvented themselves with this release, but have done some revamping to their sound and musical structure.

Some of the intensity is gone. I miss it but I'll live... and I still have Beneath the Skin to listen to when I need that power noise boost. CtG has a much more seductive, emotional, and exotic feel to it (especially in Halo [great sitar] and Razor Sharp [my personal fave on the album]). There are moments here that will melt you to your chair if you're as spiritual with your music as I am.

Altogether, Chasing The Ghost is yet another beautiful, 5-star album from Collide... which leads me to really question why there's still so many millions of people out there that have never heard of this incredible group.

Buy this CD now. Otherwise you're missing out on something truly spectacular.