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[Chesire Cat]

Well I just got this last night and am on my second listen through and I must say, while its not a bad stand-alone album, I was expecting a little more spastic quirkyness of the last album.  But I do recommend you check it out.  So what are your thoughts on it?[/code]

[Thrillho]

I only know the new single.

Three things became obvious to me.

1. Karen O is a joke. Especially in that haircut.

2. The drummer and the guitarist are ridiculously hot. I'd go there. Hell yes I would.

3. The song is fucking awesome.

[TrueNeutral]

I just picked it up. Not what I expected, but I liked it. They realized pretty much everyone liked Maps more than their other, blatant-wall-of-sound songs  on Fever To Tell and decided to make more melodic music.

Melikey. On first listen, Honeybear is probably my favourite song on the album other than the single.

I also like Deja Vu. I'm not sure if everyone's got that, though. Apparently it's a bonus track or something?

[Gryff]

I want this album so hard!

Gold Lion is rad.

[Rubby]

I haven’t listened to it yet. But I did download it. Ha, that’s right, I downloaded it!

[supatyouKERI]

I've been meaning to pick it up.
Haven't really had the time yet. I do like the single though.

[JLM]

I've listened to it a few times.  

Meh.

While it's not bad...I think it's overproduced.  The band works best with a more raw sound.  Even on the more "melodic" tracks on Fever to Tell it still felt gritty and unpolished, and I think that's missing this time around.  

Another band successfully neutered by their own success.

[TrueNeutral]

What do you mean it feels overproduced? I'm not feelin' it.

Also, does anyone else think Deja Vu belongs in a spy movie?

[sjbrot]

By "overproduced", he means "produced", in as much as the first album could have been one live take and has lots of fuzz. I met one guy who tried to convince me that that was the reason why Nirvana's first album was their best. I wasn't buying it.

[JLM]

Thank you for putting words in my mouth.

I was also the guy who said that about Bleach.   Even though I live in a different country than you and have never been remotely close to your neck of the woods.  That was me.

Nevertheless, I may have misrepresented myself.  What I meant when I said "overproduced" was "overthought," a case of too many cooks when the band seems to work best with simplicity.  Notwithstanding perceptions of sub-par production values on the first album, one of the things that I enjoyed about it was the ability to generate a bigger sound from basically two instruments and a vocalist.  Here it feels like there's all sorts of other crap being tossed in.  Sometimes it's working, sometimes it isn't.  On the whole, to me, it's a lackluster second effort.

[Chesire Cat]

The first album was alot more fun to listen to.  And was alot more individual.  If it was recorded live then I very much want to see the YYYs live.  

Now to talk about their NEW album, and not to whip it out over their old one.  I am really liking Cheated Hearts, I think its their stand out track for this album.  Its got enough of the quirky with a large spoonful of the melodic.

There are plenty of forgetable tracks but thats forgivable, Honeybear and the Sweets as well as their first single Gold Lion are also pretty solid.

Now there are tracks like Phenomena which has a chorus sounding almost like a cover of LL Cool J's song of the same name but I think thats a little more coincidence then anything and I would have liked it if it was either a full on cover, or completely different.  The fact that is similar enough to draw a line but doesnt really follow up really hurts the song and my idea of the band as a whole.

I havent had enough listens to really break it down adn get a good grip on every song but my general impression is its got a little bit of the Sophmore Slump going on.  Fever to Tell had a slew of high energy songs with a peppering of melodic.  For their second album it seems they have dropped the energy, added more melody.  This seems about an album or two too soon for them, as many of their fans(me) really liked the rawness of the first album, and are looking for something thats a little more similiar in a followup.  I dont deny the progression of Show Your Bones, I do question the timing.  It would make a great 3rd album but makes for a lackluster second.

[Houdinimachine]

I fell asleep halfway through the new album. I'm so disappointed I may not go to their concert this month that I already bought the ticket for. There's nothing near as catchy as some of the off the wall shit from the first album.

[NosLycn]

I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and hope that I can somehow nab a ticket for their sold out concert in Toronto.  As for the new album, I find it is best to throw the two albums together and shuffle them.  Either that or make a mixtape of Y Control, Gold Lion, Tick, Black Tongue, Turn Into, Phenomena, and whatever else you like by them.  See how that lineup kinda works?  Adjust according to how you throw in the other songs, but you generally want to make them run together smoothly as possible and I'd recommend keeping Maps off there.  Maps is a great single, but all in all it is my least favourite of them all.

The new album definitely seems marked to more mainstream listeners.  They might actually get a song on Canadian radio stations if they keep that up (shudders at the thought of radio stations).

I Like the new Album.  However, Fever to Tell is definitely more my speed.

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

I listened to it for the first time today, and after reading the reviews I thought it be more subdued than it is. It would rash to base my opinion of the album from one listen, but I feel their "camp fire moments" are a bit dull. It is by no means a bad album though and still they know how to rock

[NosLycn]

It is by no means a bad album though and still they know how to rock Smile

True.  It is by no means a "bad" album, per se.  But, it is slower and more in line with what people (in the mainstream) will buy.  It is also more in-line with radio music fashion.  I believe they made the album for the sole purpose of letting Karen's voice have a bit of a break.  After all, we don't want her to get vocal nodes.  Those things suck.

[Gryff]

I believe they made the album for the sole purpose of letting Karen's voice have a bit of a break.

I believe that that is a dumb reason to make a record. If she needed a break, she could, like, stop singing for a while. They wouldn't compromomise what they're doing for the sake of giving Karen a temporary break.

How about: they wanted to try something a bit different after doing an album and a half of wild 'n' crazy stuff?

[Chesire Cat]

How about: they wanted to try something a bit different after doing an album and a half of wild 'n' crazy stuff?

They didn't do something different.  They just capitalised on the least expressive aspect of what the first albums was.  And as such, what most people loved them for.  Its still at the top of my play list atm though.

[NosLycn]

I believe they made the album for the sole purpose of letting Karen's voice have a bit of a break.

This was a joke.  I know it is a silly reason to release an album.  Still, vocal nodes are nasty.

They didn't do something different. They just capitalised on the least expressive aspect of what the first albums was. And as such, what most people loved them for.

Quite correct, this statement.  It is a way of getting into the pseudo-mainstream from their spot on the back burner.  Think of all the places Maps has played, like The Jimmy Kimmel Show.  It is obviously something that a larger audience would have heard first and identified with.  Some people maybe even bought the album for that one song (or downloaded that one song).  If they release an album that more people enjoy, even though it was completely nothing like most of the rest of their songs, they will have more record sales and performances.  It is a simple marketing strategy.  Quite frankly, I respect them for it.  I just hope they switch back to their better music again, after having achieved a larger audience.

[Chesire Cat]

Click the Suicide Girls banner (an amused WTF for that one) add up top there, and read the interview with Karen O.  There wasn't a huge issue with her lack of fame and money and whatnot.  The interview left a feeling of her being completly awed by the level of success they achieved.  

They didn't make this album to pander to a larger audience, they made it because its what they wanted to write.  But it does feel over-produced, and that is something that their fame got them, a 4thmember of the band(or you know, a producer)  sitting behind the control booth adding shit that doesn't add too the sound.

I am not holding the album against the band personally, I just lament the fact that this album wasn't what I, and likely many like me, wanted in a new YYYs album.  I suppose what I wanted was Fever to Tell: 2, what we got was Show Your Bones.

[Rubby]

This seems about an album or two too soon for them, as many of their fands(me) really liked the rawness of the first album, and are looking for something thats a little more similiar in a followup.  I dont deny the progression of Show Your Bones, I do question the timing.  It would make a great 3rd album but makes for a lackluster second.

So you’re saying that music is only good within the proper context? So, say, The Beatles were all still alive today and put out Abbey Road just two weeks ago. Due to the fact that the album no longer holds any historic or cultural relevance it no longer contains good music? That's a little strange.
(Feel free to replace Abbey Road with some older album you like, that was just the first one I saw when I turned my head.)

edit. Please don’t think I'm comparing the two albums. I haven’t even listened to Show Your Bones. I was merely questioning your method of judgment.

[Chesire Cat]

Well you definately missed the point there, but as to what you said.  Taking music out of context severly hurts its 'greatness' that elusive aspect that turns a good album into a great one.  If Nevermind came out tomorrow it wouldn't make as big of a shadow as it did when it did come out.  Sure it'll still be a solid album full of great songs, but it wouldn't make history tomorrow, but it sure as hell did in '92.

Now as to what I said, I think what I am getting at is a band should really grow with its fans.  They should still try to challenge their fans but I dont think we as a fanbase are wanting what they gave us.  I am having a bit of difficulty articulating what I am tryng to get across, but here goes.  On the first album Maps might have been the best song on the album, but it wasnt the song that made the band special to us.  It was the rawness and energy the first one conveyed, and the greater part of us want more of that.  After two albums of it though, we(I) will begin to tire of it, and start looking to the more rhythmic songs and hope for more of them in the future.

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

It sounds like you thinking of them as if it was almost a different band, it is still Yeah Yeah Yeahs just in a different way. Personally the thought of Fever to Tell II doesn't appeal to me, I don't want more of same, I want them to evolve. Which they have in my opinion, and while I don't necessarily like all the innovations(camp fire moments), I wouldn't want them to rehash old territory. Granted I am not that big a fan and I haven't made my mind up about the new album. But to complain about it not sounding exactly like Fever to Tell is just silly.

[Gryff]

On the first album Maps might have been the best song on the album, but it wasnt the song that made the band special to us.

Speak for yourself, pally.

[Chesire Cat]

... Are you saying it wasn't the best song on the album, or it was the song that made it special to you?  Because they are two very different things.

And Praeserpium Machinarum, dont disagree with me on principle.  Its cute and nice to say you want a band to evolve but the YYYs seemed to just drop an aspect of themselves more than evolve.  I didn't want the same Fever to Tell rehashed I wanted the sequal, drawing on all the different aspects of it and refining it into something new a better.

And to the rest of you, instead of  saying why I am wrong, say why you are right.  And if you didn't really like them then, and dont really like the new album.  Why give your opinion at all?

[Gryff]

'Maps' was the song (or at least one of the songs) that made me like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs so much. I dug 'Bang' and their other wilder stuff as well, but 'Maps'… man, so good.

Anyway, I don't think the issue is whether the band should evolve/did evolve/evolved in the wrong way/whatever. It's about whether they made a good record or not. I still haven't heard it, so I'll reserve judgement, but it seems like some of you just don't like this album as much as Fever To Tell - which is fine.

If taking music out of context affected its quality, then surely those of us listening to music made 30-40 years ago would not be that impressed by it, because the times they have a' changed. To use your example, if Nirvana released Nevermind now, it would not be received the same way as it was in the nineties, but the music would still be as good. Good music is good music no matter what its context.

To say, "It would make a great 3rd album but makes for a lackluster second," says more about you as a listener than the band. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have no obligation to please their fans, and they don't strike me as a band who would change their sound for a shot at mainstream success, so it's fair to assume that they made Show Your Bones because they wanted to.

You have every right to criticise the album, it just doesn't seem like you're criticising it for the right things.

[JLM]

No obligation to please their fans?  Wow.  And you really believe that?

While it's true that they're not REQUIRED to make an album that sounds better than moose drool on shag carpets, it's generally a good idea for them to do it anyways, lest people become disenchanted and stop buying their albums, going to shows, etc. (and no, I'm not saying that's what the album sounds like.  It's not terrible, just kind of bland compared to their earlier work).

"Knowing Your Audience" is the key tenet of any type of artist/writer/performer.  If you ignore or alienate your audience, you may as well just keep everything hidden in a diary or sketchbook under your bed or go back to playing the basement shows at Vinnie's down the street.

EDIT: and let's not play the semantics game over the word "obligated."  No one by the utmost literal definition, is obligated to do anything except breathe, eat and die.

[Gryff]

I don't know about you, but I would prefer artists to create work because they are inspired to, not because they are trying to please an audience.

Maybe that's just me.

[JLM]

Inspiration is a red herring to the discussion, because no work would be created without it.

[NosLycn]

It's not too late for them!  They can still be the best band of all time.  You know how hard it is for a band to inspire me to buy a ticket to see their show (from a scalper even) or (which is even worse) to buy even ONE of their albums?  This band has something, and if they do things right, they will be the best band in the world.

They just need to find a way to recover from Show Your Bones.

[GMM]

Is it wrong that I think Karen O is hot?

[Thrillho]

Is it wrong that I think Karen O is hot?

Loads of other people do, so I guess not.

Personally, I think she's bootfaced and her new bowlcut is horrible.

[NosLycn]

Nothing wrong.  Everyone is allowed to have their own preferences.  Personally, I find her most attactive when I fall asleep with the music on.

[Gryff]

Personally, I think she's bootfaced and her new bowlcut is horrible.

Figures. This is from someone who's "hot music chicks" list includes Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Lyndsey Lohan, and Mariah friggin Carey.

[Rubby]

Hey, Avril is hot. I don’t care what anyone has to say about it. In fact, my plans to make it big in the music business are not for the fame a fortune, but for the chance to have hot make outs with Avril.

[Gryff]

Yeah, Avril is hot… if you are turned on by 14 year old skeletons wearing drag queen makeup, leather wrist bands, and ties over their t-shirts.

[Rubby]

Um...your face!

[Chesire Cat]

Avril is hot, that is all.

[GMM]

Avril is hot, that is all.

The Chesire Cat has spoken, and so it shall be.

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

FREAKS!

About Show Your Bones, Deja Vu is totally the best track hands down

[TrueNeutral]

I think both Karen O and Avril are hot.

Avril has that scowl that makes her 100% do-able.

[Thrillho]

Personally, I think she's bootfaced and her new bowlcut is horrible.

Figures. This is from someone who's "hot music chicks" list includes Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Lyndsey Lohan, and Mariah friggin Carey.

Oh please. Karen O has been pallid and ugly from the start.

Same goes for the Arcade Fire's drummer. She's so porcine it hurts.

[NosLycn]

Deja Vu?  Oh!  Right.  UK.

[Thrillho]

Fact: If an Avril Lavigne or Karen Orzolek lookalike came here and posted in the (dead) picture thread, there'd be tons of fapping comments.
Deny it if you can.

What the hell is 'fapping?'

[Thrillho]

'Fap' is the sound of jerking off.
'Fapping' is the action.
A 'fapping comment' would be something along the lines of 'HOLY SHIT DAMN YOU'RE HOT DATE ME FAPFAPFAPFAP'.

I'd not do so for either. This is the internet. For one thing, they could easily be fake pictures.

Especially not a Karen-O-a-like.

[NosLycn]

Only 2 more days until the Toronto concert.  Any suggestions?

[JLM]

I don't really understand what you mean by "suggestions."  

Suggestions for what?  How to get tickets?  Whether or not to go?  It's been a few years since I've been to Toronto so I don't know what scalping etiquette is like up there.  But if you're hell bent on going and the show is sold out, that seems to be your only option.

[NosLycn]

No.  Just general suggestions like "don't eat yellow snow".

I already got a ticket.  As I don't believe in going to a concert with other people when I am the only person I know personally who likes this band, I don't need multiple tickets.

But yeah, don't eat yellow snow.

[spukeesan]

I just picked up this album after a terribly drawn-out war between my aversion to the 'trendy' and my love for Karen O's orgasmy twang.  

Hell it's different - a lot different from what I'd expected.  I picked up their self-titled EP about 4 years ago after chancing a listen to Art Star while flipping through radio stations (god knows that was a lucky fluke).  This'll be the first time I've ever actually gotten to hear a band progress, and it's an incredible experience.  You get an idea of what a band is, then they go and completely destroy your expectations.  I have to admit: I wasn't a fan of Gold Lion when I heard the single a few months ago...

It works though.  I can't believe for a second that this album was made without the intent to capitalize on Maps' popularity, however in my opinion the YYY's were always more of a showcase for Karen O's incredibly unique voice - and it's no different here.  If anything Show Your Bones displays a range previously unexplored in the screams and squeals that peppered Fever to Tell.  

Honestly it's a little refreshing. I'm sure just about everyone remembers the Addidas advert featuring Karen O's softer side, and I was craving a little more of that.  Now we've got a chill album, and a reason to see where the band goes from here.  I don't doubt we'll hear more random tracks in the future that harken back to the older sound - 'Countdown' off the Maps single, and the awsome cover of 'Mr. Your On Fire Mr.' were excelent, and the YYY's have shown a sincere devotion to keeping their fans satiated with a good number of new tracks between releases.  I'm not disappointed with this release in the slightest, and god knows I more than half-expected to be.

[NosLycn]

If you are going to a concert, remember these rules.  Oh, by the way, the concert behind the album is much better than the album itself.  They managed to make Show Your Bones sound like Fever to Tell, live.  And, the drummer knocked over half his drum kit during Date with a Night.  Anyway, I make these suggestions to you people out there thinking of going to this concert:

1 - They're more popular than when they started.  Expect a different audience.
2 - Give the opening band a chance.  They're actually good.
3 - Don't wear clothes that can be easily removed.  If you are female, make sure you wear pants and a belt (a sensible belt that actually holds the pants on).  Poor girl kept having her underwear snapped.
4 - If you're short (5' or less) show up about 6 hours early, walk through the doors first and chain yourself to the rail at the front of the stage.
5 - Wear steel-toed boots.  Mine came in very handy.
6 - If you don't like being pushed, shoved, or trampled, stand in the back.
7 - Karen O has somehow managed to make a sex idol of herself.  There will be a lot of drooling men competing and attempting to get her attention.  They will push you and try to get to the front.  Kick them in the groin with your steel-toed boots.
8 - Don't dress warmly, but don't dress for the beach.  T-shirt and Jeans is enough.
9 - If you care about something, leave it at home.  Don't take your dog.  Don't take your father.  If your father insists on escorting you, don't go.  It isn't worth the thrashing he'll give you later when he is shoved back 40 feet and you are shoved ahead 20 feet.  Don't take a camera unless you can deathgrip it and it has shock absorbers.
10 - If you don't like the band, don't go.  If you don't like Show Your Bones, remember that it is different live and there is a different energy to it live.  But, if you do go, wear sound absorbing earplugs.

[Garcin]

Excellent advice all.  I think I may have to invest in some steel toed boots (and some of those concert ear plugs that reduce the noise to non-permanent hearing damage levels).  

Not much to add to that:  like most of y'all I liked Show Your Bones but not as much as Fever to Tell.  Given that capsule review I'm now really looking forward to the concert.  Looks like I'm going to the 5/2 show at Roseland in NYC.