THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: TheoristB on 15 Feb 2007, 23:38
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It leaked, I know some of you have heard it. What are your thoughts so far.
I just finished my first complete listen. I think it is good, not amazing, but good. There are definetly a few really really good tracks, then some tracks that I am iffy on. I fully expect this album to grow on me. It is definetly not something that i feel will grab you on the first listen.
As far as Johnny Marr and his guitar playing... it weirds me out. I love it, but am not used to him and and Isac Broch playing together yet. There are a few songs where you can really tell who is playing what part and it weirds me out. Other songs everythign really blends together well. All in all I think Marr's playing is a nice addition to modest mouse.
I need to listen to the album again before I can really generate and opinion on it.
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I've listened to it 3 or 4 times now, and so far I think it is pretty mediocre, at best, but mostly not that good at all. There a couple of good songs, but the best ones mostly just got wiped out by overproduction and fucking horrendous background vocals. It's gotten better on repeated listens, but still it's very much a :/ kind of album.
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I've got a good idea but PLEASE SAY WHAT YOU ARE FUCKING TALKING ABOUT THANK YOU
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i second khar
fucking indie kids...just kidding
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Modest Mouse's next record.
I've not found it yet, so I don't know how good it is. I really like Dashboard, but am still hesitant about the rest of the album because I have not liked Johnny Marr's previous work. Who knows? Maybe this will make me like him.
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I got all confused with the title of this thread and Chin Up Chin Up's "We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers". Dammit.
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I'm definitely waiting for reviews and to hear a few tracks before I spend hard earned money on this one. I'm pretty worried about it being terrible. In my head I somehow imagined it would have a guitar freakout or two where Marr and Brock kick ass side by side ala Television or even some Sleater-Kinney tracks...
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If you are expecting that, you will be disappointed. Sorely.
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What's with all the "sinking ships" analogies I've been seeing in music lately?
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:cry:
Do not ever talk to me about this. Ever.
If I ever mention Modest Mouse, pretend this album doesn't exist.
By the way, I haven't actually heard ANY of the material from it yet, but people I used to know are saying 'OH IT IS GREAT!' so I guess it must be pretty bad.
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It's really not bad at all, it's probably better than "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" which also wasn't bad at all. Still it's dissapointing to note that niether of these albums come close to "The Moon & Antarctica" or even "Lonesome Crowded West."
Marr's guitar playing is pretty good I thought, though i'll agree with whoever said that it's pretty damn weird.
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I like how you say 'or even' before 'lonesome crowded west', as if it was somehow inferior to TM&A.
I'm still not going to listen to it, Kieffer and the Greg make it sound like I'll be REALLY disapointed.
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Dashboard was interesting for a bit, you can (Or I can at least.) recognize Johnny's guitar playing on the track. I haven't heard the album yet, hell, I didn't know it leaked, even though I was trying to find a leak of it yesterday. Maybe I wasn't looking on the right torrent sites, or maybe I just didn't really want to try hard enough in the first place. Johnny and Kieffer really aren't giving out many positive statements on the album, and I trust their opinions (to an extent), so, I guess I'm waiting for a review as well.
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Isaac Brock's voice makes me want to poke sharp objects through my eardrums
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It's alright, it's not my favorite thing I've ever listened to, but it's definitely not in the bottom 10.
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I haven't really given it a fair listen yet, but so far I'll say it's good. I haven't been wowed or anything, but I certainly don't think it's bad music.
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Only listened to it once, and based on that, I'd say I prefer it to Good News.... Nothing on the two albums previous to that though. I can't compare it to early Modest Mouse, as I haven't heard enough of that. It's not all that great, but it's not bad by any stretch either.
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On my second listen and so far I am enjoying it more than my first time through. I don't think it is one of their best albums at all, but i rather enjoy it. It is definetly a very produced sounding album Very clean, but i like it. It is definetly not mixed like a typical indie record.
Also I love the guitar work. Lots of really cool little lines and parts that get woven in and out. Johnny Marr really brings out the poppyness of the songs. If that statement makes any sense. I think Florida is one of the best examples of where his guitar work really adds something distinctively new to the bands sound.
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I've listened to the album probably 3 or 4 times now, and I'm really enjoying it. It reminds me a bit of their older stuff, mainly LCW. Not overall, just some parts of it. I definitely like it better than Good News.
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ok, i like this album alot. After more listening, I love it. Anyone else catch the kind of Blondie tip of the had in fly trapped in a jar?
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I haven't heard this album yet, so don't take my opinion seriously. Or in any way at all, really.
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Okay, the most important person in the world to me convinced me to listen to the single.
I didn't hear a single thing I didn't like.
So now I'm listenning through the album, and I feel the same way about all the tracks so far.
Upon first listen I can say with confidence that this is their best album since the Lonesome Crowded West.
When I heard TM&A I HATED the production. It took me a while to get past it. Even now, there are still a lot of things on that album that I would have done differently. The production on GNFPWLBN worked, but the album had maybe only four songs that were really good. The rest just okay.
I think that TM&A might actually be quite brilliant, and that each song might be fantastic, but I can't tell because of the recordings. The bootlegs I have from around this time seem to confirm this.
But with this new album, I haven't yet found anything to complain about. And this is my first listen.
About half a track into the album and I think it's their best album in about 10 years.
Let's see which bloggers and critics agree with me.
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Can anybody rapidshare it or something? Soulseek is being a fucker.
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http://www.yousendit.com/download/cEd0anZ1dzhveE41VEE9PQ
thar ^
on another note i'm working through the album now. i kinda hate 'dashboard' a lot but some of the other stuff is pretty decent. the album is about as far from their best stuff as they could get but it's not overly awful.
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Second listen tells me that the bass if often too quiet in the mix. Hopefully, I just have crap quality mp3s or something, because the bass I can hear sounds pretty interesting.
Hey Sam, are you there? Did you get the Lonesome Crowded west yet?
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Many thanks wombat!
Will report back when I finish listening.
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Modest Mouse is currently in the 'automatically buy any record they release, but one crappy record could take them off' category for me.
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I'm just getting through my first listen, and I'm gonna give it a few more listens before I really have an opinion. But as of now I think I like "Good News" better. And those are words I never thought I'd speak. The album isn't BAD, but it just... lacks the intensity and raw emotion of the other records. This isn't the band that played "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine". Or "Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset". I was iffy on where I stood on the whole Modest Marr deal, and after I listened to WWDBTSES I might just be missing Dann more than I thought I would. In a couple more runs through I'll have a solid feeling around it, but that's my initial response.
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This sounds... ok, i guess,. Pretty solid but also quite unremarkable.
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Haven't heard it, don't want to. I love Modest Mouse to death, but I am the opposite of excited for this one. I want them to stay good.
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I haven't heard this album yet but if its better that good news than I have a feeling I'll love it because I really really love that album, I just feel that it was some much more accesable than their earlyier albums, I thought that it worked as an album and as individual songs. can't wait for it to come out.
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I like how the people calling this record 'average', 'unremarkable' and such are the same people who found the last two albums absolutely fantastic. Better songs than GNFPWLBN, no album killing production like TM&A, I can't comment on the lyrics yet, I have only listened to the entire thing like twice, but they seem okay too.
The Lonesome Crowded West was ten years, three albums and a lot of drugs (and a few stomachs folds) ago now, so expecting something as explosive as that record is somewhat silly, though I doubt any of you are.
People have to apreciate that this is a new Modest Mouse, and can really only be compared to the last two (not too good) albums. They had their moments, but as a whole, they fell somewhat flat. As a whole, this album works a lot better. It's a lot more focused than the previous two efforts, much more upbeat, sounds more modest mouse than the previous album did, but has a lot more going on in the mix.
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I've listened to this twice now. I still don't like Dashboard. Otherwise, I think it's cetainly much better than GNFPWLBN (oh god what an awful acronym). We'll see how it is with more listens.
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Spinless, what exactly is wrong with the production on The Moon & Antarctica, and how do you feel it ruins the album??
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Actually, Spinless, I'm really glad someone else doesn't like TM&A's production. I'll let you explain it. I can't quite place it, it's just that it bothers me. The words "no punch" come to mind, at least.
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'No punch' is exactly the right way to describe it. It works on some tracks, and some tracks even need the high production, but when you've heard 'tiny cities made of ashes' played live without the effects or productions or weird vocals, you know that they messed up the record. The production on that album just sucks the life out of the songs. Seek them out live, if you can find some good quality bootlegs, you'll never listen to the album again.
I don't really have a thing against clean sounding records either, but TM&A is FAR too clean. Most of those songs were written to sound kinda dirty and messy.
Maybe the production on the album is good, but was such a shock to my system I couldn't take it. Or maybe it was polished so much that it lost it's shine.
Buy a guitar and play the songs yourself, you might even start to prefer your own recordings of the song, it'd definitely sound more human.
I know a lot of you either haven't noticed or don't care, because a number of the songs still pack a lot of feeling, you can almost taste the bitterness and loneliness, the loathing and confusion in your mouth, right? Well, I did. But I tasted all that crap because the production was terrible.
There have to be more people other than Merkava and I that felt ripped off by that album.
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That's odd, Spinless. I am currently listening to WWDBTSES and finding that the production seems to have taken the punch away from it. It feels to me like the band is trying to be edgy, angry, and rock out noisily, but the producer is trying to clean it up. Neither side appears to have compromised so far, and it doesn't work for me. But then, I have just finished listening to the first track for the first time, so hopefully my opinion will change.
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Can someone post a link to the zipped album that doesn't require me to sign up for yousendit corp. ?
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I like the production of The Moon & Antarctica. I think the sound and atmosphere they were going for is explained in the title: cold and almost clinical. The Moon and Antarctica are the two most cold, desolate, and lifeless places mankind has ever tread.
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Can someone post a link to the zipped album that doesn't require me to sign up for yousendit corp. ?
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Ah, but there is a huge difference between WWDBTSES's production and TM&A's. While the former's is polished, I can still feel the music. They sound much more organic than the latter's. Antarctica's music felt as if it were synthesized, which, if you're using the cold, desolate environment argument, takes away from the fact that the moon and Antarctica are naturally that way. If I were to represent that coldness, I'd produce the album just as, if not rougher than previous MM records. Part of the wonder of these places is that they are virtually untouched by man. When you think of a wild tundra, you still think of it as wild, and that's what was missing from the album, the wilderness; the powerful, awe-inspiring force of nature.
Or maybe I'm just bitter because I'm a percussionist and thus can't stand drums having no "oomph" (which would also explain my pure and utter hate for synth drum).
WWDBTSES's production is organic, but not primal. It was jarring at first for me, but once I stopped expecting Positive/Negative, I began to enjoy the album. I had to get used to the fact that they aren't being sloppy. Even Brock's vocals, which are arguably his most wild, maintain direction and feel more deliberate. So, the focus is different; it's more about tight songs than cathartic blasts of energy. I don't think it's worse or better...just different.
I'm really enjoying it, despite the synthy-sounding drums on "Fire it Up" (which disappointed me after I had listened to the live version a while ago). "March Into the Sea" and "Invisible" have to be two of the best songs the band has recorded, and I am addicted to "Dashboard."
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Honestly, the only time production has gotten in the way of my enjoyment of an album has been for some 80s music. When they have the drums with that super compressed sound that makes them sound flat and almost like a drum machine, I can't stand it. The huge culprit I'm thinking of is Bossanova. I cannot stand the drums on this album. They sound so tinny and wimpy.
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I somehow imagined it would have a guitar freakout or two where Marr and Brock kick ass side by side ala Television
Uh. And what about Johnny Marr's previous work led you to believe this would happen? Marr is famous, and good, but he's like a Peter Buck kind of guitar player, when people talk about great guitar players nobody ever goes "Oh man, Marr is way up there, he can totally shred".
And he hasn't even written a good song since the Smiths broke up.
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Or before, for that matter.
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Man, am I the only one pissed off by the beginning of "Little Motel"? It sounds really show-tuney to me, especially with the wood-block claps. When it picks up, it's great, but that beginning just doesn't sound...good.
As for guitar freak-outs, maybe in a future live show? Who knows? It could happen. Nobody in Television ever "shred." It was the twin-guitar interplay. I'm sure once the band gets used to playing with Marr, something special will happen.
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I somehow imagined it would have a guitar freakout or two where Marr and Brock kick ass side by side ala Television
Uh. And what about Johnny Marr's previous work led you to believe this would happen? Marr is famous, and good, but he's like a Peter Buck kind of guitar player, when people talk about great guitar players nobody ever goes "Oh man, Marr is way up there, he can totally shred".
Not so much any of their previous work, just a hope that pairing two unique guitarists would make for awesuma results. There's a huge difference between playing really good, interesting guitar and just being a mad shredder. There's all kinds of kick ass technical style guitar players in the metal scene, and players like Joe Satriani. But then there's players who can solo but also have, for lack of a better word, heart and feeling in their playing. Or at the very least a way of playing that doesn't make you immediately say "this is a solo" or "this is rhythm."
Television and Sleater-Kinney are great because they are not trying to shred their heads off. Yet they've both got some great interplay and solos.
I was also hoping that the addition of a major musical force like Marr, who was never so much a songwriter as a musical foil (sorta like the heroin addict guy is in the Flaming Lips), would inspire the band to take a wholly different direction with their music.
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That's odd, Spinless. I am currently listening to WWDBTSES and finding that the production seems to have taken the punch away from it. It feels to me like the band is trying to be edgy, angry, and rock out noisily, but the producer is trying to clean it up. Neither side appears to have compromised so far, and it doesn't work for me. But then, I have just finished listening to the first track for the first time, so hopefully my opinion will change.
yes.
Yes Yes Yes.
It sounds like they are trying to make LCW, but they want it to sell as well as Good News. The best songs are the ones where the production and the music line up, which is why Dashboard and Florida work so well for me, except those horrible background vocals on the latter. The songs that should be the best ones, Steam Enginus, Fire it Up, We Have Everything- all sound neutered. I heard the second two songs live, and they sounded 10000 times better. On the album, well...
Basically the album feels like getting a blowjob from an ex girlfriend, right after you've gotten back together. You're excited about it at first, but whoevers dick she sucked in the interim has changed her somehow. Now it feels like her hearts not in it, the old tricks are there, but they're muffled by something, and it just doesn't work. No matter how long she goes at it, it never quite gets you off.
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I've never actually listened to this band, is this CD a decent place to start or are there others I should be looking into? Just playing it for the first time now.
http://www.yousendit.com/download/cEd0anZ1dzhveE41VEE9PQ
thar ^
Thanks for the link matey.
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Basically the album feels like getting a blowjob from an ex girlfriend, right after you've gotten back together. You're excited about it at first, but whoevers dick she sucked in the interim has changed her somehow. Now it feels like her hearts not in it, the old tricks are there, but they're muffled by something, and it just doesn't work. No matter how long she goes at it, it never quite gets you off.
That's fucking brilliant!! Post of the week.
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Right, but Johnny Marr has never even been at the Television or S-K level. Like I said, he's a Peter Buck. He can play chords real good and wrote very simple but catchy Smiths songs but other than that there is not really any reason for him to be in Modest Mouse over any random dude on the street except that Isaac Brock gets to pretend he still has credibility and Marr gets to stop waiting tables for a while and bang young scenester chicks.
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Johnny, that was so profound that I think reached Enlightenment, vicarious enlightenment, through words on a computer screen. I am amazed. So, anyone want to lay out some constructive criticism for this album? Like, EXAMPLE!
THIS IS THE EXAMPLE!
THE GOOD! :
The electrons:
Ugly Stuff goes here:
I'll post mine here later, I'm on the song Steam Engenius right now.
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The Good: It isn't Death Cab For Cutie.
The Bad: It sure as fuck isn't Pavement, either.