Music Review

Week 11 Review

Seeing that Blended just opened on the 23rd, I could not have timed this week’s review any better. I’m reviewing the soundtrack to an earlier Sandler/Barrymore romantic comedy: 50 First Dates.       

Album: 50 First Dates: Love Songs from the Original Motion Picture
Year: 2004
Genre: Movie Soundtrack
Rating: 4/5

Worth Your Time? It’s really enjoyable background music.

Twitter Review: Basically, the soundtrack is reggae/ska covers of new wave songs. It sounds like a great idea on a paper and it’s actually executed well too.

Top 3 Tracks:

  1. Your Love (L.O.V.E. Reggae Mix) by Wyclef Jean (original by Outfield)
  2. Drive by Ziggy Marley (original by The Cars)
  3. Hold Me Now by Wayne Wonder (original by The Thompson Twins)

Things Not to Look For (cause they ain’t there):

  • Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. The beautiful, heartwarming, tear-jerking, make you want to hug the person next to you as tight as you can and never let go Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World medley that plays at the end of the movie is not there. Iz died before his 40th birthday but I don’t think his music will ever be forgotten. He was incredibly respected in Hawaii with 10,000 people attending the funeral and the state flag being flown at half-staff.
  • The Beach Boys. Wouldn’t It Be Nice even though it was heavily featured in the movie including the hilarious cry-a-long by Adam Sandler is sadly not there.
  • Ula. Ula’s Luau Song isn’t even on it! I know you’re as disappointed and frustrated as me about that but they did include Forgetful Lucy at the end to help heal the deep wounds of an Ula-less album.

Low Points: There aren’t really any low points. And it doesn’t have any particular high points either because it is after all just a collection of pop songs from a movie. So I’m not saying the album is a masterpiece or anything despite my above average rating. And it’s not something you would listen to while doing nothing so you can really soak in the masterful attention to the tiniest of details. But maybe you’re cleaning up the kitchen on a Saturday morning or driving to the grocery store, then by all means queue it up on your smartphone and enjoy yourself. I don’t think there’s a bad track on the entire album.

Anything Else: It looks like every cover featured on the soundtrack was specifically created for the movie. So this is the only place you’re going to find these songs. It shows they put some effort into this and didn’t try to grab a bunch of pre-existing covers. I guess part of the reason I’m so impressed with this album is I’ve listened to countless cross genre compilation albums and most of them have been utter crap. It seems to me that the modus operandi is to get one or two good bands and then find a bunch of unknowns that work cheap to fill out the rest of the album and ship it out ASAP to try to make some money off poor suckers like me. I’ve been disappointed so many times. The songs covered were well-chosen and they had quite a few well-known artists participate. I’m ecstatic that I can even write that sentence.

There are a lot of people angry that this soundtrack failed to include The Beach Boys and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and I believe they have every right to be mad (there’s some seriously pissed off people on Amazon) because it’s a completely reasonable expectation. But the fact that they actually pulled off a reggae goes new wave album that doesn’t suck more than makes up for it from my perspective.

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Week 10 Review

This week I’m reviewing Punchline’s 2nd album: 37 Everywhere. I discovered this Pennsylvania-based pop punk band after listening to their single Not Afraid on some random emo sampler back in the day. 

Artist: Punchline {Steve Soboslai – vocals, Chris Fafalios – bass guitar, background vocals, Greg Wood – guitar, background vocals, PJ Caruso – drums}
Album: 37 Everywhere
Year: 2006
Genre: Pop Punk
Rating: 4.37/5

Worth Your Time? Of course!

Twitter Review: 37 Everywhere is a solid well-crafted pop punk album with a nice mix of intensely delivered dark topics and uplifting messages throughout.

Top 3 Tracks:

  1. Exactly
  2. Flashlight
  3. Green Light (the intro for this video is great)

Things to Look For:

  • Wonderful Writing. There’s actually a lot of clever lyrics using a combinations of metaphors and play on words.  I think the darkness described in Flashlight is actually talking about hitting rock bottom with drug addiction.  I believe the entire song is about the frustrations of dealing with a friend or loved one who is a drug addict.  In Don’t Try This At Home, it includes the lyrics “The backseat’s a dream when you’re just 18 but the dreams take a back seat so fast.” I think this perfectly alludes to the difference of your carefree late teen years when your parents are still shielding you from being an actual adult and the stark reality that hits you once you finally are on your own.  I think a lot of people gain a lot of respect for their parents once they become an adult. The entire songs compares growing up to a reality television show. The title even plays on a common TV phrase usually reserved for dangerous stunts by shows like Jackass but instead reserves it for something all of us eventually have to do one day which is learn how to survive on our own.  Caller 10, despite it’s upbeat tone for the majority of the song actually ends on a tragic down note questioning how much of falling in love is left up to fate and how much is our own responsibility.  Exactly covers a fairly introspective topic of the process of losing your energy and ideals of youth as you are absorbed into the compromised world of adults. It’s easy to write a pop punk song about always staying true to yourself and doing what you believe.  It’s a lot harder to capture what happens when that gets applied in the real world and the fallout that follows. Steve Soboslai is definitely a lyricist I respect.
  • Emotional Intensity.  I think the spoken word part found at the end of Exactly shows just how far these guys will go.  But even the background vocals of Green Light and lead singer’s delivery in Wars Will Always Happen convey the intensity that Punchline brings to the game.
  • Hooks, Riffs and Choruses. Punchline is more infectious than a room full of kindergarteners in late October.  It’s pretty hard not to sing and hum along after you listened to the songs a couple times.

Low Points: At 38 minutes, I wish the songs were a little longer or there were more songs but it’s about standard for pop punk albums.  I also noticed some song structures similarities but nothing even remotely close to what Staind does. Their more straight forward relationship songs are probably at the bottom of the list for me but even they still come with an incredibly catchy chorus.

Anything Else: The name of this album comes from some of the band members obsession with seeing the number 37 everywhere on a daily basis. They claim if you look, you will be surprised how much you find it.  Here’s a post of Chris Fafalios explaining it. To go along with seeing a certain number everywhere, I watched Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23 shortly after I bought this album.  It’s worth watching in the same way it’s worth watching Schumacher destroy the Batman franchise: so you can say you survived a Joel trainwreck.

Finally, the album is dedicated to John ‘Beatz’ Holan, Bayside’s drummer who unfortunately died in 2005.  He is mentioned by name in the song They Are Strong Hands which has a pretty intricate plot for a low budget music video.

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Week 9 Review

This week is my biggest experiment yet. I’m going to review the soundtrack for a movie I’ve never actually watched: the highly controversial score to the 2007 film, 300, composed by Tyler Bates.

Composer: Tyler Bates {Timothy Williams, conductor}
Album: 300 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Year: 2007
Genre: Film Score
Rating: 0/5

Worth Your Time? It’s the musical equivalent of waiting in the doctor’s office on a day you accidentally forgot your smartphone at home and you’re stuck reading a tween magazine. In short, no.

Twitter Review: 300 is incredibly boring on so many levels. It has dynamics. It has intensity. It has pretty moments. But what it is missing is purpose.

Top 3 Tracks:

  1. Fever Dreams
  2. The Hot Gates
  3. To Victory

Things to Look For:

  • Guitars. Seriously. Those are really the only songs I find remotely interesting on the album because it gives the song a weird Sahara Metal feeling.  If you get to the halfway point and haven’t heard a guitar, hit the next button.
  • Female Vocalizations.  Actually, don’t look for them. They will hunt you down and stab you in the back of the neck. They’re incredibly overused throughout the entire album.
  • The parade is in town! It’s probably the instruments used or the rhythms but several times throughout the album I feel like Genie and Prince Ali should make an appearance.

Low Points: It takes more mind power to focus on this album than anything else I’ve ever tried to concentrate on in my life.  If you’re not closing your eyes and blocking out the entire world while listening to it, you aren’t actually listening to it. You’re ignoring it. Your ears’ natural self-preservation will kick in for most of this album and muffle it before your brain has a chance to process it.

Anything Else: I think reviewing a soundtrack for a movie I have not watched was probably a mistake but I was very curious as to how it would turn out.  It’s quite possible my viewpoint could be changed dramatically by watching the film. In the future, I’m going to make sure to watch the movie first if only for my own sanity. I’m NOT going through another week of this. Still have one more thing to talk about though.

Notice that I said this album was highly controversial at the beginning. What in the world could be controversial about a film score? Well apparently Mr. Bates lifted some of his tracks from a celebrated extremely experimental soundtrack that includes mixing and blending of 7 different music genres: Elliot Goldenthal’s Titus which was released 7 year earlier. Bates was of course blasted by the film score community for doing this. He received numerous bad reviews even including the rarely seen but dreaded 0 star review.

For those who want to compare 300 to Titus to see what the fuss is all about for themselves:

Remember Us vs Finale
Returns a King vs Victorious

Warner Bros. eventually settled with Elliot Goldenthal and so ends the tragic tale of Tyler Bates. Actually, there are many credits to his name post 300 so I can only assume this didn’t hurt his career much at all.

Seriously considering adding Titus to Project Lt. Morning. It sounds like something worth listening to and reviewing…after watching the movie of course. 🙂

Finally, for tomorrow:

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Including my forever awesome mom who is a gigantic reason why I am the person I am today and can rest assured my childhood is a flood of happy memories that I will never forget. All of her efforts were not in vain.  Man, do I miss her cooking.  You’ve haven’t had Thanksgiving until you’ve had my mom’s cooking.  And to my mother-in-law for being so incredibly helpful, caring and generous to me over the years. Also, thank you for giving birth to the center of my universe.

Additional Links:

Week 8 Review

This week I’m reviewing Dr. Dre’s 2001. It is a triumphant return to rap and annihilates any question if Dre still had it in him since releasing The Chronic seven years earlier in 1992.  

Artist: Dr. Dre (also featuring Xzibit, Devin the Dude, Snoop Dogg, Hittman, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Six-Two, Eminem, Ms. Roq, Knoc-Turn’al, Mary J. Blige)
Album: 2001
Year: 1999
Genre: Gangsta Rap
Rating: 5/5

Worth Your Time? Absolutely. Even if you don’t like rap, you should still give it a listen. It is a classic.

Twitter Review: Production and lyrics are unparalleled and refreshing. It is from a bygone era before materialism took center stage in the rap scene.

Please note that any links below should be considered NSFW. Expect strong language and sexual situations to be contained in all of these songs.

Top 5 Tracks:

  1. What’s the Difference
  2. Still D.R.E.
  3. Forget About Dre
  4. Bang Bang
  5. The Watcher

Things to Look For:

  • Guest Stars. Eddie Griffin is hilarious as the drunk bartender in Bar One and in his Ed-Ucation speech. While Ed-Ucation is done in a sobering matter, I don’t think you can take it any other way than a joke. Next, Jake Steed, a retired 90’s adult film star who may be currently hiding in South America from US law enforcement after skipping out on his trial date and may be central to finding the location of the jetpack is GTA V, makes an appearance on Pause 4 Porno. Finally, Tommy Chong makes a surprise appearance at the end of the album as part of a hidden track, Outro, where he tries to obtain illegal prescriptions from Dr. Dre. Including one of the most prolific potheads in a sequel to The Chronic was hysterical to say the least.
  • Those Big Beautiful Beats. Dr. Dre is actually better known for his producing than rapping. His ability for beat creation is legendary as he is known by many as the father of G-Funk which influenced just about any rap artist that came after him on some level. To give you an idea of his dedication to production, Dre will actually have in-house musicians play the music he wishes to sample from rather than taking the original material so he has more control over it to get it just the way he wants it. Another example of the care and dedication he puts into his work is Big Ego’s intro which starts with a conversation with air traffic control to request to land at LAX. It sets up a dramatic movie atmosphere for the rest of the song without even showing a single picture. I’ve hummed along and bobbed my head to so many songs on this album. I am in awe of his ability to turn some sparse notes and a bassline into a prolific influential genre-defining sound with widespread mass appeal. Plinking on a piano has never sounded so good.
  • M&M. While there are many incredible well delivered lyrics on this album and I probably have about 30 instances where a perfectly executed verse of clever word play will make me smile every time, the young Eminem really stands out from everybody. I look forward to his parts anytime I listen to this album.
  • Nods. Several times throughout 2001, there are some subtle and not so subtle references to Dr. Dre’s previous release, The Chronic and NWA’s Straight Outta Compton of which he was a member of NWA. It’s quite fun when you happen to catch one.

Low Points: I know some people are probably going to not like me for saying this but I think The Message is the weakest song on the album. The song is about about Dre’s deceased brother Tyree which makes it sacrosanct for a lot of poeple. I wish that this song had an emotional impact on me like so many other songs related to the passing of a loved one but it unfortunately didn’t. At times the lyrics felt too cliche and generic for me to make that connection. And I think I know why. The only writing credit for this song is Royce Da 5’9″ who is part of rap supergroup Slaughterhouse and one half of Bad Meets Evil with Eminem filling out the other half. My guess is if it had been Dre who wrote it rather than Royce, the emotional intensity that I was seeking would have been overflowing on this track.

Anything Else: Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and pretty much anybody who has rapped on this album, I would like to introduce you to a person that I think you need to meet: Miss Ogyny. Miss Ogyny, may I present the current membership of the He-Man Woman Haters Club. The one interesting rapper on this album in regards to the topic of misogyny is Ms. Roc who completely turns the tables on the men during her verses at the end of Let’s Get High. Only rich well endowed men are of any use to her though manual stimulation is sometimes prefered as it is less cumbersome than dealing with otherwise worthless men. In addition, she forces men to perform oral sex on her rather than the other way around. Notice, I just said this was interesting. I don’t think the inclusion of Ms. Roc’s performance somehow undoes everything said by the other performers on the rest of the album.

The lyrics throughout this album are incredibly misogynistic. Women are consistently valued only for performing sexual acts and I use the term valued loosely since I’m not even sure the lyrics indicate any appreciation for those. If an alien had heard only this album and came to Earth, they would think women existed solely for the purpose of providing oral sex and annoying men with their feelings. I don’t think men should view women like that. Any man who has those views is despicable and is doing nothing but holding back our society from progressing to a more equal environment. I view my wife as my partner in our marriage. We work as a team and there isn’t anything she can’t do if she puts her mind to it. I look at my female family members, friends, co-workers and personal heroes and can only come to the conclusion that you are insane if you think men are somehow superior to women.

So how can I disagree with the lyrics so much and still enthusiastically tell you to listen to this album? Well, I don’t believe in censoring art in any way. I tend to compartmentalize art appreciation and social views. I’d rather have some negative views out there than telling somebody that they cannot say something simply because I don’t agree with it. Mostly because putting anybody in charge of deciding what can and can’t be said is far too much power for any person or group of people. Next, there are numerous instances of rappers that are playing characters rather than playing themselves when they rap. The horrorcore rap sub-genre is a prime example of that. I’d be willing to bet that there isn’t a single practicing Satanist in the entire genre. Just because you rap about the devil, demons and death on your albums doesn’t mean you are wearing black robes in your basement with lit red candles everywhere as you try to summon the prince of darkness in your free time. Finally, Dr. Dre didn’t create the misogynistic attitude we see so often in society. He’s just reflecting it back to us. You want to break that mirror? Start treating women the way they should be. Set an example to family, friends, co-workers and even strangers that women deserve to be treated equally by actually treating them equally. Try to be conscious of it so you can be aware of when you make a mistake. Then you can do better next time.

If you really want to see how big of a problem this issue is, please take the time to regularly visit The Everyday Sexism Project. Some of this stuff sounds like it should have happened in the 1950’s instead of yesterday. I get so incredibly sad and angry when I visit this site. I also encourage both sexes to visit. There are numerous posts of women inflicting other women with these horrible sexist attitudes. I think we all can do better on some level by taking some time for real self-reflection and introspection.

Additional Links:

Week 7 Review

8 years prior to E. L. James’s unleashing the erotic juggernaut Fifty Shades of Grey that sold 100+ million copies, Staind showed up at #1 on charts with this week’s review: 14 Shades of Grey.  

Artist: Staind {Aaron Lewis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Mike Mushok (lead guitar), Johnny April (bass guitar), Jon Wysocki (drums)}
Album: 14 Shades of Grey
Year: 2003
Genre: Post-Grunge
Rating: 1/5

Worth Your Time? You’re better off experimenting with how to get your fist inside of your mouth. (Like this young lady or this young lady.)

Twitter Review: This album really needs to be renamed 14 Small Variations of a Shade of Grey. Who knew you could rewrite the same song 13 times and sell it?

Top 3 Tracks:

  1. Zoe Jane
  2. Layne
  3. Fill Me Up

Things to Look For:

  • Pete and Repeat Were in a Boat. The similarity in the structure of all the songs is unbelievable. It’s basically Aaron with unprocessed usually overly vague vocals followed by a wall of sound and Aaron’s usually even more vague vocals layered many times over so he can even beging to compete with the wall behind him. This repeats a couple times then the next song starts.
  • Pete Fell Out. I cannot believe how they used the same approach over and over again throughout this album. Essentially, Aaron does a verse with his voice unaltered and reasonable instrumentation followed by a heavily processed chorus with many layers of Aaron’s voice and this insane wall of sound. To add insult to injury, most song lyrics are so unclear that you barely care what the song was about.
  • Who’s Left? My mind cannot even begin to process how Staind could release an album that is packed with such similar sounding songs. It’s just 14 variations of Aaron switching back and forth between singing vague lyrics with his vocals unaltered intermingled with this ear fatigue inducing wall of sound that can only be taken on by processing Aaron’s vocals with layering beyond any reasonable amount.

High Points: There are far too many low points to discuss so I think it might be more interesting to talk about the high points instead. I listened to this album one final time before I started to write the review because I had such a hard time picking out individual songs. As I took notes on the tracks, my original score kept dropping and dropping until it got to one. I honestly considered giving it a zero out of five but there are some redeeming songs on here that let me put aside everything wrong with this album for a moment.

Let’s start of with Zoe Jane. This song is about Aaron’s relationship with his young daughter and probably his strongest song lyrically. (which really isn’t saying much unfortunately) I think it accurately captures that incredibly deep emotional bond that is created between a parent and child. It covers: unconditional love, the connection you get just by looking into your child’s eyes and having them look back at you, the need to want to shelter them from everything cruel in this world that you’ve experienced while trying to open their eyes to everything amazing around them and finally becoming so emotionally overwhelmed to the point of tears because you cannot always be there for them no matter how much you want to be.

The other song we need to discuss is Layne. It is actually a tribute to one of the gods of grunge: Layne Staley, the lead singer of Alice in Chains, who died alone of drug overdose in 2002 after years of dealing with depression and drug addiction. Tragically, his body was not discovered until two weeks after he died. He was only 34 and his death had immediate impact on the music scene which inspired many, including Aaron Lewis, to pay their respects to a man who had so much musical influence on their life. One notable aspect of this song is the beginning which opens up with Aaron vocalizing which reminded me of the Alice in Chain’s grunge classic Man in the Box.

Anything Else: So my wife and I do not have any children. We do not want children. We are never going to have children. So why did I connect so much with Zoe Jane on this album without being a parent myself? It’s actually a pretty simple answer: my friends. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by couples who are absolutely amazing parents. I’ve seen the most serious and reserved of my friends turn into the biggest goofballs just to get an extra smile or laugh from their child. It’s almost like in that moment the whole world around them disappears. To me, that speaks volumes of how intense the parent/child relationship is. The amount of effort and sacrifice my friends put into being parents is awe inspiring quite honestly. I’m happy I get to witness all of these beautiful little moments between them and their children. If you’re looking for examples of what awesome parents do, I would highly suggest checking out JAKE’s Place which is run by a friend and awesome parent, [J].

Additional Links:

Week 6 Review

This week I’m reviewing a recent album from 3 guys who started a band 13 years before I was born. I am of course talking about the return of Black Sabbath to the recording studio with their album 13.  

Artist: Black Sabbath {Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer butler (bass guitar), Brad Wilk instead of Bill Ward (drums)}
Album: 13
Year: 2013
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 3.9/5

Worth Your Time? Especially if you’re behind on your monthly headbangs.

Twitter Review: Having been fed a healthy diet of nu-metal through all of college, listening to the band that inspired all of them was incredibly refreshing.

Top 3 Tracks: 

  1. Zeitgeist (if you watch only one video watch this one)
  2. Age of Reason
  3. God Is Dead

Things to Look For:

  • Geezer’s Lyrics. I don’t know what to say other than it felt like Ozzie was singing Sabbath songs just for me. I’ve been doing a lot of spiritual/intellectual self-examination lately so this album really resonated with me. I loved and appreciated Geezer Butler’s word play on this album so much.
  • Rocking out with the boys of Black. I had so much fun listening to 13.  It’s pretty hard to listen and not catch yourself doing some at least light headbanging as Black Sabbath rocks out. It reminds a lot of the joy I get from cranking AC/DC’s Back In Black or Nirvana’s Nevermind album in my car on the way to work in the morning.
  • Iommi’s Solos and Riffs. While they may not be his best work as he is one of the greatest of all-time with an incredible back catalog that would make a 16-year-old schoolgirl blush, I still enjoyed them immensely. Iommi kicks more ass in his mid 60’s than you ever did or ever will. That’s just a fact of life.

Low Points: Pretty positive review so far, right? So is there anything negative to say about this album? You betcha. The stuff I’m going to talk about didn’t necessarily limit enjoyment of the album but makes me wonder if this album could have been better. I wish there could have been a little less jamming on the songs and instead they had been tightened up some more. The majority of songs clock in over 7 minutes so it’s incredibly easy to get lost in the rhythms of rock and not be totally sure which song you are currently listening to unfortunately. Actually, if you’re not paying attention, you probably won’t even catch the start of the next song.  Part of the reason I think Zeitgeist was my top song was because it was so musically different from the other 7.

Anything Else: I often wondered if you’re old enough to have an AARP card, do you need to turn in your ROCK card?  While this may be true for some bands that held on to their cards to the point of being ridiculous, I think Black Sabbath showed me that they can still remain relevant even in 2013.

Finally and most importantly, anybody else think it’s weird that Brad Wilk (the drummer) and Bill Ward (the drummer he replaced) are one letter away from being anagrams of each other and that letter difference is K and L which are right next to each other in the alphabet? Seriously. That’s pretty random. About as random as my Facebook News Feed:

Additional Links:

Week 5 Review

This week I’m reviewing my first album that I consider obscure. It’s not an internet sensation nor has it defined a decade. So let’s take a look at …Waltzing Alone by folk band Guggenheim Grotto.     

Artist: The Guggenheim Grotto {Shane Power (drums, piano), Mick Lynch (guitar, vocals), Kevin May (vocals, guitar)}
Album: …Waltzing Alone
Year: 2006
Genre: Folk-Pop
Rating: 3.75/5 Stars (5/5 Stars if you’re feeling introspective or heart broken)

Worth Your Time? If you’re in the right mood.

Twitter Review: …Waltzing Alone is like a finely aged scotch. You sip it slowly appreciating the individual flavors and smells that surround it.

Top 3 Tracks: 

  1. Wonderful Wizard
  2. Rosanna
  3. Philosophia

Things to Look For:

  • So many instruments. All three band members are multi-instrumentalists so there’s more going on here than your average album. You can tell they searched for that one instrument to give them the exact sound they were looking for.
  • Look ma, no drums! There’s quite a few tracks that do not not make heavy use of percussion.  Maybe that’s not special for folk music, but as your average listener it stood out to me while listening this week.
  • Craftsmanship. Obviously, these guys had more interest in creating gorgeous sounds for your mind to process than trying to appeal to the masses. I could see listening to this album with my co-workers $1000 headphones to appreciate all the little touches. (Yes he does actually let me borrow them at work from time to time.)
  • Is the Cake a lie? My wife says Wonderful Wizard sounds like a Cake song.  And I have to agree. They are one trumpet away from it being on Prolonging the Magic.

Low Points: There was actually one point in the chorus of the song I Think I Love You that infuriated me nearly every time I listened to it. He says “Hell I want to scream” but at no point does he ever raise his voice to anything close to a scream.  I guess I have the mind frame of show me/not tell me when it comes to writing and that chorus is nothing but tell.  But this album’s biggest downfall is that you really need to be in the right mood to appreciate it. Some of my favorite albums bring a mood to me and not the other way around so I think it deserved to lose some stars because of that. If you don’t agree I don’t care because yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.

Anything Else: There’s something worth mentioning here outside of the music that makes this album worth owning like as in a physical copy kind of owning.  They really put incredible effort into the album’s packaging.  It’s basically a small book with red leather texture and silver embossed text.  That right there is pretty special since your average CD comes in a plastic jewel case that you’re never going to make any kind of connection with. If it cracked you would simply replace it with another one that looks exactly like it without ever giving it a second thought. In a word: disposable.

The liner notes begin with 5 pages worth of excerpts from an online discussion on a site dedicated to graphic design about the current state of CD packaging.  This is followed by the lyrics for each song with several illustrations related to the lyrics. Then it closes out with commentary by Shane, Mick and Kevin for each of the songs that brings insight into what was going on inside their heads such as that they were all heavily listening to Marvin Gaye when Vertigo was formed into being. You really don’t get this level of detail and discussion with your average album. Do yourself a favor and hunt down the CD rather than downloading the MP3s if you plan on getting this album.  I’ve included some pictures to help you visualize the awesomeness.

Awesomeness!

On a random note, my wife and I were at the concert where the Vertigo video I just linked to was recorded. We high tailed it up to Cleveland to see a They Might Be Giants concert where they performed Flood in it’s entirety. And that is where I first became acquainted with The Guggenheim Grotto and, like with most opening acts, I bought their album.

Additional Links:

Week 4 Review

This week I’m reviewing one of the most important 90’s BritPop albums: (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis. Yet another album with lukewarm reviews initially but is now considered a classic.   

Artist: Oasis {Liam Gallagher (vocals), Noel Gallagher (lead guitar), Paul Authurs (rhythm guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass guitar), Alan White (drums)}
Album: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Year: 1995
Genre: BritPop
Rating: 3.333/5 Stars

Worth Your Time? Listen to it only while your driving.

Twitter Review: Mediocrity thy name is Morning Glory. It has some qualities of a good album but those get overwhelmed by the time everything is over.

Top 3 Tracks: 

  1. Champagne Supernova
  2. Wonderwall
  3. I’m not wasting your time by picking a third song from an 10 way tie.

Things to Look For:

  • Now where have I heard that before?  Oasis is famous for their songs sounding fairly similar to existing songs. I’m sure you could pick out a couple listening to it or at least have one déjà vu moment.
  • Follow the bouncing ball.  I don’t think I know of an album that I can sing along to as much as I can with this one.  It is definitely the album’s greatest quality and makes this one of the best albums to listen to in your car. Champagne Supernova is of course the sing-along high point.
  • Silence.  There is a moment in Wonderwall where it’s nearly silent as the guitar fades for a couple beats before the drums start back up. For whatever reason I have always loved that moment.
  • Feuding brothers. Liam and Noel got into all sorts of fights and were a mainstay for British tabloids. It’s worth reading up on their brotherly love throughout the years.

Low Points: I usually I struggle with this moment.  And you would think with this being one of the greatest if not greatest 90’s BritPop album of all time, I would struggle here as well. I really wish that was the case but I think the original reviews had it right.  Even though I am compelled to sing with every chorus on the album, I can barely tell the songs apart minus the two US singles.  They’re just so unimaginative and similar sounding.  Most of the tracks are just kind of there. Maybe from a historical/cultural perspective they are important but that really doesn’t help me enjoy the songs. Again, not counting the two US singles. I cannot stress that enough.

Anything Else: This album has a lot of personal significance.  It was the very first compact disc I ever bought and with my own money too.  I went home and listened to it in my bedroom over and over being it was the only thing I could play in my CD player. Wonderwall was the first song I ever tried to learn on my saxophone by just listening to it and trying to figure out the notes.  After weeks of practicing, I debuted my incredible recreation in the high school art room after some coaxing from a close friend. After I finished, he quietly informed me that it sounded absolutely nothing like the song. I stuck to pop songs I had sheet music for after that. (Yellow Submarine, anyone?)

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Week 3 Review

This week I’m reviewing part one of a three part concept EP series by emo rockers Mae titled (m)orning.  I’m a sucker for concept albums. Mae even donated all proceeds from this album to charity.    

(m)orning cover

Artist: Mae {Dave Elkins (vocals, guitar), Zach Gehring (guitar), Jacob Marshall (drums, piano)}
Album: (m)orning
Year: 2009
Genre: Emo/Inidie/Pop
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Worth Your Time? Yes

Twitter Review: (m)orning is an incredibly well-crafted multi-layered genre mashing EP that should feel like a mess but flows together without any struggle.

Top 3 Tracks: 

  1. The Fisherman Song (We All Need Love)
  2. Boomerang
  3. Night/Day

Things to Look For:

  • Christian metaphors.  Like all good art, what people see says more about them then the piece itself. Well I think this album is jam packed with Jesus. What I like even more is you could argue that this EP has no more Lord and Savior than your average grilled cheese sandwich. (Cheesus not withstanding)
  • An eight minute and forty second magnum opus.  I think The Fisherman Song is a lush complex masterpiece well deserving of the title. Just by itself, it elevates the album to the level of worth listening to. It even makes excellent use of dynamics. No wall of sound here.
  • Channeling the greats… At time it felt like a Beatles album, sometimes Queen and other times U2… and still pulling it off beautifully.

Low Points: I’m really loving this album and routinely bobbed my head while listening to it so it’s hard for me to pick a low point. But I still have to find this album’s valley.  I feel like the the ending and beginning tracks would be better suited for waiting to talk to customer support than rounding out the EP. But considering Mae’s previous albums and that this is a concept album, it’s quite possible that this was what they were going for.

Anything Else: I had this album for a long time but never gave it a good listen. And it surprised me in so many ways. So it really represents my goals for Project Lt. Morning which is to discover the gems scattered throughout my digital hoard.  I have to listen to Destination Beautiful and The Everglow again but this might be my favorite Mae album overall.  I also really need to add the other two EPs of the series: (a)fternoon and (e)vening. Like I said at the start, I’m a sucker for concept albums. (even if the results are sometimes disastrous)

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Week 2 Review

This week I’m reviewing an all-time great jazz album: ‘Round About Midnight by Miles Davis.  Much like Daft Punk’s Discovery, RAM was met with ‘meh’ reviews then later critics realized its greatness.

Image

Artist: Miles Davis {Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)}
Album: ‘Round About Midnight
Year: 1957
Genre: Jazz (Hard Bop)

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Worth Your Time? Absolutely

Twitter Review: RAM is a wonderful album that is quite accessible to listeners thanks to the inclusion of the jazz standards Bye Bye Blackbird and All of You.

Top 3 Tracks: 

  1. Bye Bye Blackbird
  2. All of You
  3. ‘Round Midnight

Things to Look For:

  • John Coltrane’s gorgeous soloing on ‘Round Midnight (and elsewhere) got me hooked on this album.
  • Philly JJ’s drumming on Ah-Leu-Cha (a Charlie Parker song).  The drum breaks are perfection.
  • Miles Davis’ use of the horn mute throughout the album.  Exactly what you need when your looking to just chill and relax.

Low Points: There really isn’t anything negative to say about this album though it’s kind of short by today’s standards at 39 minutes.

Anything Else: I really dislike hate avant-garde jazz. To me, it brutally murdered jazz in the shower ala Psycho from which, like most murders, it never recovered.  It’s so nice to listen to Coltrane before he went way out there. Yeah I know people worship Coltrane’s later stuff and literally worship Coltrane (not kidding) but for me his early work is what I love most. I’m nowhere near a jazz expert so feel free to disagree with me or start your own Project Lt. Morning equivalent blog and show me what’s for.

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