The Album Review Club - Week #122 - (page 1438) A Black Mile To The Surface – Manchester Orchestra

The sax annoyed me, which is a shame as I quite like a bit of sax in songs, and his voice did at times as well. But my biggest bugbear was the production. It felt empty. Very flat and tinny. I wanted more ooomph. It's also musically very muddled. A load of instruments all going off at once with the overpowering sax plonked on top. Even the big hit can't save it. I wasn't really a fan when it came out and it's not aged well.

It's a big fat 5 from me.
 
stonerblue said:
I certainly did. And after hearing one of their tracks last week i'll double down on that.
But that is just a matter of taste and nowt to do with the point i'm trying to make. If you like Rush, or even Queen, you can still get 'lost' in it and enjoy it for what it is.
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Writing a review of music doesn’t mean you can’t get lost in it or enjoy it. Just like movies, novels, other art forms. But don’t forget artists want us to pay them to entertain us, in money and time. It’s not always worth it.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I thought the instrumentation and production were used to cover up melodies that were sometimes kinda thin. So I get where he’s coming from but didn’t find the “sound” “tinny” — but there’s something misplaced in it.
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Yes that's fair, but flat and lacking ooomph ? Sounds like they are playing like their lives are depending on it, sound is huge, lead singer screaming his lungs out on so many tracks.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Yes that's fair, but flat and lacking ooomph ? Sounds like they are playing like their lives are depending on it, sound is huge, lead singer screaming his lungs out on so many tracks.
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Screaming your lungs out doesn't equate to depth or oomph. The sound might be huge but it lacks clarity. Everything is competing against everything else. Nothing is given time to breath. I put this down to production.
 
BimboBob said:
Screaming your lungs out doesn't equate to depth or oomph. The sound might be huge but it lacks clarity. Everything is competing against everything else. Nothing is given time to breath. I put this down to production.
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that i understand.
 
BimboBob said:
The sax annoyed me, which is a shame as I quite like a bit of sax in songs, and his voice did at times as well. But my biggest bugbear was the production. It felt empty. Very flat and tinny. I wanted more ooomph. It's also musically very muddled. A load of instruments all going off at once with the overpowering sax plonked on top. Even the big hit can't save it. I wasn't really a fan when it came out and it's not aged well.

It's a big fat 5 from me.
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Can you not just simply hate the album for what it is?
 
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