BlueHammer85
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2010
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Cracking reviews as always
If I can cherry pick some of your comments, for me, you've hit the nail on the head several times:-
"Byrne’s vocal is awful" - Whilst I actually like the song you are referring to, I hate the way his voice wobbles up and down all the time like some cheap Elvis impersonator. Once or twice would be fine. All through the album? No thanks.
"...for the most part a decent set of funky new wave songs" - well I don't like funk or new wave. Probably explains why this is not my thing.
" The songs though are largely nothing special" - definitely right there.
"it feels like some people have been duped by the rock critics." - yep.
We all like different stuff, I get that. But the fawning praise that this band is getting is genuinely beyond me.
I can't understand why everybody who likes it is happy to put up with all the weird keyboard noises that sounds like a five year-old was let loose with some new toys. I know it's probably hard to express in words, but I wouldn't mind some of the people who love this album explaining: is this part of the charm? Do you enjoy listening to those parts or is it just something you put up with because you love other parts of the music? Would you prefer the songs without all this dicking about?
Of course, a little bit here and there if fine but in this case ....I like some Funk and I'm afraid you will find the F word appears more than once in my forthcoming review although it is most definitely a rock album.
Unless you are a Neil Young fan who thinks Rust Never Sleeps wipes the floor with it, an Iron Maiden fan who thinks Live After Death can’t be beaten, or even a general fan of musical and cultural history who thinks the Woodstock film is beyond compare, agreed.It might not be wrong. That SMS is the best concert film ever made is probably beyond dispute.
The 2 tracks that stood out for me were 'life during wartime' + 'what a day that was' both are superb, great funky beats with a bit of synth pop thrown in. Whack the volume up and they sound ace.Re SMS I think it’s a wonderful album, even in it’s original form, as was the movie. Psycho Killer, Girlfriend is Better, Burning down the house are all highlights for me, along with - of course - Once In A Lifetime, which is their greatest song for me (though I do enjoy David Byrne’s solo Lazy equally these days).
8/10
No (though I do like it), never seen it, and absolutely under any circumstances no.Unless you are a Neil Young fan who thinks Rust Never Sleeps wipes the floor with it, an Iron Maiden fan who thinks Live After Death can’t be beaten, or even a general fan of musical and cultural history who thinks the Woodstock film is beyond compare, agreed.
No (though I do like it), never seen it, and absolutely under any circumstances no.
Jonathan Demme is a real film director. This tends to matter to things like, say, the quality of a film.
To put my perspective on it. When I went to this film (that’s movie in ‘Murica) I was about about 21 years old and had up until then been fed on a diet of rock/prog rock with hints of country rock and folk. I didn’t do punk so much yet. I had dabbled with the likes of Bowie and wasn’t big on the new romantic scene and post punk mish mash.No (though I do like it), never seen it, and absolutely under any circumstances no.
Jonathan Demme is a real film director. This tends to matter to things like, say, the quality of a film.