The Album Review Club - Week #125 - (page 1524) - Listen Like Thieves - INXS

journolud said:
Ah so you nominated Cate Le Bon in the cup thread. It intrigued me and I’m likely to give her more of a listen. Where would you recommend I start? Better still tell @RobMCFC you want to nominate one on the album thread. You might be surprised although my nomination of the not totally dissimilar Aldous Harding got a bit monstered.
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I'd say there's similarities with Aldous Harding. Go from the start with the album Me Oh My. Her fifth album Reward was nominated for the Mercury prize. I think sometimes a single song is taken out of context in a thread like that but expected a bashing. I know there's Wilco fans on here and Jeff Tweedy is gushing in praise for her
 
Out on blue 6 said:
I always come on and see what's been put up for selection. I've had plenty of the records put up and may comment on what I think is good. Not that keen on moaning about others selections as they are normally personal to them. Doubt anyone on here has any stomach to listen to a full Cate Le Bon or DJ Shadow album to be honest!!!
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There is a lot that gets put up that many of us don't have the stomach to listen to. Just get nominating and see what happens.
 
journolud said:
Ah so you nominated Cate Le Bon in the cup thread. It intrigued me and I’m likely to give her more of a listen. Where would you recommend I start? Better still tell @RobMCFC you want to nominate one on the album thread. You might be surprised although my nomination of the not totally dissimilar Aldous Harding got a bit monstered.
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I think we have to be honest and say this thread doesn't stray too much from it's normal groove and sometimes stuff outside of that can be given short thrift. I think if there's a core of people who will put some effort into continued listening, especially if first impressions aren't great, then choices outside the norm can still work and it doesn't matter if the score sucks. We've lost a couple of posters like eamo who I think were good at that but personally I think it's good to expand the gene pool.

@Out on blue 6 since your nomination of Cate Le Bon in the song cup I've had a listen to a couple of her albums and personally I would be happy to discuss what I did and didn't like about them on this thread but then I like a lot of female singer songwriters so I may be atypical. I think also some nominations could work without necessarily focusing on the songs themselves if that doesn't sound perverse, for example if something like DJ shadow was nominated on here I personally think there's a really interesting conversation to be had about the nature of different types of sampling albeit not everyone would join in.
 
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I watched the War on Drugs at Glastonbury on iplayer and liked them so the timing of this pick as excellent as I would have inevitably forgot to follow up as I so often do these days :-(

I like both the style of music and the execution on display here. It's a very pleasing mix in which you can hear all sorts of different influences without it sounding derivative. I think the marrying of guitars and synths in a rock context can sometimes come a bit unstuck but they do it really well. I'm not really a big fan of heartland rock type stuff but this is a bit like Bruce Springsteen meets the synth drenched rhythms of Future Islands with shades of the late lamented Mark Hollis, just to name a few, in there. It really worked for me.

Though I wasn't particularly upset by the live recording, prompted by Benny I've listened to some of the studio versions of these songs and I'll definitely be following up. Though I quite like a bit of an intro to songs and don't need everything to be up and at it Ramones style, I do agree with @RobMCFC that there was a bit too much fannying around at times but if you are at one of their gigs I suspect you are no going to mind that at all.

I'm not going to nominate any favourites because I thought the quality was great throughout, doubtless over time I'll come to a conclusion on that front as I listen to more.

Great pick and a highly enjoyable 8.5/10
 
I’ve been enjoying listening to this one. I do like a live recording (see recent Thin Lizzy vote), but I found this didn’t add much to my enjoyment of their music, and the recorded stuff I’ve dipped into was more enjoyable.
Having said that, I like their overall sound and for a band I’ve not heard anything by before, it was quite refreshing. Solid 8/10 for me - would a studio album have made a higher score…..?
 
The War on Drugs. What a right-on lefty name for a group. Maybe that’s why I approached this album with a little trepidation.
Did I like it? Did I fuck. It was like the Barron Knights reborn. Instead of the Beatles, the Stones and Freddie and the Dreamers, we got Dylan, Springsteen, Neil Young and many many many others. If I were to score a band solely on originality this one would get my first zero.
Anyway, that’s that out of the way. I like good live albums and there were bits of this I did like - how couldn’t I based on who they were emulating? The guitar sound was nice in parts. I found none of the songs stood out as particularly strong and the vocals increasingly grated with repeated plays. Despite the lack of originality, the band were pretty tight and as background listening it was pleasant enough. For me though, there was nothing fresh or unique and I would rather listen to those that came before. I can’t give it any more than a 5/10.
 
When I read or here that a live album is better than the studio version of songs I automatically wonder if those songs are so weak that they need to be bolstered somehow by the live experience. Some albums are a bit lifeless though and suffer from poor production and certainly don’t do the music justice. Not quite the music version of comparing the funereal commentary of Martin Tyler as we put our opponents to the sword as opposed to the joy of being there… and as much as you can enjoy watching the highlights later it still loses something.

I like live music and don’t mind if a band plays it straight or changes things a bit, either will do if the occasion is good. I’ve said before though I rarely listen to live albums and at the risk of repeating myself the reason Seconds Out is an exception is because to me Collin’s vocals improve on Gabriel’s studio versions by some way.

The three War on Drugs albums I’m familiar with, the most recent three, don’t have any production problems and have some great moments. Lost in the Dream and a Deeper Understanding can feel a little slow or overlong in places though despite some great tracks and great moments. I Don’t Live Here Anymore doesn’t have those great moments but is a much more consistent album.

This live album strikes a good balance. Subtle changes to some of the songs but mainly faithful renditions and most of them I was familiar with. I was waiting for the guitar break on Strangest Thing which didn’t come but no matter, I still enjoyed it.

Buenos Aires Beach sounds out of place with the rest of it, the cover Accidentally Like a Martyr sounds right at home.

I didn’t mind the noodling at the start of Under the Pressure but suspect it would have felt much better live, building up the anticipation before launching into the song proper.

I’m not sure that this album is going to change my view of live albums, introducing the band members loses it’s novelty well before a chord change or vocal inflection might. This is though a collection of great songs, well delivered and a great introduction to the band. My most recent listen was while driving up through Wales today and it was a great way to soften the journey. The songs from their last two albums probably represent the best songs from those albums but it has made me want to listen to them again. It’s an 8 from me.
 
I'm going to be at my youngest daughter's graduation tomorrow and will be busy most of the day.

@threespires - feel free to drop your clues/name the album any time tomorrow afternoon, and I'll do the score roundup for Live Drugs sometime tomorrow evening.
 
bennyboy said:
My first listen to War on Drugs.
Made my feelings known on the sound quality of the album but loved the songs on it and I thought the guitar work was superb.
Liked the studio versions better so I will definitely be investigating their albums in the future.
Great pick in the end.9/10
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Wow great score BB I knew I’d find an album sooner or later that you actually like. Lol
 
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