The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

[GoatersLeftShin]

I had a listen tonight and to be honest it didn't do much for me. It wasn't bad, but nothing stood out either.

It felt a bit 'by-numbers' at times to be honest in that I've heard many bands play this style of music before. If you'd had said it was the Foo Fighters I'd have believed it, ditto with a few other bands. It's a shame because some of the melodies were decent, but the 'style' of the record just sounded too familiar. In some ways, it's a comforting sound and one that I could put on in the background, but I was also expecting something else. I'd only really heard Many of Horror by them before and I really liked that song, but that was 12 years ago. It just didn't sound like they'd tried to do much else other than that style of music.

I know this review sounds quite critical, but I didn't like or dislike it really. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I'd rather 'feel' something than just feel a bit 'meh'!

I'll give this a 6.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

I've listened to "Infinity Land", the album before "Puzzle", to see what direction they had come from. And I've come to a conclusion.
Where as "Infinity" appears to be a sort of Soundgarden/ early Foo Fighters/ late Nirvana/ Mudhoney grunge type inspired record "Puzzle" appears to be a later Soundgarden/ Foo Fighters grunge lite inspired record. Fair play for moving on, but there doesn't seem as much progression as their web page blurb would have it though.

It also came out within a few months of my favourite Foo Fighters album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace". It's of a similar style but that doesn't mean that they are a Foo light. My trouble is it reminds me of In Your Honor the album before "Echoes". Which came out 2 years before and as such they appear, and I say appear, to be running on the coat tails. Sort of "everyone else is shifting so why don't we?"

All well and good though if it actually is any good and stands out, or indeed stands the test of time.

My answer? No. And maybe. It's not to say I'm not enjoying Puzzle because I am but that it's been done before and more importantly, better. A decade before. I'm listening to some Stone Temple Pilots whilst writing this, can you believe "Plush" was recorded in 1992? Or Soundgarden's seminal "Black Hole Sun" came out in 1994? Puzzle is 2007.

And as an album in the same sort of vein it simply isn't as good as either of the above offerings from a decade before. You could say the same about the Foo Fighters though.

Still, I've listened 5 times now, twice to "Infinity Land" and yet I reached for "Superunknown" as soon as I could. Nope, definitely a decade too later. I might have mentioned that last part a few times.

A score? It's hard to score but I do actually quite like some of it even if it is very familiar.

6/10

It’s not often I’m short on words but basically this is 4/5ths of what I was going to write too. For me, the best Foo record is The Colour And The Shape followed by the first; the rest all have some incredible tunes but are more uneven, and this record felt like a more-uneven-than-most Foos record. And for me, Echoes is more uneven than In Your Honour so this reminded me more of Echoes! Either way, I need to listen more closely to the non-Foo songs before I write. Like you BB I have listened to this five times — more than any record I’ve written on save my own reviews!

I wonder if the reason this band isn’t popular in America is because Grohl is such a hero here and this sounds like such an homage. Were The Monkees popular in the UK?

 

[mancity1]

It’s not often I’m short on words but basically this is 4/5ths of what I was going to write too. For me, the best Foo record is The Colour And The Shape followed by the first; the rest all have some incredible tunes but are more uneven, and this record felt like a more-uneven-than-most Foos record. And for me, Echoes is more uneven than In Your Honour so this reminded me more of Echoes! Either way, I need to listen more closely to the non-Foo songs before I write. Like you BB I have listened to this five times — more than any record I’ve written on save my own reviews!

I wonder if the reason this band isn’t popular in America is because Grohl is such a hero here and this sounds like such an homage. Were The Monkees popular in the UK?

1967 The Monkees outsold the Beatles world wide , they were extremely popular off the back the work they did on TV as much as anything else while the Beatles had their cartoons that didn't translate into direct album and singe sales as the audience were too young to be buyers of music albeit I bought my first record at the age of 8.

In OZ it was definitely at the time the Monkees over the Beatles despite Revolver , SPLHCB and the White Album with school kids wagging the last class to get home to watch them on TV not so much for the music but the branding machine behind them.

As for Grohl he is one of the smartest musicians of his time in terms of what he wants to do and how to go about it.

Very few if any I know don't like him , my 87 year old mother adores him and at worst are ambivalent about him and his music.

If he choses he will continue producing and narrating the music and storyline behind the music which now is as popular if not more popular that the music itself

 

[GornikDaze]

Seeing as there is a lack of reviews for this one I thought I’d chip in. I’ve been a big fan of BIFFY CLYRO over the years. They are well worth seeing live, but the presence of lots of screaming girls is a bit off putting!
I’ve never really thought of the Foo’s analogy, even when I saw them support them at Milton Keynes a few years back.
This isn’t my favourite album but I’d give it a solid 7/10. Lots of decent tunes on this one, particularly Folding Stars and Machines which I’ve seen them perform acoustically. I do prefer the heavier stuff though, and whilst there are few good examples ((Semi Mental and Saturday Superhouse) I always go back Blackened Sky as my album of choice.
I don’t mind the newer stuff, but it’s a sign you’re getting old when you remember any band as they used to be in the good old days ;)

 

[BlueHammer85]

Seeing as there is a lack of reviews for this one I thought I’d chip in.

Reviews normally roll in towards deadline on Wednesday

 

[BimboBob]

It’s not often I’m short on words but basically this is 4/5ths of what I was going to write too. For me, the best Foo record is The Colour And The Shape followed by the first; the rest all have some incredible tunes but are more uneven, and this record felt like a more-uneven-than-most Foos record. And for me, Echoes is more uneven than In Your Honour so this reminded me more of Echoes! Either way, I need to listen more closely to the non-Foo songs before I write. Like you BB I have listened to this five times — more than any record I’ve written on save my own reviews!

I wonder if the reason this band isn’t popular in America is because Grohl is such a hero here and this sounds like such an homage. Were The Monkees popular in the UK?

They weren't as big as in the States but they had one number 1 single, I'm A Believer, and the first two albums also hit the top spot. The TV show was very popular over here.

 

[Saddleworth2]

It’s not often I’m short on words but basically this is 4/5ths of what I was going to write too. For me, the best Foo record is The Colour And The Shape followed by the first; the rest all have some incredible tunes but are more uneven, and this record felt like a more-uneven-than-most Foos record. And for me, Echoes is more uneven than In Your Honour so this reminded me more of Echoes! Either way, I need to listen more closely to the non-Foo songs before I write. Like you BB I have listened to this five times — more than any record I’ve written on save my own reviews!

I wonder if the reason this band isn’t popular in America is because Grohl is such a hero here and this sounds like such an homage. Were The Monkees popular in the UK?

Massive.

 

[Coatigan]

As for Grohl he is one of the smartest musicians of his time in terms of what he wants to do and how to go about it.

Very few if any I know don't like him , my 87 year old mother adores him and at worst are ambivalent about him and his music.

If he choses he will continue producing and narrating the music and storyline behind the music which now is as popular if not more popular that the music itself

There is one hell of a point in this. Totally agree.

 

[RobMCFC]

Puzzle – Biffy Clyro

Thanks for the nomination @Coatigan as I found this an interesting listen.

“Living is a problem because everything dies” is good when it gets going, and I like the orchestration and backing vocals on this, giving it an epic feel.

“A Whole Child Ago” builds from a nice piano intro to an anthemic piece, and “Semi-Mental” is an enjoyably singalong rocker.

There are a couple issues with repetitive singing that had my finger hovering over the skip button: “Who’s got a match” is less than two-and-a-half minutes long yet they seem to spend most of the running time singing “I’m a fire and I’ll burn, burn, burn” tonight. A similarly annoying repetition happens in “9/15ths” – “You’re on a hell-slide? Really? You should have told us!” although I did like the dramatic backing on this one.

I know that they’re from Scotland but it doesn’t sound British (which is a complement from me), following the template laid down by American alternative acts. They do the quiet-loud-quiet-loud thing quite well, and the Foo Fighters comparison is impossible to ignore because that’s who they most sound like, to me at least. To be fair, this is not my genre so I don’t know how Biffy Clyro would rank alongside most of their contemporaries.

I agree with what some others have said: it’s generally a good listen, and you could pick out most of the songs as a decent listen, but there’s nothing that truly stands out alongside the best that alternative rock has to offer. 6/10.

 

[Coatigan]

Puzzle – Biffy Clyro

Thanks for the nomination @Coatigan as I found this an interesting listen.

“Living is a problem because everything dies” is good when it gets going, and I like the orchestration and backing vocals on this, giving it an epic feel.

“A Whole Child Ago” builds from a nice piano intro to an anthemic piece, and “Semi-Mental” is an enjoyably singalong rocker.

There are a couple issues with repetitive singing that had my finger hovering over the skip button: “Who’s got a match” is less than two-and-a-half minutes long yet they seem to spend most of the running time singing “I’m a fire and I’ll burn, burn, burn” tonight. A similarly annoying repetition happens in “9/15ths” – “You’re on a hell-slide? Really? You should have told us!” although I did like the dramatic backing on this one.

I know that they’re from Scotland but it doesn’t sound British (which is a complement from me), following the template laid down by American alternative acts. They do the quiet-loud-quiet-loud thing quite well, and the Foo Fighters comparison is impossible to ignore because that’s who they most sound like, to me at least. To be fair, this is not my genre so I don’t know how Biffy Clyro would rank alongside most of their contemporaries.

I agree with what some others have said: it’s generally a good listen, and you could pick out most of the songs as a decent listen, but there’s nothing that truly stands out alongside the best that alternative rock has to offer. 6/10.

I very much get what you mean, and agree on some of the songs, which I did say there was filler and generic there.

Incedentally I think 9/15ths is hill slide, that due the accent has got written down as hell at various lyric generating sites. One of my top tracks on it actually. The whole album covers what it feels like to fall apart, with that song being the steepest bit, followed by Machines which is an acceptance and a reset.

I will come back on the Foos comparisons later on, I thought whoever mentioned STP earlier had a point.