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The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
No, I do that as well. It's funny because I tend to listen to the album I love and then think "oh, some people will/won't like that bit!" It's interesting listen to one of your treasures with more critical ears, rather than just sitting back and enjoying it.Anyone else tend to listen to their own nomination 3 times in that week with everyone else? Or that it just me?
journolud
Well-Known Member
I’m alternating this week between yours and mine which is coming up. By the time it’s up it’s too late.Anyone else tend to listen to their own nomination 3 times in that week with everyone else? Or that it just me?
I think there is a vein of melancholy that runs through every Scot that this guy tapped into through the authenticity and honesty Of his lyrics. Really quite vivid but bleak.I have listened to it through three or four times but need more.
Have a listen to the song Scottish Winds, see how that resonates with you. It is on an EP, but it is available on spotify. In particular the ending verse, with the softening and humbler step down from the initial big bravado. Pure Burns, and I think taps into a nature and a self reflective side.
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Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2014
- Messages
- 21,711
Its a lovely song.Have a listen to the song Scottish Winds, see how that resonates with you. It is on an EP, but it is available on spotify. In particular the ending verse, with the softening and humbler step down from the initial big bravado. Pure Burns, and I think taps into a nature and a self reflective side.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Painting of a Panic Attack – Frightened Rabbit
Whenever somebody nominates a British indie band, my heart sinks. I can’t help it. It’s like a psychosomatic reaction. Most of them can’t sing: they have an atonal quality that my ears just can’t get around and most of them can't string worthwhile lyrics together – or at least they are not singing about stuff that is as interesting as their American counterparts. I’m probably wrong, it’s probably me, but that’s the way I am, let’s just park it there.
So, it’s a pleasant surprise to report that I found myself enjoying some of Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack. It’s perhaps ironic that some of this enjoyment is spoiled by the meddling of an American indie guitarist!
First comment: thanks to @Coatigan for nominating this. I have listened to this more than I have listened to any of the other nominations: not because it’s all great, but because I was trying to pick out what did and didn’t work for me. But in the process of listening three times to the album in full, and four or five times to some of the tracks, it did go up in my estimation.
To reflect my journey from “don’t like it at all” to “there’s some interesting stuff here”, I’ll start with the bad points first.
For me, the main drawback of this album is Aaron Dessner’s production. The piano that appears throughout has a dull rather than natural sound and the guitars don’t ring or buzz like they’re supposed to. A lot of the rhythms seem to be created by electronic drums, and oddball sounds clutter the mix.
A couple of examples to illustrate this: “I Wish I Was Sober” – an OK song, but when the weird electronic bombast starts around 1:20, it’s just too much – I don’t know what this is supposed to bring to the music. “Woke Up Hurting” is worse – that background/electronics/sequencing that I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is drenches most the song. This would be an ideal exhibit of overproduction killing a song. With its electronic “hand-clapping” drums at the climax, this is just plain awful to be honest.
Any benefit of the natural-sounding acoustic guitar at the start of “Still Want to be Here” is ruined by an awful lyric: It’s a shame because the guy could obvious write a poetic and heartfelt lyric and then he comes out with: “There is shit all over the street outside our house.” The electronic and profanity combine on this song to ruin what is a nice melody.
There are other examples of the two Ps (Profanity and Production) throughout the album, but that would be labouring the point. Now let’s get onto the good stuff. On “Get Out”, the melody that evolves out of the electronic drums and scuzzy sounds is nice and when it explodes into the anthemic chorus, it’s a tremendous hook, despite the grim subject matter. I really liked this song. Whilst I’ve only heard two Arcade Fie albums (and own one of them), this song reminds me of the Canadian band.
“Little Drum” has a nice little oriental melody running through the song, on the “I waited for the crash to come” vocal, which gains momentum near the end of the track.
“400 Bones” has some nice turns of phrase: “This is my safehouse in the hurricane”.
In a rare case of the production working, the ominous sound at the start of “Lump Street” is effective and this is a song that builds nicely, especially after the break in the middle where it suddenly picks up the pace.
Finally – a guitar that sounds like a guitar is supposed to! The acoustic at the start of “Die Like A Rich Boy” is nice and this is a really good song. “And if the raincoats come to steal my home” – I don’t know what it means, but I like the imagery.
I watched the videos posted by Coatigan plus the other live performances on The Bridge session and the sound is so much better. It just shows how good some artists can sound when you strip away some of the pointless production gimmicks. I also listened to about half the “The Midnight Organ Fight” album and the more immediate sound with the strumming of the acoustic is more up my street.
In summary, I can’t look past the overproduction, which means that the album really isn’t to my taste. I’ve said it about Beck before: the more he twiddles with the knobs, the worse his albums are. But there’s no doubt that there are some poignant moments on Painting of a Panic Attack, and I did enjoy the experience. I’ll give it a 6/10, which would have been a 7 with a more toned-down production and less swearing.
Whenever somebody nominates a British indie band, my heart sinks. I can’t help it. It’s like a psychosomatic reaction. Most of them can’t sing: they have an atonal quality that my ears just can’t get around and most of them can't string worthwhile lyrics together – or at least they are not singing about stuff that is as interesting as their American counterparts. I’m probably wrong, it’s probably me, but that’s the way I am, let’s just park it there.
So, it’s a pleasant surprise to report that I found myself enjoying some of Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack. It’s perhaps ironic that some of this enjoyment is spoiled by the meddling of an American indie guitarist!
First comment: thanks to @Coatigan for nominating this. I have listened to this more than I have listened to any of the other nominations: not because it’s all great, but because I was trying to pick out what did and didn’t work for me. But in the process of listening three times to the album in full, and four or five times to some of the tracks, it did go up in my estimation.
To reflect my journey from “don’t like it at all” to “there’s some interesting stuff here”, I’ll start with the bad points first.
For me, the main drawback of this album is Aaron Dessner’s production. The piano that appears throughout has a dull rather than natural sound and the guitars don’t ring or buzz like they’re supposed to. A lot of the rhythms seem to be created by electronic drums, and oddball sounds clutter the mix.
A couple of examples to illustrate this: “I Wish I Was Sober” – an OK song, but when the weird electronic bombast starts around 1:20, it’s just too much – I don’t know what this is supposed to bring to the music. “Woke Up Hurting” is worse – that background/electronics/sequencing that I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is drenches most the song. This would be an ideal exhibit of overproduction killing a song. With its electronic “hand-clapping” drums at the climax, this is just plain awful to be honest.
Any benefit of the natural-sounding acoustic guitar at the start of “Still Want to be Here” is ruined by an awful lyric: It’s a shame because the guy could obvious write a poetic and heartfelt lyric and then he comes out with: “There is shit all over the street outside our house.” The electronic and profanity combine on this song to ruin what is a nice melody.
There are other examples of the two Ps (Profanity and Production) throughout the album, but that would be labouring the point. Now let’s get onto the good stuff. On “Get Out”, the melody that evolves out of the electronic drums and scuzzy sounds is nice and when it explodes into the anthemic chorus, it’s a tremendous hook, despite the grim subject matter. I really liked this song. Whilst I’ve only heard two Arcade Fie albums (and own one of them), this song reminds me of the Canadian band.
“Little Drum” has a nice little oriental melody running through the song, on the “I waited for the crash to come” vocal, which gains momentum near the end of the track.
“400 Bones” has some nice turns of phrase: “This is my safehouse in the hurricane”.
In a rare case of the production working, the ominous sound at the start of “Lump Street” is effective and this is a song that builds nicely, especially after the break in the middle where it suddenly picks up the pace.
Finally – a guitar that sounds like a guitar is supposed to! The acoustic at the start of “Die Like A Rich Boy” is nice and this is a really good song. “And if the raincoats come to steal my home” – I don’t know what it means, but I like the imagery.
I watched the videos posted by Coatigan plus the other live performances on The Bridge session and the sound is so much better. It just shows how good some artists can sound when you strip away some of the pointless production gimmicks. I also listened to about half the “The Midnight Organ Fight” album and the more immediate sound with the strumming of the acoustic is more up my street.
In summary, I can’t look past the overproduction, which means that the album really isn’t to my taste. I’ve said it about Beck before: the more he twiddles with the knobs, the worse his albums are. But there’s no doubt that there are some poignant moments on Painting of a Panic Attack, and I did enjoy the experience. I’ll give it a 6/10, which would have been a 7 with a more toned-down production and less swearing.
Painting of a Panic Attack – Frightened Rabbit
Whenever somebody nominates a British indie band, my heart sinks. I can’t help it. It’s like a psychosomatic reaction. Most of them can’t sing: they have an atonal quality that my ears just can’t get around and most of them can't string worthwhile lyrics together – or at least they are not singing about stuff that is as interesting as their American counterparts. I’m probably wrong, it’s probably me, but that’s the way I am, let’s just park it there.
So, it’s a pleasant surprise to report that I found myself enjoying some of Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack. It’s perhaps ironic that some of this enjoyment is spoiled by the meddling of an American indie guitarist!
First comment: thanks to @Coatigan for nominating this. I have listened to this more than I have listened to any of the other nominations: not because it’s all great, but because I was trying to pick out what did and didn’t work for me. But in the process of listening three times to the album in full, and four or five times to some of the tracks, it did go up in my estimation.
To reflect my journey from “don’t like it at all” to “there’s some interesting stuff here”, I’ll start with the bad points first.
For me, the main drawback of this album is Aaron Dessner’s production. The piano that appears throughout has a dull rather than natural sound and the guitars don’t ring or buzz like they’re supposed to. A lot of the rhythms seem to be created by electronic drums, and oddball sounds clutter the mix.
A couple of examples to illustrate this: “I Wish I Was Sober” – an OK song, but when the weird electronic bombast starts around 1:20, it’s just too much – I don’t know what this is supposed to bring to the music. “Woke Up Hurting” is worse – that background/electronics/sequencing that I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is drenches most the song. This would be an ideal exhibit of overproduction killing a song. With its electronic “hand-clapping” drums at the climax, this is just plain awful to be honest.
Any benefit of the natural-sounding acoustic guitar at the start of “Still Want to be Here” is ruined by an awful lyric: It’s a shame because the guy could obvious write a poetic and heartfelt lyric and then he comes out with: “There is shit all over the street outside our house.” The electronic and profanity combine on this song to ruin what is a nice melody.
There are other examples of the two Ps (Profanity and Production) throughout the album, but that would be labouring the point. Now let’s get onto the good stuff. On “Get Out”, the melody that evolves out of the electronic drums and scuzzy sounds is nice and when it explodes into the anthemic chorus, it’s a tremendous hook, despite the grim subject matter. I really liked this song. Whilst I’ve only heard two Arcade Fie albums (and own one of them), this song reminds me of the Canadian band.
“Little Drum” has a nice little oriental melody running through the song, on the “I waited for the crash to come” vocal, which gains momentum near the end of the track.
“400 Bones” has some nice turns of phrase: “This is my safehouse in the hurricane”.
In a rare case of the production working, the ominous sound at the start of “Lump Street” is effective and this is a song that builds nicely, especially after the break in the middle where it suddenly picks up the pace.
Finally – a guitar that sounds like a guitar is supposed to! The acoustic at the start of “Die Like A Rich Boy” is nice and this is a really good song. “And if the raincoats come to steal my home” – I don’t know what it means, but I like the imagery.
I watched the videos posted by Coatigan plus the other live performances on The Bridge session and the sound is so much better. It just shows how good some artists can sound when you strip away some of the pointless production gimmicks. I also listened to about half the “The Midnight Organ Fight” album and the more immediate sound with the strumming of the acoustic is more up my street.
In summary, I can’t look past the overproduction, which means that the album really isn’t to my taste. I’ve said it about Beck before: the more he twiddles with the knobs, the worse his albums are. But there’s no doubt that there are some poignant moments on Painting of a Panic Attack, and I did enjoy the experience. I’ll give it a 6/10, which would have been a 7 with a more toned-down production and less swearing.
You have said nothing that I couldn't have expected you to say. And there is nothing in there I would really disagree with either, outwith the 'I don't mind that' different takes on it. Production I think you have nailed, and as mentioned before, something that I had to learn to like on it, and now do. Enjoyed reading it.
Edit, could have picked Midnight Organ Fight to put forward, but that would have been too easy. Needed to give you something to complain about ;)
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RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Ha ha. I wasn't really complaining, more of an objective analysis. I do own and enjoy albums where you could argue that the production is too much, and sometimes it can be hard to say why one thing works and another doesn't. That's why I picked the examples and in one case the exact timestamp to nail down exactly what I wasYou have said nothing that I couldn't have expected you to say. And there is nothing in there I would really disagree with either, outwith the 'I don't mind that' different takes on it. Production I think you have nailed, and as mentioned before, something that I had to learn to like on it, and now do. Enjoyed reading it.
Edit, could have picked Midnight Organ Fight to put forward, but that would have been too easy. Needed to give you something to complain about ;)
I must admit, despite my moans about the production, I actually preferred his voice on this one to The Midnight Organ Fight, and like I said, I did actually got a lot out of the process and re-listening. I really didn't like it on first listen but as with a lot of music, other aspects revealed themselves on repeat listens.
Mancitydoogle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 7 Aug 2017
- Messages
- 1,559
I do the same , I give my upcoming nomination a few listens in the week beforeI’m alternating this week between yours and mine which is coming up. By the time it’s up it’s too late.
to reconfirm my choice.
mancity2012_eamo
Well-Known Member
I’ve talked myself out of a few by doing that.I do the same , I give my upcoming nomination a few listens in the week before
to reconfirm my choice.