Lawrence Fan wrote:The iTunes bonus tracks don't do anything for me, except for maybe Exurbia.
As far as the order of the 22 track version, I don't think Apple will send any cops out if you renumber the track order. ;)
Give number 21 and 22 a spin with your undivided attention and I suspect you may be pleasantly surprised. The chorus of Bicycle Hotel is moving and Acetone Angels is Jay doing After The Goldrush...
I just CANNOT believe Jay is comfortable singing in that high pitched voice. It works marginally if the content has a little pep to it. Acetone Angel is just awful. Bicycle Hotel is a lot better, but not better than anything on the album.
I do listen to all the songs. At least at first. But I've been bitching about his voice since before Okemah, so it's not like I'm on some new kick. Some songs in his falsetto I can tolerate - even like - but others I just can't bear to listen to. I just wonder if Jay can even do a Punch Drunk or Graveyard Shift anymore.
sigh
I am guessing you a not a Springsteen Falsetto fan either huh? I kinda like the high pitched stuff...that's what makes horseraces I guess.
Lawrence Fan wrote:The iTunes bonus tracks don't do anything for me, except for maybe Exurbia.
As far as the order of the 22 track version, I don't think Apple will send any cops out if you renumber the track order. ;)
Give number 21 and 22 a spin with your undivided attention and I suspect you may be pleasantly surprised. The chorus of Bicycle Hotel is moving and Acetone Angels is Jay doing After The Goldrush...
I just CANNOT believe Jay is comfortable singing in that high pitched voice. It works marginally if the content has a little pep to it. Acetone Angel is just awful. Bicycle Hotel is a lot better, but not better than anything on the album.
I do listen to all the songs. At least at first. But I've been bitching about his voice since before Okemah, so it's not like I'm on some new kick. Some songs in his falsetto I can tolerate - even like - but others I just can't bear to listen to. I just wonder if Jay can even do a Punch Drunk or Graveyard Shift anymore.
Lawrence Fan wrote:The iTunes bonus tracks don't do anything for me, except for maybe Exurbia.
As far as the order of the 22 track version, I don't think Apple will send any cops out if you renumber the track order. ;)
Give number 21 and 22 a spin with your undivided attention and I suspect you may be pleasantly surprised. The chorus of Bicycle Hotel is moving and Acetone Angels is Jay doing After The Goldrush...
Antelope850 wrote:I've been loving this album since I started listening to it on my walk home from work a week ago Monday. It's been my personal soundtrack for 10 days - including a long weekend in Vegas. It seems like a logical progression for SV 2, especially after touring with Derry. I thought I wouldn't like Slow Hearse based on the description in the press release and the :30 I heard on Amazon, but I really like it, especially the Beatleseque guitar/sitar at the end. And I love the way it booms into the horns on The Picture. Adrenaline and Hersey - I first listened to it on Regs Coffehouse and was surprised Reg said it was favorite cut off the album. Then I found myself going back to his site again and again for it. When it gets to that line about She said I love you but I don't know if I want to spend the rest of my time with you, I had the same reaction Grainpulp did - just amazed that these words are on a Jay Farrar song. It's a sad song but in a good way. And it fits perfectly on the album between The Search and Satellite. The album has a great flow - the sequencing of the 22 song version on iTunes is misplaced to me.
Beacon Soul is probably my favorite song - it's surprisingly pretty for the subject matter. L Train kicks ass - I take the subway from/to Brooklyn every day and saw Jay/Anders/Mark in Williamsburg this year. Phosphate Skin is a great closer. The caged bird does sing a deeper blues line leaves a lump in my throat every time. I don't think there's a bad song on the album. If I skip over any songs at the moment it's Meth and Highways, just because I played the hell out of them last month using the links SJ put up here. But they're great songs - Eric Heywood + Jay = magic. And I'm glad the bonus tracks are out there at the same time as the regular album so I don't listen to the same 14 songs over and over again .. just the same 22.
Can't wait for the tour. Wish I could get to more than one show but I think it'll just be Irving Plaza for me.
I agree with Antelope... What a great CD. I have the 22 track itunes, plus the Best Buy Bonus CD plus the Live KCRW show on my ipod shuffle and nothing else.... I love Slow Hearse, Adrenaline, Carnival Blues, Bleed the Line , Bicycle Hotel, and Acetone Angels. Bicyle Hotel may be the best track Farrar has penned to date. Can't wait to see this stuff live... If all they played was the 22 tracks and nothing more, I would not leave disappointed.
I think the first five tracks are just one of the most killer starts to an album I've heard in a long while. I don't like that the iTunes version messes this up a little. I like Adrenaline a lot, but I don't like where it is on the album. It's more of a single song I listen to when I feel like it. I feel like I'm waiting for Meth, which is just a classic Farraresque song. Cigarettes is too, but it feels a little "mailed in," and too classic to the point of being formulaic a bit. Probably would be a great live tune. Love Phosphate Skin's weirdness and Automatic Society swamp-rockness. The extra tracks are all good--especially Bicycle and Exurbia. Bleed the Line is very REM-like to me. I don't like Acetone Angels at all, though.
Didn't take long to sink it and it's still penetrating to different levels. True art!
I'm suprised so many people are down on Automatic Society. I'd rank it in the top 3 songs on the record on lyrics alone.
Other favorites include Meth, Picture and I think The Search might be the perfect example of a SV2 song. If somebody asked me for a song that encompassed the SV2 sound, I think I'd pick that song.
Haven't listened to the bonus tracks as much because I usually start the record from the beginning. I kind of like having some unknown tracks out there for me still.
Methamphetamine is a fantastic song, Jay's "Needle and the Damage Done" if you will (somebody mentioned that in another thread, and its a valid comparison in my book). Its one of my favorite Jay Farrar songs ever, and the album version is nearly as good as the live versions we have been hearing over the years. Too bad there is no room on modern radio for this song. I think the subject matter and lyrics would resonate in a lot of folks out in middle-america where meth is such a problem.
Highways and Cigarettes--lyrically, its also an all-time Jay great. It took me a while to dig the duet, but now its in regular rotation.
Both of these songs would meet the "timeless" standard neverwonagrammy mentioned on his band's board.
My general impression of the album? Its a good one. I think the best songs on the album are the ones where jay lets the lyrics flow instead of seemingly cramming as many words as possible into a song. I would like a raw rock number on the next album and less falsetto, but I am happy with this album overall.
I've been loving this album since I started listening to it on my walk home from work a week ago Monday. It's been my personal soundtrack for 10 days - including a long weekend in Vegas. It seems like a logical progression for SV 2, especially after touring with Derry. I thought I wouldn't like Slow Hearse based on the description in the press release and the :30 I heard on Amazon, but I really like it, especially the Beatleseque guitar/sitar at the end. And I love the way it booms into the horns on The Picture. Adrenaline and Hersey - I first listened to it on Regs Coffehouse and was surprised Reg said it was favorite cut off the album. Then I found myself going back to his site again and again for it. When it gets to that line about She said I love you but I don't know if I want to spend the rest of my time with you, I had the same reaction Grainpulp did - just amazed that these words are on a Jay Farrar song. It's a sad song but in a good way. And it fits perfectly on the album between The Search and Satellite. The album has a great flow - the sequencing of the 22 song version on iTunes is misplaced to me.
Beacon Soul is probably my favorite song - it's surprisingly pretty for the subject matter. L Train kicks ass - I take the subway from/to Brooklyn every day and saw Jay/Anders/Mark in Williamsburg this year. Phosphate Skin is a great closer. The caged bird does sing a deeper blues line leaves a lump in my throat every time. I don't think there's a bad song on the album. If I skip over any songs at the moment it's Meth and Highways, just because I played the hell out of them last month using the links SJ put up here. But they're great songs - Eric Heywood + Jay = magic. And I'm glad the bonus tracks are out there at the same time as the regular album so I don't listen to the same 14 songs over and over again .. just the same 22.
Can't wait for the tour. Wish I could get to more than one show but I think it'll just be Irving Plaza for me.
bentonbourbon wrote:I have the Itunes version and still haven't even listened to it yet, other than Methanphetamine
I know .. but I explained my reason in a previous thread
I had this plan all worked out, thought I'd savor the 14 track version, bust out the 22 track version down the line - sort of a bridge to the next release some 18-24 months from now.
After a week a few more songs emerge from the murk. I wasn't crazy about Slow Hearse and Adrenalin and Phosphate Skin, but now I'm really, really digging those tunes. I still fail to see what is so classic about Meth. It's rather middle of the road. Circadian and Highways are the class of the album, hands down.
I stand by my initial reaction: The Search is a major improvement over Okemah, but it's still not in Volt 1.0 territory, and most definitely not in Anodyne territory. Best word I can think of is Solid, through and through.
I don't care for Automatic Society either, I also skip Circadian, and I've replaced Phosphate with Bicycle Hotel. But I love the album, I agree it's his best since Sebastopol.
;)
