Band of Horses - Everything all the Time

I'm sorry but I can't really understand what all the big fuss is about this band.
1. They aren't doing anything new. It just sounds uninspired.
2. You can't hear any of the lyrics.
3. The singer's voice gets on my nerves, and I can stand a lot of singers.

Yeah, the Band of Horses hype mystifies me. It sounds so sterile I don't even actively dislike it. It gets the same reaction out of me that radio static does.

Band of Horses:

1. Melodic riffs, marriage of voice and sound WORKS, The Funeral kicks my ass.
2. Great lyrics, I can understand them for one
3. Personal preference

I see a lot of people posting debut albums. Isn't it more just what that band sounds like then a dissapointment at that point? Seems like you should have expectations in the first place for something to be dissapointing. I guess you could have expectations from reviews and recomendations, but that doesn't seem like enough to label something dissapointing.

I think of a dissapointing album to be from a band that you liked their past work, then they release something that just isn't all that great.

I thought that was kind of funny too.

Well the reason I posted Band of Horses is because it did disappoint me when I saw how many people and critics were raving about it. Even the guy with the first post on this forum metioned the Tapes n Tapes debut. I guess it's all a matter of opinion though.

The most disappointing record this year so far was News & Tributes, because I loved The Futureheads, and this new album struck me as kind of average. There are a few good tracks, but it's just not nearly as good as their debut.

The Raconteurs was slightly disappointing, only because I love the White Stripes so much. But after a while, it kind of grew on me. I just really hope Jack goes back to The White Stripes now.

I'll repeat the Strokes and Lips.
It's been a disappointing year.
I'll add Alejandro Escovedo, Calexico, Thom Yorke, and Frank Black (who seems chronically disappointing, BUT a Pixies acoustic live dvd is coming out soon)

But, TV On the Radio have a new album out Tuesday.
And I thought Fox Confessor was great!

quote:

Originally posted by less_success:
I see a lot of people posting debut albums. Isn't it more just what that band sounds like then a dissapointment at that point? Seems like you should have expectations in the first place for something to be dissapointing. I guess you could have expectations from reviews and recomendations, but that doesn't seem like enough to label something dissapointing.

I think of a dissapointing album to be from a band that you liked their past work, then they release something that just isn't all that great.

Maybe it SHOULDN'T, but hype can leave debuts labelled 'disappointments' quite often. Just ask most of the people on these boards how they feel about the Arctic Monkeys...

It's a bigger deal now with all the viral hype spread on the Internet. Could Dylan, or the Beatles, or any other fave have been able to live up to the months of blogger fanfare and advance hype with their debuts???

The new Matthew Freidberger disks are pretty dissapointing.

He's just treading water.

Hell, at least Bitter Tea was pretty good.

Of Friedberger's two albums, I've only heard Winter Women, supposedly the more accessible of the two. I agree, it's pretty lame. I didn't like Bitter Tea either, but even it was better than this. I'm starting to lose all faith in Friedberger. Blueberry Boat remains an all-time favorite of mine, and EP and Gallowsbird's Park are favorites of mine as well, but everything since EP has been rank. Maybe this well has run dry. Oh well. Time to move on.

I' not giving up hope, simply because Rehearsing My Choir, these two disks, and Bitter Tea were all made roughly around the same time. So, hopefully, the next one will sound different.

I guess that's a good way of looking at it.

After listening to the new Mountain Goats album, Get Lonely, 3 times, I've gotta say it's a bit disappointing. There aren't any real weak songs, but nothing too strong either (except maybe "Maybe Sprout Wings"). Just a bunch of middling songs. The songs are all laid-back, medium-tempo, not particularly sad, not happy. The arrangements are not minimal but not as lush as his previous album either. Darnielle doesn't change the form of his medolies one bit either. All medium register notes full of momentary pauses followed by a rapid string of notes during the verse along with simple choruses. It's just a really, really, unremarkable album.

Admittedly, I haven't scrutinized the lyrics much, and lyrics rae a pretty big part of Mountain Goats songs, but I usually don't unless the music is good. Seems kind of a waste of time to me to examine lyrics not accompanied by good music.

At least I know I probably won't have to wait long to see if he bounces back with another strong album. That's one thing I love about Darnielle: the dude is always writing songs, and you never have to wait long for new stuff. That's refreshing in these days when some artists take 3 or even 4 years between releases (I'm looking at you Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, Boards of Canada, Wrens, Notwist, Explosions in the Sky, Shins, etc.). I still like those bands despite their slow production. So really, when you look at it, Darnielle's doing much better than them, since he releases at least as many good albums per year as those guys plus more material, which, though not great, still has some good stuff on it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: the Mountain Goats are still one of my favorite bands.

I'd have to say the most disappointing album this year would be Elefant's "Black Magic Show". "Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid" was lighthearted and a good listen, and "Misfit" was a great single. However the new album is just boring to me. Also, I expected the Streets new album to be as good as the last two releases, but the new one is just decnet.

I really enjoyed Elefant's debut but I really dislike the new sound they chose for Black Magic Show. I wouldn't list it as a disappointment though because Elefant was one of those bands where, even after hearing their stellar "Sunlight...", I wasn't sure if they were more than a "one good album" band. Still, Annie is one of my favorite songs.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
Maybe it SHOULDN'T, but hype can leave debuts labelled 'disappointments' quite often

I guess I can see that to some degree. I always take good reviews with a grain of salt, but I can see how good aggregate reviews could create some expectation, even for a debut. It's certainly much more dissapointing when a band you like releases a bad album, though.

young people - all at once

Their first two albums were fantastic, but this one is pretty blah. They had somebody leave - I think that's why the chemistry is gone.

I was also disappointed by Band of Horses. "The Funeral," the track that everyone and their moms seem to love, is okay at best. It's all been done before... like a million times.

quote:

young people - all at once

Their first two albums were fantastic, but this one is pretty blah. They had somebody leave - I think that's why the chemistry is gone.

I didn't mind that album but you have to be in the right state of mind to enjoy it. It is very minimalist and dark but it's rewarding nonetheless. It's one that I go back to about once a month and like it just because it is so different.