How incredibly amazing is the drummer???
Crazy that he's the drummer for Woodhands too, a bunch of my friends really like Woodhands so I've been trying to sell them on the RAA by association, despite the fact that they aren't exactly similar artists...

Can anyone tell me how to download this album off eMusic? Do I need to be a member (give my credit card and all that)? If so, I'll just stick to their Myspace then. Thanks in advance.

quote:

Originally posted by Elitist_Pretentious:
Can anyone tell me how to download this album off eMusic? Do I need to be a member (give my credit card and all that)? If so, I'll just stick to their Myspace then. Thanks in advance.

Yes, you have to be a member to download it. I think the cheapest membership is $10.99 a month. If you sign up for a trial, I believe you get 25 free downloads. Read the fine print carefully though, because you may get charged for a month if you don't cancel right away.

I think a subscription is well worth it. I get 90% or more of my music through eMu, and it generally costs me between $2.50 and $3 an album (on my subscription, I get 100 downloads monthly for $24.99, so it's about $.25 a download).

This... is a really good album.

Quite good.

It is a good and not-good album. Some cool tracks, some a little bit annoying. But that's better than all of the tracks being annoying. I'm glad it was an emusic purchase of mine, instead of a full cd though- that's what I like to use emusic for, the music I'm less sure of.

I finally got this album, and I think it's just okay. Right now I'd put it in the same category as the Gaslight Anthem -- a couple really good tunes and a bunch of meh ones. I'll listen to it more to see if it grows on me. The singer reminds me of Eef Barzelay and I definitely don't hear any Neutral Milk Hotel.

Whoa, Eef Barzelay? I like Eef and all, and while I can see some slight similarity in the tone of their voices, I think there are pretty dramatic differences. Barzelay is something of a smart-ass and while he can be genuine at times, his overall tone is sarcastic. Nils Edenloff's vocals couldn't be further from sarcastic. I feel he's as heartfelt and genuine as it gets. It's like what band member Amy Cole said in their interview with eMusic:

quote:

Amy: I remember talking to Nils after we finally got the record and I listened to it all the way through the first time. And I remember talking to you and saying, "You know my favorite part about the record is that I believe you. I believe in what you're saying. I totally buy it." And I think you're right, I think that's a hard thing to find in artists, especially on record. Just the total conviction in what they're singing.

I don't really get the NMH comparison, their voices are annoying and that's about it

I liked ~3 songs from this album quite a lot, found the rest kinda average. The rest have failed to grow on me. I can see the NMH comparisons due to his voice, but not much else.

Gotta say guys, I really went into this not expecting to be impressed...

And I wasn't. Sorry.

It's by no means bad, but really just a typical unsigned indie rock act. I gave it a shot. There's absolutely potential in it, but they're not there yet.

quote:

Originally posted by youandwhosearmy:
There's absolutely potential in it, but they're not there yet.

OTM

I don't think this album has really made a name for itself because of it's greatness. I think it's spread among this community so well because it's very palatable. I think a lot of people can enjoy this album because it's sound isn't very divisive.

I wouldn't say it's any more "palatable" than In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, but I suppose you're coming from a point-of-view that considers that album very accessible, and from a certain perspective it is. But this is not an album that I could play to the average person or my mom or your typical radio listener and get any kind of positive reaction. They'd be turned off immediately by his voice and the rawness and visceral quality of the songs.

But seriously, there is no album that everyone here is going to like, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's gained such a following because "it's not really that great, it's just palatable." I mean, I really do not like TV on the Radio, but I'm not gonna say that it's popular here and elsewhere because of some reason other than the fact that it is very well done and people really love it. To say otherwise is to impugn the motives of people here and imply belittle them as not as serious a music fan as yourself, and I think it's a really lame and arrogant thing to do.

I think it's more that heaps of people went into it with high expectations based on the recommendations of some metacritic posters whose taste they admired. People listened to it hard, wanting an undiscovered indie rock treasure, so that's exactly what they heard.

Mind you, one can run the argument that this is how taste works, a lot of the time.

Man, seriously, I can hardly believe you guys. Just because you personally do not like something does not mean that it is in fact without merit. Seriously, get over yourselves. These convoluted, evidence-lacking, psychological theories you are coming up with in order to "prove" that your opinion (that this album is not great) is the correct one and that all others must have ulterior motives really make you look foolish.

Why do people find it so hard to believe that this band made an great album that has the power to strongly affect many people, just not themselves? It's just really silly. If you don't like the album, fine, go ahead and say so, but don't try to explain to people that do like it that the reason they like it isn't because it's good but rather because they've been brainwashed into thinking it's good or simply because it doesn't offend people.

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:


Why do people find it so hard to believe that this band made an great album that has the power to strongly affect many people, just not themselves?

Because I've listened to the album?

Seriously though, why is it that hard to believe that someone could not like this album? I'm not trying to prove that I don't like it, or that it's a bad album. I'm just speculating on why it's become such a 'thing' around here, because I personally don't believe it's just because of the music. There are probably any number of obscure unheard bands that released brilliant albums this year that few of us have heard. Are we really supposed to believe this record is over and above all of them?

Don't get me wrong. I would make the same claim about the popularity of some bands I enjoy. No Age, for example. I like their music, but am I really supposed to believe that these people going gaga over something that sounds remarkably like pre-S&E Pavement is all down to the music itself, and not the hype?

In any case, I never even said this album was bad, or was without merit. I said that it 'absolutely had potential' and was 'by no means bad'. A little backhanded perhaps, but that's exactly the way I feel about it. I'd give it a solid 3 stars.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: youandwhosearmy,

quote:

Originally posted by youandwhosearmy:

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:


Why do people find it so hard to believe that this band made an great album that has the power to strongly affect many people, just not themselves?

Because I've listened to the album?

Seriously though, why is it that hard to believe that someone could not like this album?

I've made it very clear that I fully expect many people to not like the album, just as there will be many people that don't like any album. I accept people's statements at face value when they say they don't like an album. I don't speculate that they really like it but are just lying or are being deceived into thinking that they don't like it when they in fact do.

I'm not saying they don't really like it, or even that they're being deceived into it, exactly. You can't be 'deceived' into liking something. If you like something you like it; it's just not always simply because of the merits of the thing itself.

This is all getting a bit abstract though. Everyone should go back to talking about the album. I've made my unwanted thoughts on it sufficiently known!

The drummer is like... lvl 80. I'll say I like the album well enough, but particularly the drummer.

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
I wouldn't say it's any more "palatable" than In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, but I suppose you're coming from a point-of-view that considers that album very accessible, and from a certain perspective it is. But this is not an album that I could play to the average person or my mom or your typical radio listener and get any kind of positive reaction. They'd be turned off immediately by his voice and the rawness and visceral quality of the songs.

But seriously, there is no album that everyone here is going to like, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's gained such a following because "it's not really that great, it's just palatable." I mean, I really do not like TV on the Radio, but I'm not gonna say that it's popular here and elsewhere because of some reason other than the fact that it is very well done and people really love it. To say otherwise is to impugn the motives of people here and imply belittle them as not as serious a music fan as yourself, and I think it's a really lame and arrogant thing to do.

Uhhh, I enjoy the album quite a bit. Just because I don't consider it "great" and refer to it as "palatable" doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the music. In fact, I thanked you and others for the recommendation in another thread.

It's all relative too. My comments referring to the inclusiveness of the sound were aimed at this community whose members have an eclectic and refined taste in music. So, yes, I do consider the album to be fairly easy to enjoy in such a context. Basically, I think this an album that everyone "gets", like it or not.

I'm not denigrating the album when I say these things, but merely trying to account for its popularity among Metacritic members.