What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Binaural

[VinylGuy]

Love them....the bass line of Breakerfall is everything.

[bodysnatcher]

Gods' Dice is really underrated

[Norah]

Gods' Dice is really underrated

Absolutely.

[Strat]

I used to discredit Gods Dice until I stopped being an idiot.

I really love it now. It has such a natural drive to it. The key change is fantastic as well.

[Chris_H_2]

Binaural's biggest flaw is that it happens to follow the band's best album and therefore sound disappointing to some.

[zeb]

I don't hate the first two songs, I just think that they are the weakest tunes on the album.

They're much much better than the first and second tracks from their last three records.

[LetMeSleep]

My issue with Binaural is the pacing and sequencing. Even though the songs are pretty much great, it stumbles and never gets the momentum I feel it needs.

Strongest tail of any PJ album without a doubt.

[Birds in Hell]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

[Leatherhead]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

What's the original?

[Norah]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

What's the original?

"Breakerfall"
"Insignificance"
"Evacuation"
"Letter to the Dead"
"Rival"
"Grievance"
"Light Years"
"Of the Girl"
"Thin Air"
"Nothing as It Seems"
"Fatal"
"Sleight of Hand"
"Soon Forget"
"In the Moonlight"
"Parting Ways"
"Education"

[digster]

I've tried that tracklist a few times, and alot of people on the board swear by it, but honestly it's always sounded like a mess to me. The songs are great enough to easily transcend it, but I think what we ended up getting overall makes more sense.

[bada]

I like it up through Light Years then its too many slow jams in a row.

[Birds in Hell]

I like it up through Light Years then its too many slow jams in a row.

That's what I love so much about it, that long stretch of downbeat material is like nothing else in their catalogue.

[digster]

I like it up through Light Years then its too many slow jams in a row.

That's part of it; I don't think necessarily grouping NAIS, Fatal and Sleight of Hand together elevates them. They're operating on a similar plane, but they don't really build off each other. Insignificance for me comes way, way too early; it's arguably the heaviest and densest song on the record, and it kind of acts as a centerpiece and culmination of the first half on the official version. The Breakerfall/Gods Dice pairup works so well for me because of the brevity and accessibility of the songs; you get to enjoy some quick rave ups before PJ presents you with some relatively challenging material. Insignificance at number 2 feels like it gets shortchanged. The placement of In the Moonlight and Education is also puzzling to me.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

The placement of In the Moonlight and Education is also puzzling to me.

Interesting that the Lost Dogs promo CD contains the original "Binaural" mixes of Sad and Fatal, but has rough sketches of In The Moonlight and Education, which were both supposedly completed during the sessions. Perhaps the album was intended to end with "Soon Forget", and those last three song titles were tacked on somehow, and were not available to the compilers of the promo CD?

[Leatherhead]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

What's the original?

"Breakerfall"
"Insignificance"
"Evacuation"
"Letter to the Dead"
"Rival"
"Grievance"
"Light Years"
"Of the Girl"
"Thin Air"
"Nothing as It Seems"
"Fatal"
"Sleight of Hand"
"Soon Forget"
"In the Moonlight"
"Parting Ways"
"Education"

No "Gods' Dice"?


NO DICE!

[PHATJ]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

What's the original?

"Breakerfall"
"Insignificance"
"Evacuation"
"Letter to the Dead"
"Rival"
"Grievance"
"Light Years"
"Of the Girl"
"Thin Air"
"Nothing as It Seems"
"Fatal"
"Sleight of Hand"
"Soon Forget"
"In the Moonlight"
"Parting Ways"
"Education"

No "Gods' Dice"?


NO DICE!

Agreed. Replace fatal with god's dice.

[ridleybradout]

I've been listening to the original (and significantly superior) tracklisting for so long now that I can't remember the order on the official release.

What's the original?

"Breakerfall"
"Insignificance"
"Evacuation"
"Letter to the Dead"
"Rival"
"Grievance"
"Light Years"
"Of the Girl"
"Thin Air"
"Nothing as It Seems"
"Fatal"
"Sleight of Hand"
"Soon Forget"
"In the Moonlight"
"Parting Ways"
"Education"

No "Gods' Dice"?


NO DICE!

Agreed. Replace fatal with god's dice.

No way. Fatal stays. I still have Gods' Dice in the Track 2 slot, it transitions surprisingly well into Insignificance.

I really like Education at the end, I've always thought it has a 'hidden track' vibe about it.

[@SkitchP]

Stop with the retracking bullshit.


#TeamRealBinaural

[mikejasond]

Ive said it before. Ive said it again.

They started with the three worst songs on the album.

There is a lot of good on Binaural, but the three rockers at the beginning are probably like the flattest songs in the whole catalog to me, along with some Riot Act tracks. Man it just does absolutely nothing for me.

It sets the tone for a flat rock album that just isn't anything close to as good as their older stuff. There are a lot of nice songs on the album though hidden behind those songs setting things off on the wrong foot.

Also apparently some of the songs on Lost Dogs that are actually really good were left off of this one. If Sad, Fatal, and In the Moonlight were supposed to be on here that's a shame.