digster wrote:Binaural to me is inconsistent only in the sense that it's high points are so good (as in, absolute best of catalog good) that even the good and really good songs look slightly pale in comparison. I'd say Soon Forget is the only thing approaching a turkey, and that's even not that bad. Everything else is strong; I left that "first 3 tracks is garbage" stuff in the dust a while ago.
Breakerfall is fine. Certainly as good or better than most of Backspacer. Gods Dice is probably in my bottom 5 of all PJ songs. Evacuation is fun and interesting, but grates on me a bit. So, while I don't think all three are "garbage," I do think one of them is, and the other two are skip-able.
Light Years hasn't aged well for me. It's fine, but nowhere near as powerful/interesting/meaningful as it was when I first heard it. And I'll pound Stip's "Puzzles and Games is superior" drum.
Soon Forget is better forgotten, and the sooner the better. (
) But seriously, I like it better than Gods' Dice, but only because it isn't trying as hard.
That means there are five songs on Binaural that I prefer not to listen to; that are either mediocre or terrible. Now, Nothing As It Seems, Insignificance, and Sleight Of Hand are three of PJ's best songs. Rival isn't far behind. That's only 4 songs that I think are great - one less than the songs I prefer not to listen to.
That leaves five songs in the middle. That makes for a very inconsistent album, for me.
