tragabigzanda wrote:Getaway - A fun toss-off that really suffers from the anemic production. I think there’s an enjoyable, if easy, song in here somewhere and I think the chorus succeeds in connecting despite its limitations.
MYM - Dumb song, really fun Mike chorus. I do like the delay effect on Ed’s vocal. Next.
MFS - Best song in the album. Ed songs awesome on the last verse. The guitar colorations are great fun. This song deserves to be surrounded by better material!
Sirens - I think what doesn’t work here isn’t the cheeze, nor the production, nor the “ah-ahs” at the end, all of which have been ridiculed in the past. It’s simply that the composition is really plodding.
LB - If this were a minute shorter and produced like a scrappy little garage number, with Jack or someone groovier on the drums, it could be really fun. But as it stands it’s a piece of shit.
Infallible - I hate how Ed sounds like a lecherous old man when he does his “heh heh heh” mouth breathing thing. This song is neither edgy enough in the verses nor uplifting enough in the chorus. Failed experiment, but I do appreciate the effort.
Pendulum - Would’ve gone to bat for this once upon a time, but repeated performances have worn me down. Some songs should only exist as deep cuts.
Swallowed Whole - There are moments I enjoy, like how Ed sounds on “feel the planet humming,” but overall this song is, like Infallible, simultaneously overworked and undercooked. Does nothing for me one way or another. It’s just there.
LTRP - This is an awesome song, you fools! Stone and Mike are having a blast, and I wish the outro jam went on for another 90 seconds. It’s not their best work but it’s a fun, bluesy bar rock number that has never gotten its proper due. I enjoy the hell out of it.
Sleeping By Myself - I loved the ukulele version. I don’t hate this one, but it’s trying too hard.
Yellow Moon - I think Ed views this song as menacing and poignant. It mostly makes me want to take a nap.
Future Days - Genuinely love the underlying composition, and find great emotion in the “I believe…” part of the song. The production sucks, the vocal take sucks, the piano sucks, so bad that I feel no real need to defend it more than that.
Some thoughts after a few listens the last few days:
I think the writing and choices are much stronger than they get credit for. The production sucks the edge off this album, and I may reproduce it internally.
Getaway - this is my least favorite opener, although I'd probably still listen to it over Sometimes (a better song, but one I pretty much ONLY listen to on a full No Code listen). Maybe the only Lightning Bolt song I skip. It's a groovy bass line they didn't do much interesting with. There are some cool moments they could have built off of (the guitars cutting out of the start of the second verse, the RVM-like sirens at the end), but those are glimpses of what might have been. One of Eddie's weaker lyrics on an album with generally strong writing - I do really like 'everyone's a critic looking back up the river. Every boat is sinking in this town). He has captured the chorus sentiment better elsewhere, including this record.
MYM - Five star triumph. It's not a perfect song - the main riff is not the most exciting thing in the world, especially given how cool the intro and outro are, but it's a great and hugely underappreciated lyric, a strong growly vocal performance that moves away from the more screechy choices on S/T and Backspacer, awesome mike solo, great call and response outro, and really cool transitions into the excellent 'self-realized' chorus.
My Father's Son - great sentiment, but I think the lyrics are a little clunky. Great bridge and top notch music all around. It's a weirdly spooky song. This improved a lot for me on these most recent listens
Sirens - Trag is right - Sirens is a bit plodding and Mike's solo doesn't work. But I like the heartfelt performance (I love the ohs at the end) and Sirens works really well for me if I settle into its pacing
Lightning Bolt - Another triumph. After a weaker first verse (and an on the nose chorus) great lyrics all around, incredible energy that never flags, awesome mini solos after the first verse, genuinely cathartic outro that makes me excited to be alive and for what comes next, and the church bell effect is really cool. It does miss that solo it ramps up for that we never get
Infallible: They reworked this into 7 Oclock, which was much better. One of my favorite lyrics on the album, but Eddie's voice doesn't get menacing enough in the verse or transcendent enough in the chorus, and like I think I said a few pages back the music is more quirky or foreboding - a much darker verse would elevate the chorus. I like Infallible, but I don't love it, and I should.
Pendulum: Production notes aside, I think its a pensive, atmospheric, effective song and I really dig the second half. Love seeing this early in a show
Swallowed Whole: It's an into the wild/REM hybrid that should push every one of my buttons and never quite launches - it feels too indoors. Love the outro, and the transition into the bridge. While Mike does great work on MYM and Lightning Bolt, his more epic solos on this record don't feel like his best stuff
Let the Records Play: I echo Trag's thoughts. This is one of their better cool down songs
Sleeping By Myself: Love this little guy. Should have been the third single. The solo does try too hard (see Swallowed Whole), and doesn't need to be here (this is a song that shuffles and doesn't need that soaring moment), but I love how sheepish this version is.
Yellow Moon - I don't get menacing from this and I don't think that's the vibe. everything feels very intentional, like it is demanding focus on and recognition of every single moment in a scene that would get disturbed by any sudden movement. It does take away from the poignancy of the bridge (and previous Mike solo comments) but I love the feel of this song as a still picture, rather than a moment
Future Days: Yes the piano sucks, and with the caveat that I sang this song to my daughter every night for 6 months to a year.
Future Days (and Sirens) are schmaltzy moments, but Eddie has always been sincere and worn his heart on his sleeve, and this is exactly how the dude on Ten would respond to finally having people in his life he couldn't live without. I wouldn't want every song to be in this space, but I love that these two are.
I still love this record. It's firmly 5 in my rankings. if I went song by song it would roughly be this:
Mind Your Manners
Lightning Bolt
Sleeping By Myself
Sirens
Future Days
Pendulum
Yellow Moon
Swallowed Whole
Let the Records Play
Infallible
My Father's Son
Getaway
Infallible dropped a fair bit, but again I like all these songs but Getaway, which is fine. Swallowed Whole through MFS are all pretty bunched together
