Red Mosquito

bodysnatcher wrote:i made a mix of my favorite songs from those two albums, and it turned out to be shorter than Backspacer

So was mine....ten songs.

Lament wrote:

stip wrote:

Lament wrote:Yeah. Backspacer is a tremendous and gorgeously mature album that a band can only make after they've gotten the manic and maniacal rage of albums like No Code, Yield, and Binaural out of their system.

I know we all wish they could tap back into the sheer fury of songs like Who You Are, Off He Goes, Around The Bend, Faithfull, All Those Yesterdays, Of The Girl, Sleight of Hand, and Parting Ways. It's understandable. But instead we get the aged wisdom of Supersonic, Big Wave, and Ole.

Appreciate it, naysayers.

backspacer is a mature album about not taking what you have for granted.. It's not a gorgeous album but it's not trying to be either.

otherwise, that's a fairly hostile response for no reason, isn't it?

Do you really think either Backspacer or S/T are one of the three most mature artistic statements they've made? Not just the messages, but everything, music, artwork, etc.? I think on the whole Backspacer is probably the most juvenile thing they've done, and even S/T doesn't strike me as particularly mature (certainly no more so than the four records that preceded it).

Backspacer may not be the mature record but it certainly shows a maturity from the band that they can make something so unhindered and with moments of unbridled joy. That they/Ed aren't/isn't taking themselves so seriously all the fucking time is a huge progression.

LetMeSleep wrote:

verb_to_trust wrote:Backspacer sounds like it does because sometimes its too hard to make a really thoughtful piece of art, not because it is intentionally simplistic or 'unbridled' due to artistic choice. It requires lots and lots of effort to make a great record. It becomes even more difficult to pull off when you decide that being rich and having a family is pretty fun....

Whilst I almost agree with you, I believe BS once again suffers from the production. Early on it seems that BO'B and Ed/PJ decided that an immediate, concise and uncluttered record was the brief. They certainly delivered it. Most of the tracks (in my opinion) suffer from a lack of breathing space. GSMF, GS and JG all leave me wanting a bit more musically, maybe jamming at the outro or some space between the vocals. It's not until FoN that we get the return of our investment of a musical outro.

I like BS but there's too much Eddie and not enough music. And when there is a musical break, often it's too forced (see AtW end of solo. fucking awful).

Additionally, a track like UK feels rushed. With a bit more space and a bit more music it could have not felt so deliberate.
Someone wrote that there's an Ed ep in here (JB, TEnd, SoS, possibly UK). If 2 of these tracks on BS were replaced with looser arranged tracks like Of The Earth then I would have loved the album. Personally, I really like the 1-4 run and the 6-10 doesn't grind my gears either.

Lament wrote:

bodysnatcher wrote:i made a mix of my favorite songs from those two albums, and it turned out to be shorter than Backspacer

Was it shorter than Merkinball?

I've played BS maybe three times in the past three years thinking - perhaps it wasn't that bad. I usually make it to the end of Johnny Guitar before pressing stop and then waiting another 12 months. Even though I don't need to ever listen to it again, its mere existence often depresses me. I suppose that makes me a naysayer?

I did a bunch of retracks a couple of months ago and I had to combing S/T and BS - here's what I came up with:

Golden State
Got Some
Unemployable
Just Breathe
Amongst the waves
Unknown Thought
Parachutes
Army Reserve
Better Days
The End


I don't remember if I had settled on that for the track order, but I think it's a decent enough album.

Heres one..
1. Severed Hand
2. World Wide Suicide
3. Marker In The Sand
4. Better Days
5. Amongst the Waves
6. Parachutes
7. Santa Cruz
8. Comatose
9. Unemployble
10. Gone (demo)
11. Army Reserve
12. Speed of Sound
13. Inside Job
14. The End

I didn't want to get rid of Come Back but I couldn't fit it in anywhere.

nightmareblack0206 wrote:I agree. Cannot combine them. One is good (ST) and the other is crap

I didn't really mean combine the 2 albums. I guess I should of said something like "take the best from each, and you got a solid album's worth of material".

How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

tommymctom wrote:How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

I have always loved it, lyrics and all.

tommymctom wrote:How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

That's the common opinion of the song.

I like the song a lot until Ed starts singing. Then, it takes a nosedive. I actually don't mind it as a live song. It allows me to not really focus on the lyrics.

WtOB? wrote:

tommymctom wrote:How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

I have always loved it, lyrics and all.

Were you blues02 on the old board?

EJ wrote:

tommymctom wrote:How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

That's the common opinion of the song.

I like the song a lot until Ed starts singing. Then, it takes a nosedive. I actually don't mind it as a live song. It allows me to not really focus on the lyrics.

The only time I have liked it is the live jams they do towards the end of the song. Other than that, it's not my bag.

It's okay. the lyrics are a little overwrought in places but since they are coming from Mike and reflect a deeply personal experience I can forgive it. It doesn't make it good, but I mind less.

I feel like the body of the song needs to be more ambitious given the long build up.

stip wrote:
I feel like the body of the song needs to be more ambitious given the long build up.

Agreed, it turns it into a really generic song, which really does not at all match the spookier atmospheric build up. But, I guess, that change was meant to symbolize a cathartic release from a darker moment.

Just a missed opportunity.

EJ wrote:

stip wrote:
I feel like the body of the song needs to be more ambitious given the long build up.

Agreed, it turns it into a really generic song, which really does not at all match the spookier atmospheric build up. But, I guess, that change was meant to symbolize a cathartic release from a darker moment.

Just a missed opportunity.

Intro sounds like AIC to me. Not sure which song. And the way the drums come in is off putting. And it's rather average.

LetMeSleep wrote:

EJ wrote:

stip wrote:
I feel like the body of the song needs to be more ambitious given the long build up.

Agreed, it turns it into a really generic song, which really does not at all match the spookier atmospheric build up. But, I guess, that change was meant to symbolize a cathartic release from a darker moment.

Just a missed opportunity.

Intro sounds like AIC to me. Not sure which song. And the way the drums come in is off putting. And it's rather average.

I think I'm in the minority who think that the music and arrangement are awful. The majority appear to have drumgasms over the intro but I think it's harmonically dull and melodically uninteresting. From there it gets worst with awkward chord changes breaking up stock progressions and a groove-starved rhythm section. It reminds me of Mike's various videos of himself demonstrating that outside of his impressive blues soloing ability (which alone makes him awesome) he largely just messes around with open chords with amateur-level hammer-ons. It makes me sad that someone like Mike (apparently) hasn't bothered to study any music theory in the 23 years since he was guaranteed never to have to work a day job again.

Backspacer isn't a bad record...I find the idea that it's just terrible as laughable as the idea that it's great. It isn't at all directionless, or a lazy retread, or even remotely a failure at what it wants to be.

The problem, to me, is that what it wants to be is something I find totally forgettable and uninteresting. It almost sounds like a greatest hits package from a very mid level pop rock outfit...like the strongest moments that an ordinary band has to offer. And the thing is, when you hear that kind of package, it's not the sound of failure or humiliating ineptitude; it's the sound of very calculated ambition.

Not creativity, mind you. Not inventiveness, or fire, or lust...ambition.

Those kinds of bands do tend to make for great and simple radio fodder. They're harmless and hummable and completely replaceable. They represented a huge selection of what was on the dial in the 90's. Remember?

No...of course you don't. After all, why would you waste your time on something like that?

tommymctom wrote:How do people feel about Inside Job these days?

Musically I quite like it, but I have a lot of trouble getting past the lyrics.

Musically, it's just boring and inoffensive. Lyrically, it's one of the worst things I have ever heard, by this band or any other. Those lyrics are terrible.

Inside Job is the type of song that I will stop everything I'm doing to turn off, even if I'm diffusing a bomb or having sex with a super model or saying goodbye to a dying parent.