Red Mosquito

You haven't listened to it. Hell, you haven't even listened to Magic. Shut up.

Geezes this is beautiful. What melodies and production. His voice is so glorious.

This is special

"Drive Fast", "Sundown", and "Hello Sunshine" are my early favorites. "The Wayfarer" is also really good, though the strings sound a little weird in parts.

I got two pins in my ankle and a busted collarbone
A steel rod in my leg, but it walks me home
At nine, I climbed high into the boughs of our neighborhood's tallest tree
I don't remember the fear, just the breeze

I had pretty mixed feelings on "Wrecking Ball" and thought "High Hopes" was more or less the sound of a once-great artist running completely out of steam, so I was not even prepared to really like this album, let alone love it, so much so that I almost just took a pass on checking it out altogether. What a mistake that would have been. I'm inclined to say that this is "his best album since x," but that only saddles it with the distinction of merely being the best record among a bunch of average ones; I was willing to saddle "Magic" with that tag, but after one listen, I think this is as good of an album as he's made, plain and simple. For different reasons, to be sure; it doesn't scratch the same itch as "Darkness on the Edge of Town" or "Nebraska" or "Born in the USA," but "Time Out of Mind" didn't scratch the same itch as "Blonde on Blonde" or "Blood on the Tracks" either. It's an altogether different thing, one that makes the most of a new set of strengths in the same way that the old albums made the most of the old ones. In a lot of ways, it feels like the unburdened and naturally "adult" album that he's been struggling to figure out how to make for over 30 years now.

The thing I like best about it is that, while it has the lyrical and narrative ambitions of something like "Devils and Dust," it's so much more musically conscious; it's as rewarding as ear candy as it is as storytelling, but at the same time it doesn't beat you over the head with bombast and heavy-handed masculine brawn. Usually, when Bruce is in singer-songwriter mode, the tunes are kind of fleeting, with the more concrete elements of the melodies consumed by drawl, verbosity, perhaps some overly literary pretensions, and the arrangements are generally pretty monochrome. He has written great songs in this mold, but also more than a few tedious ones, almost all of which become more tedious when he decides to group them all together (I'm thinking mainly of the "Tom Joad" and "Devils and Dust" albums here, not so much "Nebraska," which despite its consistent sonic character and a few very similar-sounding songs always felt on the whole pretty stylistically varied to me). On the other hand, when he goes straight for the hook and big payoff, he comes up with trite, corny garbage as often as he hits the bullseye. This album really feels like a perfect midpoint between the two mediums, a balance he's rarely managed to strike throughout his career and even more rarely managed to strike in his elder statesman period. An album that should give hope to "Lightning Bolt"s everywhere.

Fuck.

LV actually likes something.

It’s either really shit or he’s finally grown up and moved out of moms basement

I’m not placing any bets on either just yet.

Hey I like lots of stuff!!!!!!

LoathedVermin72 wrote:Hey I like lots of stuff!!!!!!

I know. It’s all crap but I love when you do get enthusiastic

I was so prepared to hate Sleepy Joe's Cafe, but I kind of like it.

tragabigzanda wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I was so prepared to hate Sleepy Joe's Cafe, but I kind of like it.

Genuine question: what do you like about it? I’d kkke to come around on this one because then I’d have a new Bruce album where I didn’t have to skip a song

didn't know you were a racist

SJC is great

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I was so prepared to hate Sleepy Joe's Cafe, but I kind of like it.

Genuine question: what do you like about it? I’d kkke to come around on this one because then I’d have a new Bruce album where I didn’t have to skip a song

didn't know you were a racist

Shut up honky

it's not the first time you've referenced the kkk in a positive light

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I was so prepared to hate Sleepy Joe's Cafe, but I kind of like it.

Genuine question: what do you like about it? I’d kkke to come around on this one because then I’d have a new Bruce album where I didn’t have to skip a song

didn't know you were a racist

Shut up honky

it's not the first time you've referenced the kkk in a positive light

My views have evolved

you believe in evolution now?!?!?

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I was so prepared to hate Sleepy Joe's Cafe, but I kind of like it.

Genuine question: what do you like about it? I’d kkke to come around on this one because then I’d have a new Bruce album where I didn’t have to skip a song

didn't know you were a racist

Shut up honky

it's not the first time you've referenced the kkk in a positive light

My views have evolved

you believe in evolution now?!?!?

Jesus made dinosaurs

whew...ttyl

tragabigzanda wrote:

LoathedVermin72 wrote:SJC is great

Why

It's fun and colorful and has a playful, unique mix of musical undercurrents (starts with a sorta Mexican flavor, then morphs into a Cajun thing).