LogFAQs > #889203013

Yesssss now those were some reviews. Let's start with:

thundersheep posted...

Brand New - Science Fiction

I have so much to say about Science Fiction that I wouldn't know where to begin if I was reviewing it either. The album also elevated Brand New for me, and I think I can concretely say they're my second favorite all-time band now (behind Tool). Too many of my other favorite bands have released subpar, merely serviceable albums as of late, while Brand New managed to create one of the greatest "resignation" records ever, as you aptly put it. If your ass wasn't up in Canada I'd say we should catch a Brand New show together before they disband. I've still never seen them live and I'll definitely be changing that soon. They seem like they sometimes half-ass their live shows though, which is sad... but also hilariously fitting for Lacey's critiques on fame.

If I get the time, I'd love to do a brief track-by-track commentary on Science Fiction in this topic. Oh, but it's still only their second best record behind Devil and God, yo.

thundersheep posted...

Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throat

But time taught me how to see every second as Heaven
Even though they're perfectly disguised as Hell

Its a good thing I dont really do these in a day anymore because it took me a while to really understand what this album was talking about. First I was a little bit thrown off by the fact that it was rap. For some reason I just wasnt expecting that genre coming from Blur, probably because weve spent so much time talking about rock music. But once I really started listening rather than just playing these songs in the background I realized that despite the fact that it was produced by a DJ its basically a rock album, and that the concepts covered here are very, very Blur.

True story: underground hip-hop is actually my favorite genre, and Eyedea arguably my all-time favorite individual artist and songwriter. So you are completely on point with your analysis here that this guy is 'quintessential me.' He is most certainly my single biggest influence both in terms of my music taste and with the type of music I write myself/would like to create in the future.

I wrestled with which Eyedea & Abilities record to suggest, or if I should go with his Oliver Hart record -- which might have his best work but overall isn't as consistent, track for track, as By the Throat. His albums all sound extremely different from one another though. First Born is the most minimalistic musically and philosophical in lyrical content (though as you can tell from BtT, they all are the latter). E&A goes with a more live sound, turntablist approach -- it's really neat, but instrumentally my least favorite of the three. By the Throat is a really weird rap-rock hybrid record that might be my all-time favorite attempt at that sort of genre. It was also released shortly before Eyedea's death and holds a special place in my heart for that. And Oliver Hart's How Eye One the Write Too Think is a self-produced masterpiece that combines a lot of some of my favorite things about the man and his music. If you think Smile is Buddhist in nature (which it most certainly is), wait till you listen to a track like Here for You, which is actually my favorite Eyedea song. Really, I can't recommend his entire discography enough.
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- Blur -
Welcome to your Divinity.