The909Virus wrote:The album is good but I feel as if it really pales in comparison to ambivalence avenue and sometimes feels as if he's trying too hard on the new album? Maybe it's just me.. I hope it grows on me, I really like the concept of some of the tracks but the lack of consistency bothers me a little.
I gave the album a full listen again on my commute this morning. I've really laid off it for 3 months since it first came out. I went back and fully enjoyed his earlier work quite a bit and then came back to it just today.
On second round I have to say what is standing in the way of this being a great album for me is his lyricism. I generally enjoy it when he sings especially when it isn't through the vocoder though it works wonderfully on Take off Your Skirt (which should have been on the album instead of the standard version imo) but his lyric lines on this album get in the way of some great music. I know not all the songs could stand without singing but just listen to More Excuses and think about how it would sound if you stripped out the vocals. It would be a better song.
This really is his most complex, sophisticated work. Some of the guitar and synth lines are really wonderful. But where Ambivalence has Haikuesque and Palm of Your Wave which have some haunting emotionality for me none of his vocals have that for me on this album, not even in the up beat happy sense. That is what stands in the way of this being a fantastic album versus a good.