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I was off last week so I didn’t have the commute to listen to and get started with this reverse journey. Here we go!
The noopS journey:
Lucifer on the Sofa
Starting at the end, we begin with an album that both goes down easy but you can certainly feel a band stretched out and in great form. While Held and The Hardest Cut are great tunes to start this off, the true genius of this album begins with The Devil & Mister Jones and straight into Wild. The latter two add groove and funk to that rock base and from there the album continually adds textures through Feel Alright, On the Radio, Astral Jacket, and Satellite, until it closes with the magnificent Lucifer on the Sofa. As a big time Spoon doubter, this album was and is a huge revelation of a band I clearly underappreciated.
I was off last week so I didn’t have the commute to listen to and get started with this reverse journey. Here we go!
The noopS journey:
Lucifer on the Sofa
Starting at the end, we begin with an album that both goes down easy but you can certainly feel a band stretched out and in great form. While Held and The Hardest Cut are great tunes to start this off, the true genius of this album begins with The Devil & Mister Jones and straight into Wild. The latter two add groove and funk to that rock base and from there the album continually adds textures through Feel Alright, On the Radio, Astral Jacket, and Satellite, until it closes with the magnificent Lucifer on the Sofa. As a big time Spoon doubter, this album was and is a huge revelation of a band I clearly underappreciated.
Once again, Spoon defies my expectations. I’ll admit if I have to reach between the two, I’ll reach for Lucifer on the Sofa because it’s just a highly digestible piece that still manages to press on boundaries. This one does more in the way of breaking those boundaries - at times danceable and others beautiful noise. Despite the swings, the album plays cohesively, like it all belongs here. Admittedly, I won’t play Us or Pink Up outside the album’s context, but they work juxtaposed against earworms like Shotgun, Tear It Down, Can I Sit Next To You, First Caress, and Hot Thoughts. Whisperl’llistentohearit seems like a real grower. There’s quite a bit to sink my teeth into here. Glad this journey continues.
Next up going backwards is They Want My Soul. This one was pretty fascinating in that I felt more hooked the longer I stuck around on this one. I listened to Rent I Pay and Inside Out twice, and both times I missed the transition and looked down at the track listing halfway through Inside Out, and it was both times at that point where I started feeling like it was getting really good. The. There’s this run starting at Rainy Taxi, and going through Do You, Knock Knock Knock, Outlier, and They Want My Soul where the album really hits its stride and it’s one great song after the next. Actually, it doesn’t let up through the rest of the album. That perfect blend where the familiar and the new sort of mesh to create new, interesting and immediately engaging music. This one and Lucifer on the Sofa are neck and neck.
Next up going backwards is They Want My Soul. This one was pretty fascinating in that I felt more hooked the longer I stuck around on this one. I listened to Rent I Pay and Inside Out twice, and both times I missed the transition and looked down at the track listing halfway through Inside Out, and it was both times at that point where I started feeling like it was getting really good. The. There’s this run starting at Rainy Taxi, and going through Do You, Knock Knock Knock, Outlier, and They Want My Soul where the album really hits its stride and it’s one great song after the next. Actually, it doesn’t let up through the rest of the album. That perfect blend where the familiar and the new sort of mesh to create new, interesting and immediately engaging music. This one and Lucifer on the Sofa are neck and neck.
Inside Out is an absolute all-timer. TWMS to my mind is a classic Rolling Stone "return to form" record that almost serves as a greatest hits for them. A culmination of sorts.
The fact that they put out Lucifer two records later and it's even better is absolutely incredible to me.
Working in reverse, I can’t say they stripped down per se, but this album lacks the flourishes of the 3 that come after, and I think it really hurts the album. Without those interesting flourishes and ideas, this is any band USA circa 2010, especially because they aren’t compensating by pushing their remaining instrumentation here. I don’t hate it per se, but it just turned into something I didn’t care about either. The Mystery Zone and Written in Reverse pique my interest a bit but for me this doesn’t even approach the level they got to on their subsequent albums.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 9:55 pm Posts: 13819 Location: An office full of assholes
evenslow wrote:
liebzz wrote:
They Want My Soul
Next up going backwards is They Want My Soul. This one was pretty fascinating in that I felt more hooked the longer I stuck around on this one. I listened to Rent I Pay and Inside Out twice, and both times I missed the transition and looked down at the track listing halfway through Inside Out, and it was both times at that point where I started feeling like it was getting really good. The. There’s this run starting at Rainy Taxi, and going through Do You, Knock Knock Knock, Outlier, and They Want My Soul where the album really hits its stride and it’s one great song after the next. Actually, it doesn’t let up through the rest of the album. That perfect blend where the familiar and the new sort of mesh to create new, interesting and immediately engaging music. This one and Lucifer on the Sofa are neck and neck.
Inside Out is an absolute all-timer. TWMS to my mind is a classic Rolling Stone "return to form" record that almost serves as a greatest hits for them. A culmination of sorts.
The fact that they put out Lucifer two records later and it's even better is absolutely incredible to me.
Rainy Taxi following it is so good. It’s a top 10 spoon song for me.
Working in reverse, I can’t say they stripped down per se, but this album lacks the flourishes of the 3 that come after, and I think it really hurts the album. Without those interesting flourishes and ideas, this is any band USA circa 2010, especially because they aren’t compensating by pushing their remaining instrumentation here. I don’t hate it per se, but it just turned into something I didn’t care about either. The Mystery Zone and Written in Reverse pique my interest a bit but for me this doesn’t even approach the level they got to on their subsequent albums.
you put your finger on the two worthy songs from the record.
I’d call it a return to form but hey, we’re working in reverse! On a new listen 15 years later, this album is actually pretty damn excellent. I really enjoyed the way Don’t Make Me a Target builds throughout, You Got Yr Cherry Bomb and Don’t You Evah are fantastic. Eddie’s Ragga, The Underdog, and the rest through the end were really quite good. Sometimes when we receive an album, we aren’t always ready for it. It’s really something special when it comes back to you all those years later, with all the listening and changes in taste that come with that, and receive an album anew.
Cherry Bomb and Don't You Evah are such good showcases of when they get that sexy groove going. One of the only rock bands that can convincingly pull off a soul sound.
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 6:02 am Posts: 9712 Location: Tristes Tropiques
evenslow wrote:
liebzz wrote:
Transference
Working in reverse, I can’t say they stripped down per se, but this album lacks the flourishes of the 3 that come after, and I think it really hurts the album. Without those interesting flourishes and ideas, this is any band USA circa 2010, especially because they aren’t compensating by pushing their remaining instrumentation here. I don’t hate it per se, but it just turned into something I didn’t care about either. The Mystery Zone and Written in Reverse pique my interest a bit but for me this doesn’t even approach the level they got to on their subsequent albums.
you put your finger on the two worthy songs from the record.
This is doing violence to "Who Makes Your Money"
_________________
VinylGuy wrote:
its really tiresome to see these ¨good guys¨ talking about any political stuff in tv while also being kinda funny and hip and cool....its just...please enough of this shit.
Working in reverse, I can’t say they stripped down per se, but this album lacks the flourishes of the 3 that come after, and I think it really hurts the album. Without those interesting flourishes and ideas, this is any band USA circa 2010, especially because they aren’t compensating by pushing their remaining instrumentation here. I don’t hate it per se, but it just turned into something I didn’t care about either. The Mystery Zone and Written in Reverse pique my interest a bit but for me this doesn’t even approach the level they got to on their subsequent albums.
you put your finger on the two worthy songs from the record.
As we continue to move backwards and onwards, this might be the strongest album front to back so far, with some of the newest albums amazingly in hot contention. The Beast and Dragon Adored sounds nearly John Lennon-esque to me, at least sonically. My Mathematical Mind is definitely among my favorite tracks so far. They Never Got You is up there with it. Everything in between is simply stellar, with a good amount of range without ever falling into the deep end. Just the perfect blend of sonic tinkering with hooks. I’d list every song and extol its virtues but I suspect I won’t need to.
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