Best Ever Albums

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

LedZep — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 05:49:50 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 04/20/2022 09:49

Smile wins 12-6

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

kokkinos — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 15:54:13 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 04/17/2022 19:54

Another tough choice, neither is close to what I consider my jam, I'll go with Do You Know Her?

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

Repo — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 15:27:25 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/17/2022 19:27

Purplepash wrote:

Thanks for intoducing me to We Are Only Human Once. Right up my alley!

Love it!!!

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

Purplepash — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 00:38:32 GMT

Author: Purplepash

Posted: 04/17/2022 04:38

Thanks for intoducing me to We Are Only Human Once. Sounds like something right up my alley. However I loved the Wolf Alice album, and Smile rocks, and is one of my faves from Blue Weekend.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

musicoed — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 08:42:28 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 04/16/2022 12:42

We Are Only Human Once - Do You Know Her?
Until today, I did not know anything about these performers.
This is natural, and the vocals and sound caused rejection from the first seconds.
Rating platforms bypassed the 2020 album.
This track was not even released as a single. This is a very strange choice.
I had to find a translation of the lyrics to understand the reasons.
As a result, I could not even figure out the name of the group.
The title and lyrics of the song are also inconsistent.
However, intuitively, I came into contact with another sense of guilt and hopelessness.

Wolf Alice – Smile
For me, the reputation of this band before the 2021 album was below average.
Before the release of this release, three singles were released, including Smile.
All these songs did not arouse interest, the videos seemed just as weak.
However, after getting acquainted with the album, my opinion gradually began to change.
The 2021 album ended up being one of the best for me in the first half of the year.
Smile - frankly falls out of the overall sound in the best traditions of Cocteau Twins.
Under the album cover, this dissonance is not so noticeable.
But as a hallmark of the entire release, it's just a marketing failure.
The only way I can support this choice is a video of a live performance on BBC Radio 1.
Against the background of unconvincing official videos, this performance stands out for the better.

Link

I choose Wolf Alice 2021 rather than Smile as a standalone track.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

Fischman — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 23:04:50 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 04/16/2022 03:04

Wolf in a surprise.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

travelful — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 12:02:08 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 04/15/2022 16:02

Voted for Smile because as Gowi said, it's a banger. Do you Know Her? is just okay to my ears.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

cestuneblague — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 14:24:43 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 04/13/2022 18:24

I actually heard a lot more of this out of Smile:

Link

... so that's why I'm really not vibing it, even if the execution is still much better. Guess it's also more of a 99-early 01 range. I just think Blue Weekend was so much better when it was drawing it's influences from a more heartfelt Mazzy Star-ish route than doing yet another take on Nu-Industrial that a lot of artists are doing these days. Again this is probably also why I'm not latching on to the Mall Punk revival of sorts that seems to be happening since I don't really want flashbacks to the Awkward Phase days.

Again it's also clear there aren't many latching on to Human so I guess potato-frittata

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

EyeKanFly — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 14:06:43 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 04/13/2022 18:06

I'm not big on Wolf Alice. Saw them 3-4 years ago on a whim and was thoroughly unimpressed. I'm still a little confused about the heaps of praise Blue Weekend got (both on BEA and elsewhere). Don't get me wrong, it's solid, it just doesn't seem like anything special. IDK, different strokes for different folks!

Having said that though, "Smile" is a fun song, banger is right. I totally get what cestuneblague is saying about it sounding like an artifact in 1999, it's got huge vibes of Elastica/Hole/Breeders, or other grunge-ish bands that were more popular at the end-ish of the grunge trend. But unlike those 90s bands, "Smile" is well produced and definitely has a clear modern tinge to the grunge influences. I also wouldn't consider it grunge itself I don't think.

"Do You Know Her?" was fun as well, haven't listened to it before, but it didn't really make me want to explore the band further. I'll give it a shot though, seems like there's more to WAOHO than just this song's style.

Holding off on voting for now, but leaning towards "Smile".

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

DommeDamian — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 03:56:20 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 04/13/2022 07:56

I'm one of the few people on this website who did not like that Wolf Alice album and Smile wasn't a standout to me. Do I Know Her is not that much greater but at least it has a more focused emo/indie rock aesthetic that makes me vote for it.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

mickilennial — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 21:47:17 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 04/13/2022 01:47

Quote:

... this track of them all of Blue Weekend?

Yeah, I could've picked a far higher caliber song in terms of artistry, but I picked a song that was a bit more accessible. It's also a banger. I don't see it as an "antique", but ok lol.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

cestuneblague — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:56:02 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 04/12/2022 22:56

... this track of them all of Blue Weekend? Feel like there are far more songs with better songwriting & actual personality, but I guess there is a kind of tounge-in-cheek attitude in making a song that would seem like an artifact even in '99. Title of Record.

But then again not like WAOHO is the most original thing, but still one of my most listened to bands during the quarantine and so I guess there's already a soft spot for it, kind of like Times New Viking going the more earnest singer-songerwriter route. Guess shouldn't have gone with the more accessible track.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

dihansse — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 15:04:22 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 04/12/2022 19:04

Both are not bad but nothing more: Smile is the best of the two.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

LedZep — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 10:58:45 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 04/12/2022 14:58

cestuneblague wrote:

Link

This should work, I've known some users have had trouble with Topic in the past but this is the full song (also available on Bandcamp).

Cool, thanks! Gotta try using Topic one of these days, seems great.

As far as these songs are concerned, Smile is not top tier Wolf Alice, but it's still good. Do You Know Her? Is likable, fun, noisy affair which is easily digestible and lacks... something. Anything. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not particularly exciting or new to my ears. Wouldn't mind either going through, voting Smile.

Re: [Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

cestuneblague — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 10:31:26 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 04/12/2022 14:31

Link

This should work, I've known some users have had trouble with Topic in the past but this is the full song (also available on Bandcamp).

[Round 1 - Match 21] Do You Know Her? vs Smile

LedZep — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 07:11:41 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 04/12/2022 11:11

We Are Only Human Once - Do You Know Her?
Nominated by: cestuneblague

Link

Wolf Alice - Smile
Nominated by: Gowi

Link

Instructions:
Please listen to both songs before voting. The poll will be tallied in 7 days. See the spreadsheet for the full tournament bracket.