Tracks:
1. Blister In The Sun
2. Kiss Off
3. Please Do Not Go
4. Add It Up
5. Confessions
6. Prove My Love
7. Promise
8. To The Kill
9. Gone Daddy Gone
10. Good Feeling
About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.
What a good album. Glad this one gets love on BEA. Too bad they couldn't replicate this success. Kiss Off, Add it Up, and Prove My Love are my top tracks. seth, I'm game if you want to turn this into an ADP.
What a good album. Glad this one gets love on BEA. Too bad they couldn't replicate this success. Kiss Off, Add it Up, and Prove My Love are my top tracks. seth, I'm game if you want to turn this into an ADP.
Hells ya.
First off, what I love not just about this album, but this band is the acoustic bass. It's tone and placement in the mix is absolutely fantastic. It's biting yet smooth. A stand-up double bass, nah, a smooth p-bass or j-bass, nah, totally is the best bass tone for this band... totally makes it for me (as a bassist).
Tracks:
1. Blister In The Sun (100)
The song that most likely got anyone into the band. The hammer on of the bass is absolutely fantastic. Such a catchy melancholic song.
2. Kiss Off (100):
The dynamics are absolutely fantastic in the song. I love how it builds with numbers and 8 (I forget what 8 was for... super clever). Super fantastic dynamics throughout though. I like the backup singing style too... gives it that more punk edge. This is possibly my favorite song lyrically... "I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record... oh yeah".... ahahahaha... easily their best lyric ever. The total free style at 120ish is pretty rad.
3. Please Do Not Go (90)
Again that amazing acoustic bass walking on this is fantastic. Somehow the vocal melody and style is one of my favorites of theirs. It's this sweet simple thing, but then has this punk edge, yet almost the motown thing going on... that's it... they captured that sweet sour/bittersweet/melancholic pop song really well. Mini bass solo at about 223, yes please.
4. Add It Up (90)
Again, amazing bass work. Anybody sexually frustrated? 153 dynamics and lyrics... fantastic. "I would love to love you lover"... another great lyric off this... somehow this reminds me a bit of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground.
5. Confessions (70)
Songwriting is a bit week on this for me, but it is a nice change to the pace of the record. Overall impact on record is a plus I suppose, even if the song is week. I wanna hack it apart!!!! I mean I like the song... lonely as shit. But still meh.
6. Prove My Love (90)
Chorus is killer classic folk punk rock. Fantastic. Probably best part of the song to be honest. Song does keep the dynamic/flow of album together very well.
7. Promise (80)
Somehow reminds me a bit of Meat Puppets more than any other song. Probably the riff. Catchy, but kinda above average song, but still good addition to album. I do like the vocals as well, but somehow it falls flat from a 90+... do like the way it ends.
8. To The Kill (75)
For me too over the top. A little too much "shitting on the instrument" going on for my tastes, but I know some eat that up.
9. Gone Daddy Gone (100)
Love the xylophone or whatever the hell is used... adds serious dimension. And then a solo from it... haha RAD like a 80s kid. Probably top 5 song they ever wrote. I'll just leave it at that.
10. Good Feeling (85)
This is my sisters favorite song on this record... and good lord is this a fantastic song. Good feeling... seems like you are always leaving - Piano is a very nice touch - I like how minimalist it is.
Overall Score & Feeling: 90
This touches a part of my soul really few if any other artists touch. They have this artsy/edgy thing going on that like I said really possibly only Lou Reed/Velvet Underground touches on (IMO). Fun/yet bittersweet, and even cutting. Just a fantastic record.
For somebody who generally prefers the amped-up and the kick-ass, the Violent Femmes self-titled debut reached me in a different way. The somewhat unconventional harmony of Gano's high-pitched voice offsetting the acoustic bass just felt right. It worked even better once I heard Gano's heartfelt yet darkly humorous lyrics smoothly flow along to some of the catchiest tunes ever written.
Tracks:
Blister in the Sun - 8/10
Not the song that got me into the band, but a fun opening track. Who can forget the simple, catchy, acoustic opening notes of this song? It works perfectly as a opener. We get a glimpse of what is to come...the acoustic bass and Gano's different singing and lyrical style. In Blister in the Sun, he repeatedly sings "When I'm out walking, I strut my stuff and I'm so strung out. I'm high as a kite, I just might stop to check you" at a lower and lower volume until you can barely hear him. I love when he does one of those tricks, and he does an even better, more interesting one on the next track.
Kiss Off - 10/10
Now this song is the shit. Probably my personal favorite. I have little to say that seth didn't. Irresistibly catchy and lyrically one the most clever songs ever written. "Situation gets rough and I start to panic. It's not enough. It's just a habit. Hey kid you're sick. Well darling, this is it." And yes, the verse that goes through the numbers - perfect.
Please Do Not Go - 9/10
After the first two hook songs, the album takes a turn for a slower song. Gano's lyrics are bare bones in this one. And so touching too. Took a while for this one to grow on me, but now I'd say it's my 3rd or 4th favorite on this album.
Add it Up - 10/10
This was the song that got me into the band. Heard it on the radio one day and hooked right away. Like Kiss Off, Gano sings a thousand miles an hour, through perhaps the heaviest song on the album (if you want to use the word 'heavy' to describe them). And like seth said, if you've ever felt sexually frustrated (which if you haven't, you must be the stud of all studs), you can relate to Gano's simple rhymes. "Why can't I get, just one screw? Believe me, I know what to do. But something won't let me make, love to you."
Confessions - 5/10
After another fast-paced hook song, the album goes for another slow one. But unlike Track #3, this one never grew on me. The songwriting and lyrics aren't very strong here. As seth said, 'meh' is a perfect word to describe this one.
Prove My Love - 9/10
Another fast-paced song of about Gano being romantically/sexually frustrated. By now, we've already heard a few, but it's okay because Prove My Love is certainly one of high quality. And he pulls another one of his brilliant lyrical tricks - "Third verse, same as the first. Just last night I was reminded of just how bad it had gotten..."
Promise - 8/10
Another very good song, but lacks the punch of some of the earlier ones. A good addition to the album, but neither stands out, nor takes the album in a new direction.
To the Kill - 5/10
It's okay I guess. Unfortunately after listening to this track, it seems like the Violent Femmes bread and butter are fast-tempo songs. Yes, Please Do Not Go was wonderful, but that appears to be the exception after the mediocrity of Confessions and To the Kill.
Gone Daddy Gone - 6/10
It makes sense to have one final fast-tempo song before the closer. I used to love this song, but it didn't hold up over time for me. Maybe I over-listened to it and it grew stale. Sometimes that happens. I now find that xylophone (if it is a xylophone) quite annoying.
Good Feeling - 8/10
A slow, sweet, satisfying closer.
Overall: 8/10
In my Top 100 but low. I'll keep there for now. I doubt it will be there in the long run as I discover more albums. But it'll always have a special place in my heart. The Violent Femmes demonstrate you don't need a lead singer with a strong voice nor the amps turned up the maximum (or even amps at all) to be in the spirit of rock.
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