50 Song Memoir
by The Magnetic Fields

Having squeezed out sixty-nine love songs for the album of the same name almost two decades ago, Stephin Merritt somehow found the energy to hammer out another ultra-long album this year, this time themed around his fifty years on the planet. Sure it’s not all gold, but I can’t imagine many other artists managing such a feat so well.

From Sandrof1969 02/24/2018 10:05 | #209447

All'uscita di questa ultima fatica dei Magnetic Fields pensavo che l'operazione in se fosse un po' stucchevole, spocchiosa e pure un filino pacchiana; considerazione capziosa in verità perché da uno come Stephen Merrit che realizza un disco mastodonte con dentro 69 canzoni d'amore ( una più bella dell'altra… ) ci si può anche aspettare che diciotto anni dopo ne realizzi pure uno appena di poco meno monumentale costituito da cinquanta canzoni, una per ogni anno della sua vita. Si auto celebra, il signor Magnetic Fields, e va bene così, anche perché l'ispirazione, almeno nelle prime due parti delle cinque di cui è composta l'opera, è grosso modo ai livelli di "69 love songs" e il resto è comunque buono, meglio di altre cose pubblicate da Merrit negli ultimi quindici anni. Quasi una sorpresa ritrovarlo così…

this is some magic stuff!

From SleepDealer 06/11/2017 12:59 | #192396 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

While it's definitely a step up from their previous two album releases, this is a decidedly hit-and-miss affair, even compared with 69 Love Songs, which features some of the band's finest moments. The concept works to a degree and it is not a bad album, but probably for fans only.

Disc 1: 7.5/10
Disc 2: 8/10
Disc 3: 7.5/10
Disc 4: 8.5/10
Disc 5: 8/10

50 Song Memoir: 7.9/10

From johnner 03/08/2017 23:29 | #187158 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

It's true, it's Merritt's best since '69 Love Songs' with some monster, killer songs on offer that easily rank as his best - even if it includes some of his oddest arrangements to date. There is one big difference though, where '69 Love Songs' favoured a more spartan instrumentation 'Memoir' is a hell of a lot more colourful, even at times psychedelic befitting his familial background. Even so, he still finds room for the kind of piano-led compositions last seen on '69' or 'i'. Whatever, he's on top form here and this is gonna be glued to my stereo for a long, long time.