Atlas (studio album) by Real Estate

From drstuey 03/27/2021 05:26

Gorgeous timeless west-coast guitar pop that makes you happy on a sunny day, though none of the songs are particularly memorable afterwards and the plunky plunky guitar gets a bit tiresome.

From buzzdainer 09/08/2019 19:26

Real Estate are the quintessential heartland rock band for the twentieth century, and I mean that mostly as praise. They play meticulously crafted, reverb-heavy jangle pop that makes for an ideal backdrop to a long drive across the plains, or a lazy Sunday lawnchair afternoon before a football game. You can probably hear a little implied criticism there, too, though. While everything Real Estate has done to this point strikes me as competent and well made, there's also not a lot of spontaneity here, nor many attention-grabbing sonic moments. I feel like this is a band that may yet make a truly great album. While this isn't quite it, all the ingredients seem present. All that's missing are some genuinely memorable songs. Maybe a few more artistic and lyrical risks are in order.

From luigybetis 09/08/2018 13:15

This album is incredibly good, after 10 listens I can say it really has me. The only problem I see is track 8, which takes me out of the album a little. 9+/10.

Best Tracks: Talking Backwards, Crime

From Repo 05/08/2017 22:42

COMFORT IN YOUR OWN SKIN

Komorebi-D knows the score. This is Real Estate’s best album. And it’s not even close. There is a laid-back relaxed vibe that permeates this album. The perfect album for kicking back on the back porch with a nice IPA. You’ve got the Christmas tree lights on and the neighbors are firing up a bar-b-que in the distance. Lightning bugs hang effortless in the air lighting up the backyard with occasional bursts of brilliance. Everything is alright and will be even better with that next beer. These kids are now all grown up and comfortable in their skin. Confident in THEIR sound. Because they own it. It’s all theirs. And they’re not afraid.

This is my go to album when I need to chill out. When my mind falls into the trap that believing that some encounter, conversation or action has altered my existence. Like some ridiculous thought like… “OMG! WHY DID I TEXT HER THAT. I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TEXTED HER THAT. I’VE RUINED EVERYHTHING!” I put this on, open up since nice IPA and realize that it’s all just in my mind. That it’s nothing very important at all and will all blow over by tomorrow morning. That in a day I will forget all about it entirely. I laugh at my silly mind, take in the laid back vibes, my Christmas tree lights hanging from my back deck, and just watch the leaves dance on the trees in the mild wind. Nothing important really happened. Nothing important almost never really happens. Our minds are just hyperactive. Ultra-vigilant. Looking out for threats that are not even there. That never even existed. All I need to do is be.

Grade: A+. Once of the best jangle pop albums of all time. And definitely Real Estate’s finest hour (which is saying something.). It’s a very beachy, “everything is going to be alright” album which is just perfect to settle down with. There are some subtle touches of shoe gaze on some songs which add just the right amount of warmth. There’s a quiet confidence in this album. That says “This is who we are, and where we are and we’re cool with it”. And I’m going to follow their lead. And it lazily & confidently moses along to number six completely happy to just be itself.

This is a consistently beautiful album that kept me coming back for repeated listens for a few years. It's only now in mid-2017 that I'm starting to tire of it after many, many listens. I got a lot out of it while it lasted and will probably return to it for more in the future.

From Komorebi-D 03/18/2017 02:24

Paints a suburban masterpiece and refines the groundwork of stylistic perfecting made on Days.

Amazing record. The production in this album is really nice, and somehow it makes me feel a bit nostalgic. The songs are so simple yet so unique. One of my favorites, for sure.

From FlorianJones 09/12/2015 03:32

It works best in the background. It's not likely to captivate you if you are only listening to music. But if you play it in the background of daily life a few times, you'll likely find yourself pleasantly amused, and humming along to the tunes.

I really didn't understand some of the criticism this album received. Personally, I think it's my favorite Real Estate album (granted that changes from time to time). The clean and crisp production is great, and the contrast between the ever-bright melodies and the sadder, forlorn lyrics new to Real Estate (which I prefer over stuff like "Budweiser, Sprite") makes for an engrossing and beautiful album. I'm sure I'll come back to this for quite some time. But hey, to each his own.