Reading reviews from people who go to great lengths to say how "over it" they are when a band (god forbid) changes their musical direction a bit and produces a follow-up to a hugely successful album that dares to be different than its predecessor crack me up.
If the only Maroon 5 set you ever want to hear is SAJ, then don't ever buy any others, just keep listening to that. I loved Songs About Jane, I loved their live acoustic CD's, and I love their new CD. So what if a lot of their lyrics are about love gone wrong - we live in a country where more relationships fail than flourish, so most of us can relate to the lyrics. That they are able to capture the emotions associated with it (anger, bitterness, revenge, sadness, acceptance) in such a wide variety of musical styles speaks to the strength of their creativity, and that they channel some greats in the process (yes, Won't Go Home does have an Every Breath You Take-like guitar riff) is awesome.
I won't go song-by-song, but there are so many great tracks on this CD - catchy, lyrically clever, tightly produced - that the fact that there are a couple filler tracks is largely unimportant. You can't find hardly anyone who doesn't hum along to Makes Me Wonder, and I'd venture to say that several more tracks from this CD - If I Never See Your Face Again, Little of Your Time, Won't Go Home Without You, Can't Stop, Kiwi, Back at Your Door - are also major hit single potential.
There's no point in whining that your favorite best-kept-secret band hit the bigtime and is writing for a larger audience - all of their material they've done has been great in different ways, and this CD is going to be huge. Can't wait to see 'em live again.
By Michael T. Rognlien, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" Review on Amazon.com,<http://www.amazon.com/review/R3QSIWDTVDSMCP/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm>
I have been waiting years for this album to be remastered and re-released. It's still an album ahead of it's time (at least Lindsey Buckingham's songs). A hint of what was to come peeked out on 'The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'. The sound quality is great - and I am glad the original album still holds up (the original cd version doesn't). I've been listening to this music since the original 1979 release date and I am sure I can hear things now that I never could before (some backing vocals on "Honey Hi"). Buckingham's music really stands out sonically ("I Know I'm Not Wrong", "Ledge"). But Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie have their moments.The second disk of outtakes, demos and unreleased is nice - but not essential. You get a glimpse into what Buckingham can do production and arrangement-wise. The bass and drum lines on "One More Time (Over & Over) are great and stand out here vs the originally released version. It's nice to see how editing a piece of music not only doesn't compromise the song, but enhances it ("Sara"). At first I thought I wanted to hear "Sisters of the Moon" in its entirety and original arrangement. I was wrong. Buckingham did an incredible job w/Nicks' song. It's also nice to hear the cover of the Beach Boys' "Farmer's Daughter". Almost completely identical to the version on "Fleetwood Mac Live", but still good.
It's also nice to see the original album art included w/the cd. It definitely loses something from lp to cd - but whatta gonna do?
My original review gave the music 5 stars and the sound quality 3.5. I'm happy to say this is now a solid 5!
By R. M. Ettinger "rme1963", "Tusk" Review on Amazon.com,<http://www.amazon.com/review/R1VDVAYIVBLMM0/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm>
Like the also-great Idaho or Wheat, to file Death Cab for Cutie under the mellow-pop umbrella that shelters tranquil chamber outfits such as Red House Painters, Low, or (post-dance-pop) Talk Talk would do them a gross, miscalculated service. While they're no strangers to the tickling knelling of guitars searching out the extra space found in laggard tempos, that predilection only encompasses a fourth of Death Cab for Cutie's output (like on "Title Track" and "Little Fury Bugs"). Heck, they're not even remotely quiet for half of We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes -- the best and brightest LP of their three fine albums to date...
Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, Allmusic.com "We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes", Review <http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jvftxq8kld6e>
Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s. Though the group's raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later incorporated synthesizers (taboo in the low-tech world of '70s punk) and more haunting melodies, emphasized by the isolated, tortured lyrics of its lead vocalist, Ian Curtis. While the British punk movement shocked the world during the late '70s, Joy Division's quiet storm of musical restraint and emotive power proved to be just as important to independent music in the 1980s.
John Bush, Allmusic.com "Joy Division", Biography <http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gbfuxql5ldje>
