Phoenix - Bankrupt!

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cobl04

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Jun 3, 2005
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East Point to Shaolin
Out April 22.

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Nice. News and cover art, that is.

Limited tour schedule so far. Hoping like crazy someone here can pull them upriver to Beale St. Music Fest that weekend they play Jazz Fest!
 
It's a better album cover than so many things that've been released lately.
 
1) He and some ladies sang a bad song about being 'only human.' Best left in the dusty 80's heap.
2) Yes. I didn't like this album for the first year or so and can't understand why now. Except it wasn't Rubies. Questionable taste again. Really like Rivers -> Leopard of Honor.
Putting in my to-listen pile.
 
I probably like that cover more than any of their past covers. It's not great, but their others have been pretty much miserable.
 
1) He and some ladies sang a bad song about being 'only human.' Best left in the dusty 80's heap.
2) Yes. I didn't like this album for the first year or so and can't understand why now. Except it wasn't Rubies. Questionable taste again. Really like Rivers -> Leopard of Honor.
Putting in my to-listen pile.

Not many albums are Rubies :drool:

My Favourite Year is my favourite track but it's all pretty great.

I probably like that cover more than any of their past covers. It's not great, but their others have been pretty much miserable.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix had a great cover if you ask me.
 
Yeah, I highly suggest checking out the others. They're all great. United is the most eclectic, some would say schizophrenic. Alphabetical is the mellowest/smoothest. It's Never Been Like That is the most rocking; my personal favorite and IMO it has the best hooks, sadly the bandwagoners jumped too late and bow down to Wolfgang instead.
 
Alphabetical is poor. I couldn't find one track as memorable as even the weaker numbers on Wolfgang. The songwriting just isn't there.

United (especially the brilliant Too Young) and It's Never Been Like That are both solid and worth your time.
 
I would call United poor, even though Too Young is one of their best songs. I can't find anything else there to salvage it. It's Never Been Like That is very good, but I'd still say Wolfgang is their best. It's a cohesive album, and there's an oblique element to the music and lyrics that was not previously there. Almost reminds me of old REM; inscrutable lyrics with infectious hooks. Before Wolfgang, the albums were just assemblages of pop songs.
 
Nothing else good on United? If you have narrow taste in genre, maybe. If I Ever Feel Better is a fan favorite disco-style track, On Fire is a perfect little Steely Dan homage, Summer Days an evocative ditty with that nice saloon piano flourish, and Funky Squaredance is schizophrenic but really entertaining.
 
I also forgot Honeymoon, another standout, with some nice delicate guitar work and a great organ part on the long outro.

It's funny because the band's music didn't necessarily become less sophisticated, but there are parts of United and much of Alphabetical that sound a lot more "mature" than the following two albums.
 
After 2-3 listens, I guess the thing I bring away from United is, there is no Phoenix sound at this point. And I have trouble seeing how they got to Wolfgang from there, but I'm glad they did. I definitely see the beginnings of Alphabetical in some of it though. And I did get an appreciation for IIEFB and On Fire this time. More notes:

  • Party Time is so cringe-worthy. Horrendous. I'm sure it's why I would've missed On Fire previously.
  • So is Funky Squaredance, but at least it's ambitious. The shock is gone, so at this point I can smile at parts. But I won't play it unless I'm alone.
  • On Definitive Breaks, I expect Michael McDonald to come in. But instead of ''I keep forgettin'...", it's a porn-ish sax line. I seriously laughed when I heard it.
  • Honeymoon has some sweet synth-triangle (?) vibe going on. Makes me want to be in a band, and this will be my instrument, whatever it is.
 
Like it! Plays out like the crappy videos they play at the Asian karaoke joints I've been to in the city. I think Mofo would enjoy it, being a keen appreciator of Asian culture.
 
It's pretty good. Feels like they haven't moved forward at all, but that's okay. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was good the first time around; I'm sure it'll be good the second time around.
 
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