The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

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It's a little slower, a little longer and a little less good than the last album, but it's still great.
 
Not gonna lie. There's an incredible epic ness to this album. Listening to it with headphones on in the dark reminded me of the first time I heard the Joshua Tree.
 
This, and Iron and Wine today, and I'm off to Florida for a long weekend. Can't wait to get back and get these.

(Hi, thanks for asking, I don't use Spotify on my phone.)
 
Holy fuck this is good.

Not sure there is a song quite the equal of "An Ocean in Between the Waves" but the whole album is as good as the last, maybe better.
 
I could listen to Granduciel sing all day.

It's gorgeous after one full listen, but nothing strikes me as breathtaking as Under The Pressure, Red Eyes, Ocean or Disappearing. Early days though..
 
Heck, Strangest Thing is far more compelling in the album context rather than as a standalone song.
 
It just kind of blends together into one long song for me and it's not paced as well as Lost in the Dream, so the AOTY hype is sailing over my head a bit.

And yet...there's not a single second of this 66 minute long album that I don't enjoy. It's gorgeous, sumptuously produced and full of its predecessor's best qualities. So that's a lot of goodness to sort through.
 

This is it in one word IMO. Very admirable record, and definitely great, but for me lacking the highs of Lost in the Dream (Under the Pressure and Red Eyes especially take off in ways nothing here really does) and the delirium of Slave Ambient. It sounds like a major label record for whatever that's worth.
 
I was honestly disappointed after my first listen, and the disappointment didn't go away after the second listen. It's monotonous, and his vocals are too high on all the songs. He's had more vocal variety on the last two albums, so I know it's there. I watched an interview about this record, and he seemed to indicate he had to get it done. It sounds like that to me.

The tempos are fairly monotonous, and the drums are compressed to the point where they sound like a disco drum machine, especially on that first song.

It will be interesting to see how these songs translate live because there's always such a difference in the live versions of most of his songs.
 
It definitely peaks with Thinking of a Place and In Chains, then plays out the string for another 13 minutes.
 
It just kind of blends together into one long song for me and it's not paced as well as Lost in the Dream, so the AOTY hype is sailing over my head a bit.

I was honestly disappointed after my first listen, and the disappointment didn't go away after the second listen. It's monotonous, and his vocals are too high on all the songs. He's had more vocal variety on the last two albums, so I know it's there. I watched an interview about this record, and he seemed to indicate he had to get it done. It sounds like that to me.
Yeah, a bit of a mix of these 2 posts.
Especially agree with Martha on the vocals.

It is a very good album.
Yet, at the same time, it feels completely redundant to me as Lost in the Dream already exists.
 
Great album. As a whole, think I might end up liking it more than Lost in the Dream. Holding On and Strangest Thing are quite something.
It definitely peaks with Thinking of a Place and In Chains, then plays out the string for another 13 minutes.
Agreed.
 
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I don't think it's monotonous at all. Overall it's a bit more uptempo than Lost In A Dream. With this album, I love the guitar work, which takes on an even more prominent role than before.

Apart from An Ocean In Between The Waves, this album matches the last one in every way, and in some cases surpasses it.
 
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