cobl04
45:33
Hey, guess what? I like every song on ATYCLB and The Bomb, still think the latter is a solid album, like/love every song on No Line save for Cock Crazy and SUCk, and love the second half of SOI+California. And I think Best Thing and Get Out are close to botttom of the barrel for this band. They do, in fact, suck. Coldplayesque, watered-down, without teeth. On the latter, the pandering in the form of a BD clone with those fake-sounding drums is shameful, trying to recapture past glory. Whatever thematic qualities may be in the lyrics are ruined by verbiage and awkward construction/delivery. I'd take the energetic mess of Boots over either of those songs in a heartbeat (though I won't go so far as Cobbler and put SUC above them).
Now having said all that I love The Blackout (at least the live version, haven't heard the other), and think American Soul has a lot of energy and a good beat. The repurposing of Volcano doesn't bother me because I really love Volcano, but I don't think it's as good, even if it has more "depth". I'm optimistic that I'll like half the rest of the songs, but realistic enough to know the other half might be cut from the same damp cloth as the first two singles.
Bottom line is that the band has been crippled by second-guessing and despy ploys for relevance and the albums have suffered increasingly. I think ATYCLB's material is the weakest (in execution, at least) post-2000 and don't like Eno's strategy of writing more and recording less, but at least they stuck with a plan. It doesn't feel compromised outside of the band recoiling from the experimentation of the 90s. Frankly, I think the people who can't acknowledge this trajectory and still want to put a happy face on everything come off like Pollyannas. It's equally frustrating to see people writing off everything in kneejerk fashion.
Since I'm sitting in the middle I'll just proclaim that I'm the only one being sensible and objective.
Finally, a little bit of the Laz I actually like, not Pollyanna Laz