Unpopular Music Opinions III: Friggin Cobbler Vs. The World

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It makes perfect sense if you don't "totally love" Funeral, you actually dislike it. X&Y at least makes me want to listen to it again, in one way or another.
 
Then we tried to name our babies
But we forgot all the names that
The names we used to know
But sometimes, we remember our bedrooms
And our parent's bedrooms
And the bedrooms of our friends
Then we think of our parents
Well whatever happened to them?

That one verse is more evocative, thought-provoking and powerful than any single verse Chris Martin has or ever will pen, let alone anything on X&Y, probably his worst album lyrically. Funeral has to earn a few points over X&Y for exhibiting lyrical depth. One paints a picture in your mind, the other tells you all you need to know instantly so you never need to revisit it, which is good.
 
I do appreciate the music in a couple of the first Neighborhood songs and Haiti especially (the only song from the album that has left a lingering impression of sorts.)

The persevering problem for me is that Winnie Butler's vocal has always sounded very unpleasant and for some reason, I can't take him seriously. Therefore, his lyrics don't resonate any more than a C. Martin lyric might on X&Y.

I wanted to like Funeral. It made sense that I did. I tried to like it and just kept failing.
 
First of all, in my opinion, one cannot "try" to like music, or any other art for that matter. You either do or you don't, and if you don't, the only way that will change is organically over time, without much effort. It might click with you one day out of nowhere, as I'm sure has happened to all of us at one point or another.

Secondly, and I'm sure you're all going to be shocked to read this from me, but to understand what Arcade Fire is all about one must see them live. They are, in my opinion, one of the top live acts in the world today. Their enthusiasm, joy, and musicianship on stage is infectious and trickles down to the very last row. I saw them in a free show in September where 110,000 people were in attendance and I was at the very back and each and every person around me - by the end of the show - was rocking out and dancing.

I wasn't a big fan of Funeral either until I saw them open for U2 in November 2005 and then everything just clicked with me when I listened to the album a few weeks later.

I know you're all shocked by my statement. :wink:
 
I don't like his vocals either.

They're a wanted band. They've had headline status on over 12 festivals.


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Secondly, and I'm sure you're all going to be shocked to read this from me, but to understand what Arcade Fire is all about one must see them live.

I've seen them live at a festival a few years back and they still didn't click with me. Granted the setting probably wasn't the best - they looked rather out of place with their black-themed decor on a bright sunny day - but I just didn't get much sense of stage presence from them despite the sheer amount of people onstage.
 
Saracene said:
I've seen them live at a festival a few years back and they still didn't click with me. Granted the setting probably wasn't the best - they looked rather out of place with their black-themed decor on a bright sunny day - but I just didn't get much sense of stage presence from them despite the sheer amount of people onstage.

There isn't any atmosphere about them, really, so the decor isn't relevant. Their music just kind of bowls you over live. Really amazing, life-affirming stuff. I guess if you dislike their music you won't be blown away, but I've seen them twice and both performances were off the charts. Surprisingly sweaty, rocking shows with amazing crowd participation (yes, even in a festival setting). They are one of those bands that NEED to draw large crowds; they feed off of it.
 
I don't dislike their music, I'm just a very casual fan; perhaps I simply had my expectations set too high after hearing how mindblowingly good they're live. I mean, I've seen a few acts live whose music I don't care for one bit, but who I'd have admit were utterly fantastic live. Maybe with Arcade Fire you actually do need to be emotionally involved, rather than just appreciating the show in a distant uninvolved way.
 
I don't quite get the hype over Neil Young's Freedom. Bless him, he's one of my favorite artists and he can do whatever, generally to great success, but this album goes everywhere and nowhere. I like Rockin' In The Free World electric like everyone else does, but acoustically the pace doesn't change enough to make it worth a slot. It's doesn't have that broken-yet-determined intensity of My My, Hey Hey. Someday is cheesy garbage with awful production, and then there's the random On Broadway cover...lol...well, it's fun. Most significantly of all is the fact that nothing really sticks with me except for RITFW and Wrecking Ball. And Eldorado is good, but it's got nothing on other slow-burners like Cortez The Killer.

Maybe it'll grow on me over time. For now it's probably my least favorite highly lauded NY album. Which actually doesn't say much against it since I love most every album of his that I've heard.
 
That is a great, great song. Most of Antics is high quality, although it really lacks the brilliant peaks and overarching atmosphere of Turn On The Bright Lights.
 
Alex, Vomit, Just A Song and Forgiveness are all brilliant.

The rest is good/decent but doesn't really excite me much.
 
Narc is the best song on Antics, but Untitled definitely ranks as my favourite Interpol song.
 
You guys should find the track Mind Over Time. I think it was a bonus on Our Love to Admire. One of Interpol's best and a great cold weather song

(Leif Erikson and The New are still my favs though)
 
I don't quite get the hype over Neil Young's Freedom. Bless him, he's one of my favorite artists and he can do whatever, generally to great success, but this album goes everywhere and nowhere. I like Rockin' In The Free World electric like everyone else does, but acoustically the pace doesn't change enough to make it worth a slot. It's doesn't have that broken-yet-determined intensity of My My, Hey Hey. Someday is cheesy garbage with awful production, and then there's the random On Broadway cover...lol...well, it's fun. Most significantly of all is the fact that nothing really sticks with me except for RITFW and Wrecking Ball. And Eldorado is good, but it's got nothing on other slow-burners like Cortez The Killer.

Maybe it'll grow on me over time. For now it's probably my least favorite highly lauded NY album. Which actually doesn't say much against it since I love most every album of his that I've heard.

Go to hell.

Crime In The City FTW.

And Hanging On A Limb and Ways of Love are both beautiful.
 
I find Massive Attack's Protection to be extremely overrated. It starts so well, the title track is one of their best songs, I love the beat in Weather Storm, and tracks like Karmacoma and Eurochild are solid, but overall I find it really quite boring. Closing it with a horrible cover of Light My Fire doesn't help.

I will go so far as to say that of the four Massive Attack albums I've heard (100th Window is the only one I don't have, and the reviews for it are resoundingly mediocre) it's my least favourite.

Mezzanine
*daylight*
Blue Lines
Heligoland (very underrated)
Protection
 
The main thing that sticks with me about Protection is that the second side mirrors the first side (same guest vocalist, similar style). Beck did much the same thing on Odelay. Sides matter when you're buying cassettes.

And the other thing is that half the songs (well ok, one or two) were reworked for Tricky's first album. I do really like 'Three' though.

Mezzanine is their turning point.
 
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