I can understand why some people don't like how long some of Will's stuff can be. I cannot fault them for having that opinion. In my opinion though, his complete commitment to ambitious songwriting and unconventional structure is one of the reasons that make him such a good songwriter. A Car Seat Headrest album, for me, certainly uses its run time better than, just as an example, a lot of 18+ song rap records that I've listened to. I love a lot of Sufjan Steven's work partially for those same reason. "Impossible Soul" should be 25 minutes long! Each choice for a song on a Car Seat Headrest album is fussed over like its a painting and that is thrilling to me, even if the recording quality varies wildly. Tl;dnr: Keep writing unfashionably long songs Will.
I mean I like loads of long ambitious unconventional songs, Van Morrison and Yo La Tengo have dozens of my faves for instance I just don't think these long tracks were done particularly well Length isn't an inherently bad thing, but you run the risk of bloat when you don't have the goods to back it up just my 2 cents tho I've made my point clear enough and will stop bringing down the thread lol
I don't think you're bringing it down. I like the nuts and bolts conversations. I think "the goods" factor is highly subjective in this context and that is cool. We agree on Yo La Tengo and Van Morrison at least so cheers to that.
Anyone have any idea what relationship this record is loosely about? I get the idea that its songs written by a 19 year old about growing up with a repeat theme of maybe his dad or grandfather dying of alzheimers or something.
Actually, maybe it's about the end of a friendship. Two best friends that grew up together having to say goodbye as they go their separate ways to grow up.
yeah, this is really fantastic, just wish it wasn't so fucking long. that being said, famous prophets is incredible and almost 20 minutes long lol
Bruh I'm on the second track now. Am I gonna get to the end of this 13 minutes fucking song and feel that it was worth it?
No no I liked it. I'm a fan of his, I just am skeptical of very long songs outside of certain genres.
Like the last album, this is a guy with lots of talent and lots of good ideas, but he needs an editor / advisor to tell him when to rein it in a bit. This is bloated to the max, with songs that do not benefit from being 6 minutes plus. I think he can probably release a genuine masterpiece one day, but he's definitely in the need of someone to curb some of his lengthier instincts. Lot to like here, but quite a bit of frustration too.
I also find long albums (not necessarily songs) really hard going in general though. I do think a 35 minute taut and focused album from him would be ideal, but I can see (ish) why people are really into his more meandering longer stuff.
I like this so much more than his last album. Adored him when I saw him play live but could never get into Teens of Denial However, I totally agree with this.
Cool. I went into my local store for a look and the vinyl is all sold out but the double CD was there so I wasn't sure. Though given the length it would be 4 records so I probably should have thought that through before asking.