I'm looking forward to listening to the podcast after hearing good things in here, not crazy about the song though. It's an earworm but it's a little safe.
Out of Breath sounded better live. Least of All is a good song too. Little Aphrodite being a b side is ok by me, just because I can’t imagine hearing it early on a record (Silent Key and Song for Josh serving as two nice album closers). I probably should listen to his pre release podcasts too.
Honestly I don’t remember it well enough. I know it’s not a popular opinion around here but I don’t like Positive Songs very much.
It’s not in my top three for sure. I think I am realizing how varied opinions are on this record though. I still do listen to it entirely in my Frank rotation though.
Definitely would have liked just the podcast as a stand-alone idea. Agreed that Sister Rosetta is a bit underwhelming. Also, seeing a lot of people online very upset by this album idea. At first I was heavily into the concept, but I can certainly understand the criticisms put forth.
Seeing this has me thinking he may have reacted so strongly to the people criticizing the Mongol Horde name because they had just pulled the trigger on boatloads of new schwag prominently featuring that name --->
From what I’ve seen on his IG comments, it’s mostly people criticizing him for using true stories of famous/historical women to further and benefit his own career as a male, like it’s not his place to do this especially if he isn’t donating all or part of the proceeds. I did see a comment that indicated that the sleeping souls were not a part of the recording process at all, and he used a group of all women session players, which I don’t know how true it is but that would be cool I think.
the more and more I think about this project though, the more i think a podcast-only approach would have been the better route. Anyone who follows Frank on social or reads into his lyrics will know how much of a history nerd/buff/enthusiast he is, so it wouldn't feel out of place at all for him to embark upon a project highlighting the work of famous women, I think the album sales/pre-orders/merch that go along with it though are whats irking people.
I thought that was indeed the case - only other female musicians featured on the album with him and a female producer. I haven't seen any criticism myself, but I did anticipate that exact type of backlash when he announced the idea for this project.
Nice - yeah I didn't know the bit about an all-female recording crew was completely true, that's pretty cool.
The podcast definitely made me appreciate the song a little more. I had no knowledge of Sister Rosetta prior to this, so it was a nice little introduction. Also cool to hear the more subtle references he embedded into the songs.
I listened to "Sister Rosetta" a few times and it honestly did strike me as somewhat boring and kinda safe, like what others have said where it kinda seems like Frank Turner just wrote down a bunch of facts about her and then sang them out in the most typical Frank Turner way. I am interested in listening to the episodes of the podcast that discuss each song and the stories about the women who inspired the songs, but I don't think I want to hear any more of the actual songs themselves until the entire album is out. This is a little bit of a unique project and just jumping in and starting with Track 2 strikes me as not the ideal way to hear this. I want to be able to listen to the entire album and take it all in.
someone posted that the chorus is reminiscent of stacys mom and now i can never listen to the song again lol
A male songwriter releasing a project highlighting and celebrating the successes of different women in history is very low on my list of issues with men in the music scene.
It’s not like this is new concept for Frank. Long Live The Queen is a beautiful and tragic story about his friend Lex. She may not be as famous historically, but she must have had an impact on Frank with her friendship. Here is a clip I remember seeing online.
The Sleeping Souls confirmed on Twitter Frank used an all female crew for the album. Saw a few people criticising Frank online for being "mealy-mouthed" and using the stories of women to further his career with this album. I can see where people are coming from, but if all the songs are positive representations and historically accurate, surely that's a good thing?