Mumford and Sons - Delta (November 16, 2018) Album • Page 3

I realize I am overly attached to the live version of "Forever" that they played, but what do people with fresh ears think of the album version...??? I find it to be incredibly dull and low-energy. I really can't wrap my mind around the 4 of them plus Paul Epworth listening to this album version and thinking:

A) That this is better than the live arrangement
&
B) A slow song like this is a great idea 51 minutes into a 62 minute album, immediately following another 5 minute slow song.

 

I just don’t even know if I want to commit any more time to this. The first 6-7 songs are pleasant, but like all their albums I just get fatigued because they aren’t very dynamic songwriters. They could probably do a great 30 minute record, but they always insist on throwing more songs on there than they should.

 

The first 7 songs I really like but it gets really really weak after that.

 

I can't argue with this at all, but I am curious if you made it to the closing song "Delta"...? I think its a really good song.

 

I did and i'm fine with that as the closer if it ended with that song as the 8th song.

 

I whittled my version down to 10 tracks -->

1. 42
2. Guiding Light
3. Beloved
4. The Wild
5. Darkness Visible
6. October Skies
7. Slip Away
8. If I Say
9. Wild Heart
10. Delta

A couple of these will most likely get the axe somewhere down the road if they ever release a studio version of "Blind Leading The Blind" or a different studio version / high quality live recording of "Forever".

 

That seems to be a huge issue with a lot of artist.

 

I really think the 10-song 30-35 minute album is an undervalued approach. It's probably becoming further undervalued in the streaming era.

 

A lot of songs on here remind me of Coldplay's Ghost Stories only if Chris Martin was not as good at writing songs as he is.

 

Not into this at all. What a huge, huge bummer

 

I know this doesn't make sense, but I feel like this album is halfway between "very boring and monotonous" and "better than I expected and kinda cool"

 

This is on while I'm doing other things and it's pleasant. Nothing gripping me like their more popular singles, though

 

As bad as I think some of the songs on here are - and I think they are pretty damn bad - the thing that really gets me is that they're sitting on at least one version of "Forever" that in all likelihood is much, much better than the one we got on here, if not more. I don't understand why they struggled so much with that song and went through so many different versions and then ultimately settled on this terrible one. All that Epworth guy had to do was set up a f---ing microphone and record them playing it exactly like they did on all those live vids where it kicks ass and has power and passion and feels alive. I've read some M&S fans saying that version of "Forever" and a song like "Blind Leading The Blind" wouldn't fit the flow and style of this album, but to me that just means you should style your album so that it's flow is not bad.

I actively can't stand "Rose of Sharon" and "Picture You" and they don't even strike me as M&S songs at all. "Woman" feels like a terrible EDM-ish remix of what could be a decent M&S songs in a different and more natural arrangement with about 80% less production. "The Wild" and "October Skies" are both pretty lackluster and boring, but I do appreciate that it sounds like they are actually playing their instruments. On a better album, these two are songs that I probably wouldn't skip and could most likely grow to appreciate, but they aren't good enough to bring me back to this album.

All of that complaining aside, I legitimately think that "42", "Guiding Light" and "Delta" are fantastic songs, and "Beloved", "Slip Away", "If I Say" and "Wild Heart" are all really good, if not great, as well.

Delta sounds like they doubled down hard on all of the things about Wilder Mind that I considered big mistakes. It feels like they listened to the backlash against them waaaaaay too much and are now afraid of all their old instruments. Yeah, I know they say there's banjo on here, but it's so heavily processed as to be completely imperceptible. At that point, just play whatever f---ing instrument it is that you made it sound like. There is such a huge distance to explore between dressing like a character from The Oregon Trail and only playing acoustic guitar, banjo and upright bass and whatever the hell it is they're doing on "Rose of Sharon", it's a shame because I think they're talented but it seems like the backlash and criticism made them course correct way too hard. They are talking about already having booked Epworth as producer for whatever it is they do next too, so I don't have a whole lot of hope that they're gonna be putting out anything great again anytime soon.

 

I’m a few songs in and so far I’m enjoying this more than I expected to tbh. I like the new ideas they’ve utilized so far, but I am nervous about this being 61 minutes lol

Haha this is kind of my thoughts too. The songs aren’t always that dynamic, but there’s enough surprising/interesting ideas so far that have caught me by surprise that I want to keep going.

 

This album absolutely stinks

 

It’s about on par with Wilder Mind imo... I’m not blown away by either but they both have some pretty cool tracks. What makes you dislike this one so strongly if you don’t mind me asking?

 

It just sounds like a total mess to my ears. I absolutely loved Wilder Mind. I felt like the songs had much more room to breathe - the lyrics were also incredibly relatable for me at the time. But the structure of the songs was great and I even though they derailed from their previous “identity” I found the album full of character and very well written. I can’t say the same for this one. I don’t know what they are going for, but there’s no cohesive direction here and I just can’t get into it at all.

 

Unfortunately I concur with everything you say here. This album is a horribly produced mess. I've always loved the passion and emotion in Mumford & Sons' songs, and I like a good pop song as much as the next guy, but I feel like Mumford & Sons and Paul Epworth were a match made in hell. They both seem to have brought out the worst in each other. This album sounds like you took the weakest and least dynamic batch of songs Marcus Mumford has ever written and just ran them through a sound version of the SnapChat filter titled 'Adele Radio Hit'.

And I actually like Adele a lot. That's not a knock on her. I was trying to remain hopeful that it would still come out good remembering that people like Butch Walker can and have produced straight pop albums but are also wizards in the studio and can make all sorts of other kind of music too, but that definitely did not happen here.

 

I think about songs like "Broad-Shouldered Beasts" and realize that track is 10 times better than anything on this record. This thing doesn't even sniff the same air as Wilder Mind which featured passionate lyric, great production, and well written songs as a whole.

 

Between this album not being that great and them pissing off a bunch of their UK fans by cancelling those concerts and rescheduling them just because they didn't rehearse enough ahead of time..... really not a good look for them.

 

Mumford & Sons: Delta Album Review | Pitchfork

Lol, I suppose this is as close as you can get to a positive M&S review on Pitchfork

 

“Having shed the beardy affect and folksy shuffle, the band could now slip mostly unnoticed between Imagine Dragons and twenty one pilots..”

Yikes

 

I wildly disagree with that statement. This is not a band that necessarily needs defending, but I find their aesthetic infinitely more appealing and less obnoxious than the other two bands. This is a fine album to put on while you do other things. Some songs stick out, most of it blends together. I played it while cooking the other day and it was solid

 

the live setup stresses me out on which tickets i want to keep. i can’t tell if the stage is actually how it is on the ticket map. looking at pictures of the show it kind of seems long ways like baseline to baseline instead of sideline to sideline.

probably just better off with floor i guess

 

Seeing the gang tonight