Yeah, really want to listen to this album again but I can't deal with that leak quality. Did really enjoy the album the first time through though.
I'm probably going to wait until is up on Spotify next week. Pandora won't load on my phone and I don't have a home computer. So I'll just hold off to listen to it again.
Vinyl orders have shipped and have a download card so I would think full quality will be out there within a couple days.
Ok, never mind my last posts. I listened again today. "Mountaintop" reminds me a lot of Brandston's "Earthquakes and Snakes"
This is okay. Significantly better than the last abomination but still not at the levels they've hit in the past. The back half is much better than the 1st, but overall the album bounces all over the place. I feel like it lacks some of the old energy, the songwriting still isn't as strong as it used to be, and for some reason his vocal sounds different to me.
Whether the average person could make a "better" album shouldn't be the basis for whether an album is good or not.
I have made a better album than CL. (Though I need to clean up the production, botched that). I will echo though, whether or not someone can do better, does not disqualify them from being critical. CL was bad, the songwriting was bad. It's a bad album.
I disagree that the song writing is really good. I think there's a few good songs on there but even those aren't anything special.
Also Matt's made multiple albums that are much, much better than CL so yeah, I think he's capable of much better than that album.
Biggest issues I'm having with this right now: 1. It kind of just feels like a random collection of songs rather than an album 2. There isn't really a standout "whoa!" track on my first few listens (maybe Runnin', actually.) That said, I am really enjoying it and it is SO much better than CL; my favorite band is back, I think.
I feel like I agree with 1 mainly because of some of the songs on the first half like "Bummin" and "Mrs Hippopotomus" which is one of the main reasons I think the tracklisting I posted a few days ago would improve the album. I think most of the stuff on here would come together to create a really cohesive whole. As for 2, "Empty House" was an immediate standout for me but "Man" and "Flower" have really wowed me over the last few days. I like the idea of "Runnin'" more than I like the actual song, I think the only part I really love on there is the second section.
Yeah immediately after posting I was like well Empty House, Man, Cat, and probably some more are standouts for sure. Also, I agree that while I really like it Mrs. Hippopotamus' does not really fit on the album. Look on up could have replaced it IMO if they wanted to keep the same track number and it would have made more sense.
wasn't the biggest fan of mrs hippo when it first came out but now here i am singing out o-h-i-o and rooting for the cleveland brownies on my 14th listen through the album...
I've had it in my head all day today. I really like the song musically, but the lyrics do nothing for me because I'm not from Ohio. Still fun to sing, though.
Not only am I not from Ohio, but I'm from Detroit and I'm a Michigan fan. That could be the catchiest song in the history of the world, but I can't bring myself to like a song that contains the Ohio State "O-H! I-O!" chant.
Songs in the first half of the album are the ones getting stuck in my head, but the second half keeps me interested and coming back for more.