The Hotelier - Goodness (May 27, 2016) Album • Page 218

Aw, thank you! I think personal connection to music is so crucial, at least to me. For the sake of not bringing the conversation currently going on in the JEW thread into a completely different thread I'll be brief, but the number one factor that goes into how I view music and where it falls for me compared to other music is the level of personal connection I am able to foster with it. An album could be a perfect 10 in every other dimension, but if I can't find connection to it, it won't have any lasting value for me.

 

I was at an acme or something and I remember running to the car so I could hook up the aux and listen haha

 

I was actually thinking of your post when I was reading all that, haha. I agree completely

 

I don't think this was a general question to the thread, but for me it's definitely "Soft Animal".

I think I've shared this in the thread before, probably multiple times, but the song was released 2 days after my kids – twins, Cecilia and Evan, now 6 months old – were born.

My daughter was in the NICU, nothing serious, but still hard when her mom and brother were in the regular room and I had to keep running back and forth, including in the middle of the night.

I was anxious, exhausted, and overwhelmed, but I had to call the pediatrician to make an appointment for my son. So I stepped out to the visitors' room for some quiet, pulled out my phone, and opened up my browser to look up the number. Chorus was still open, of course, and I saw the news about the song so I noted it, made the call, and came back to listen.

I didn't have headphones, but thankfully I was alone, so I listened on my crappy phone speakers and those lyrics just hit me –

That’s when I see you there. 

(Fawn doe, light snow.)
Make me feel alive, 

Make me believe that all my selves align . . . make me believe that it is all alright.
(Fawn, doe, light snow.)

Make me feel alive,
Make me believe that I don’t have to die . . . make me believe that there’s a God sometimes.

 

My favorite song on Goodness is Goodness Pt. 2 because it's the song that introduced me to this wonderful band.

I tried listening to Home back when AP was lauding it, and I just could not get into it. Fast forward to this year: On Encore, Jason said he felt that Goodness was more accessible than Home, so I downloaded it and only made it about halfway through before I gave up.

But the tune of Christian's opening line "There's a kind and immediate hushing," stuck with me for weeks. So I kept revisiting the album until now, when I like every song on there.

I love the outro too. "When this began, it was a thing that we could both share..."

 

For me it's going to be two deliverances no matter what. A song hasn't hit me like that one did in a very long time

 

Thats awesome! That whole conversation was very interesting and informative for me.
The part about whether leaks hurt bands... yeah not so much, haha.

It wasn't a general question, but I'd love for it to become one! Thank you for sharing this story, thats such a powerful connection to have with the song. I'm glad your kids are doing okay.
Theres something about the desperation in Christian's voice when he sings all of the "Make be believe..." lines that I find really easy to latch onto in times of crisis.

 

After listen 100 of this record I'm ready to commit to this being my number one for the year, maybe I objectively gave it way more of a chance bc I liked home so much but the fact that I have gotten so much joy from listening to these songs makes it impossible for me not to make this my number one. Thrice is probably number two and that's another record that probably objectively has gotten more listens bc I love the band.

 

Can't tell you how cathartic it feels to play drums to Soft Animal and just belt out the chorus to that song. Very surreal feeling

 

so it's been about five months since Goodness came out, which isn't a terribly long time but I think enough time for it to sit with you and for you to connect with it. How does everyone feel about this in relation to Home? Not necessarily an arbitrary "Goodness/Home is better than Goodness/Home" But I'm seeing that a lot of people seem to have forged a connection so I'm just wondering if it still feels like it did a few months ago in relation to your personal connection with each album and what you'd thought that connection would look like. You can add INGO in there too, which is also gr9

 

still firmly in my top 3 of the year, means more to me every day even if i dont listen to it every day. seeing them next week so i cant wait for that

 

Don't listen to either album much anymore, but I did listen to Goodness last month and it's still in my top 10 for the year right now.

 

I think that this is actually easier for me to relate to than hlnplit. My album of the year and top 3 all time.

 

Thrice is your number one?

 

no lol thats maybe top 30

 

Yeah, this has actually grown on me considerably.

 

I thought you were on that thread saying how great that record is the other day

 

it is a great record, i make top 50's every year and could make a top 100 if i wanted to because so much music comes out that i love.

 

yeah this year especially lists are so deep, i may be forced to do 50 rather than 25 or 30 like i usually do

 

I could probably do a top 25 this year of records I love not sure if I would go deeper than that without picking stuff that I didn't really like that much

 

last year i did a top 50 with another 50 honorable mentions. i loved every album

 

I wish I had the time lol I'm sure there's a lot of good stuff I'm missing out on ha

 

Going to post something more insightful and in-depth after I get out of class, but I will that like @sophos34 this is a top three album for me, it means so much to me in ways that extend beyond simply the music, and I'm so happy to have both Home and Goodness (and INGO) in this bands catalog.

 

same to all of this, including the longer post after class, haha

 

yeah i love home about as much. they're two very different records. in my opinion, home is more focused on the individual songs. each song feels like its own big event, and while they come together as a cohesive whole, goodness looks at the bigger picture throughout the whole thing. it just feels more like an big work of art when it comes to the album as a whole.