The Wonder Years Band • Page 185

i think you need a comedown from cigarettes personally. it should definitely be later in the album than it is

 

I assume it's just a five-minute (Brothers &) Cardinals as track 2. I can't imagine not having You in January or Palm Reader on here.

 

Palm Reader was always one of my favorites on the og, only enhanced here. And I never liked You In January, thought it was one of their weaker “ballad” type songs, but that has changed today. The new mix just highlights all the good parts of the song so much better.

 

Listening to the album with Dan's alternate tracklist. Only thing I did was put C & S last after the "bonus" songs so it's still the closer. Also included Brothers with Cardinals. Definitely a good sequence.

 

still think the Burst & Decay version of You in January is definitive but yes, incredible song either way

 

Before I had a chance to listen yet and just looked at the vinyl earlier, I was a little offput by it being $60.

When I finally got to listen, I made it about four songs in before I went back and couldn't click buy fast enough. holy shit this is such a huge step up on an already fantastic album. So many new things to hear and the overall balance is so good. It's crazy how much of this was lost before, this is a treasure.

 

Revisiting this album has been so fun. It’s also reminded me how much I dislike song for Ernest Hemingway (maybe hot take around here?)

 

I fear the alternate tracklist is correct

 

I can't really imagine opening with t/t and then going into Brothers, feels like a hat on a hat. also splitting up IDLWIWT and Cigarettes breaking that perfect transition is... interesting

 

Slightly off topic, but if you guys really want to be blown away, I'd recommend investing in a really decent pair of headphones, a DAC and listening to hi-res FLAC versions of songs over Tidal or Qobuz. Guarantee your musical listening experience will never be the same again.

 

Damn, this remaster breathes totally new life into this album. Sounds incredible.

 

It’s their best song for sure

 

I really can't express enough how happy I am this album finally sounds like it should

Yeah that's why I prefer the sequencing I found a few years ago that basically just sticks the first 5 tracks at the end, title track as the opener, and then shuffles the rest around a bit

 

Come join us in the Audio Equipment Thread.

 

nothing to add really but also want to say the remastered version sounds so good. Had to fight through the murk to love the original back in the day, this would have been so much easier

 

What happened to Thomas?

 

believe he just has a normal job and life and doesn't blog anymore

 

Totally agree.

 

Dan’s alternate tracklist is WAY better. I’d just put You In January between the final two songs.

 

Feels like a closer to me.

 

C&S is a lot like What a Catch, Donnie off of Folie to me in that it feels like the closer but also needs something after it for a comedown of sorts

 

I like using the word centerpiece when a song like that is in the middle

 

Another example of a song that just simply doesn't make sense in the middle of the album haha

 

Same for me. Yesterday I caught myself doing what I did when it originally came out ten years ago, which was playing that song on repeat for like an hour.

 

The "Bluest Things" through "Thanks for the Ride" run has always been one of my least favorite of the band's catalog, I know that's probably a fairly unpopular opinion. "Hemingway" is always one of the lower points in their live set for me, too.

Equally unpopular, but I feel about "Patsy Cline" the way I see a lot of people talking about "Bluest Things." I always loved that song, and this version has me loving it even more.

All of this, of course, is said with the caveat that I love all these songs and this critique, if it even counts as one, is insanely mild and I still happily listen to that run of songs and enjoy them thoroughly.