LP is a very, very good drummer but his talents were never fully showcased fully in YC songs in my opinion.
Still really enjoying going through these guys’ albums for the first time. Lights and Sounds and Paper Walls were both great… onto WYTTSY now. Hearing their progression and yet the impressive consistency they maintained is really cool.
So I guess Lift A Sail often isn’t considered one of their better albums? So far I couldn’t disagree more… I love the sound of this album and how they changed it up. It sounds MASSIVE. “One Bedroom”… are you kidding me?? So good.
Have to do it to you now - What's your favorite record, and what's your favorite song after making it through the entire catalog?
Lift a Sail is their best album musically and lyrically in my opinion. Could not love that album more.
I’ll let you know after I hear the self-titled haha still need to do that one! Also might go through the albums a bit more after before I commit to a choice tbh
Established bands “other” album is an interesting topic. Although they tend to be my favourite album by a band, the outlier record is often very interesting, personal and layered as a record, often with heavy focus on production. The best example of this to me has always been face to face album “ignorance is bliss”. Fantastic album, but it genre hoped and was almost unrecognizable as the band, except for Trever’s voice. It’s was so well crafted and required repeat listens and almost ended the band at the time because of negative feedback (not by me). Now the album is highly regarded by most fans, although my favourite is still their album “self titled”. That’s where I’m at with Lift A Sail. Also, this happens when bands members want to get deeper into production. It takes a lot of guts to pull off, but YC was definitely at a point in their career/release history they could do it.
Been thinking about this recently - I've always wondered what kind of work and planning must go into a single show, especially one like this at a huge festival. I have very little exposure to this other than the little band I was in when I was in college playing at local coffee shops so I've always wondered what goes into it. After 5 years off, I'd imagine they have a ton to get together including gear, tech's, lights, stage plan, the whole deal. One thing that has been a constant with this band in the 15+ years I spent watching them live was a tremendous live show and attention to detail including a ridiculously good crew. Very grateful to get to see them again and for all of the people doing work behind the scenes, too.
True. Every couple of months for me. I’m on a huge Lift A Sail kick right now. Also have been really into “I’m A Wrecking Ball”. I love that song.
At the time, I was selfishly hoping Ryan would have expanded on the sound of Wrecking Ball on his solo stuff in a more classic country/rock/singer songwriter sound. Really go down that path that leans into country at times. Something in the world of John Moreland, Jason Isbell, Butch Walker, John Prine, and the first Brian Fallon solo record. I guess some of the solo songs get close to that world, but never is fully in there. The Bowery (a great song btw) kind of fits, but I hear much more of the Hammock and scoring influences when I listen back now to the solo stuff. And that makes complete sense from what we know now. I guess all of that is how I heard Wrecking Ball all these years, as an intro to the bourbon soaked country influenced sound. But listening to Wrecking Ball and his solo stuff now, it really was setting up the direction he ultimately went in and I was just wrong in my projection. TLDR: Wrecking Ball and The Bowery showcase Ryan’s talent for simple melodies that get stuck in your head and are relatable. I wish The Bowery was a bigger song like it should have been.
When you look back at Yellowcard as a whole, there really is a great deal of diversity in their music. I thought they did a great job of expanding out of whatever "genre" people tried to say they were in. All of their albums have a great deal of complexity among them. The difference between Southern Air and Lift A Sail, for example, is significant - yet the quality of the music that the band put out never wavered. I agree that I would have loved (selfishly, I must add) to see them expand a bit into that more country/folk vibe. I thought Wrecking Ball was a fantastic song, the harmonies are beautiful. And lets not forget about the first half of Fields and Fences. Sean's violin work on top of the bands songwriting ability in that overall space was fantastic. I think they could put out some really beautiful stuff. Worth noting, too that I go back to Ryan's first two albums quite a bit. I really love "Form and Figure" and "Thirty Days" in particular. So, so good. Who knows, maybe we will see some sort of new music from these guys down the road. I hope that they eventually will be able to create together again. We'd all be very lucky if that were the case, that's for sure!