solace

right. i'm just saying i wish i could enjoy it for what it is, but even disregarding how great Inverted & Chutes are, if this was the Shins only output i wouldn't be nearly as big of a fan as I am.

Thanks guys

happy b-day to me!

not even comparing The Shins latest to their previous 2 it's a weak album for me. 4-5 really good songs, but a lot of dull stuff too. but when you do in fact listen to their 3 albums as a whole, it's incredibly obvious to me that the melodies and hooks aren't nearly as strong or the music as interesting. i wish i could say that the Shins latest was great, just not as good as the first 2, but i can't. whereas Plans is a really good album, just not DC's best by any means.

yeah Somedcay You Will Be Loved is pretty cheesedick too i must add, but i like the melody. they've always been borderline emo, but some of the lyrics on Plans were way too overwrought for me, that song and What Sarah Said for example (touching song though). Marching Bands is definitely my favorite song on that album, no doubt.

agreed. honestly i'd put Plans behind not only Trans and Photo album, but also Facts and Airplanes too. definitely my least favorite of their proper studio full lengths. not to say it's bad, just disappointing comparatively. i don't care for these songs off it much at all: Soul Meets Body (what a terrible choice for a first single. most of the song isn't so bad but the way Ben sings "Soul meeeeets boooodeeeeee" makes my nuts shrivel up) Different Names (eh. it's not so bad once it gets going, but the intro up until the half point mark = total Phil Collins, blech) Your Heart Is An Empty

i thought that for the first year or so after it came out, but after having revisited the Photo Album it's too tough to call for me. Trans is their most cohesive effort though, no doubt.

CT is fantastic no doubt. hoping this new one is a LOT better than Plans though. Photo Album & Transatlanticism are both killer.

yikes.

meh. Losing My Edge is funny, but i prefer songs with hooks sorry

pretty much hated it from the get go myself

i didn't make it all the way through firs tlisten, but just finished it now. the last track is pretty sweet w/ a bit more Bejar. that's about it though.

heh. whereas i loved the first album to death, second was a disappointment but still rocked at least, and only liked maybe 4 or 5 songs on Howl. i enjoy a handful of Baby 81 quite a lot and would put it still second by quite a bit behind the first S/T, but definitley got into it a lot more than Howl. but I mostly really only like them when they're ripping off JAMC.

must admit, so far this is pretty awful. dunno if i'm gonna make it through all the way on first try it sounds like shit you'd hear at a Renaissance fair sung by someone who does Broadway musicals. Bejar only sings backup very minimally through 5 tracks.

Someone Great & All My Friends alone are better than any single song James Murphy has written prior.

yeah... and from the sound of that comment, it doesn't strike me as though Scalzunfield was that big of fan of I&W prior either, so again, not exactly how i'd define a "disappointing" record. because if you think this one is "dull", it's actually more diverse and interesting musically than any other I&W album minus the Woman King EP. i guess if you find it boring you find it boring, but it bugs me when often times people (not saying that's the case here) equate slow, mellow, or acoustic as "boring". it's some of the more gorgeous music that came out in 2007, no doubt.

sounds about right

i've heard it's better than the last 3 pieces of shit at least... confirm/deny?

oh shit, i'd forgotten to add Voxtrot, thanks for the reminder

agreed. thus why i didn't even know why The National were brought up in defense of Lucinda in the other thread by Littlebear.

Surprises: Radiohead (while i enjoyed Hail to the Thief more than most Radiohead fans i know, I also didn't really care much for Kid A/Amnesiac (could put together a fairly solid 12-13 song album between the 2 though). this is easily their best album since OKC for me, and may end up being my most listened to RH album after The Bends. (i'm not gonna claim it's better than OKC, i'd get lynched for doing so, but that album takes a certain mood for me, whereas IR is Radiohead's most uplifting and optimistic and just downright gorgeous album in their entire catalog.) LCD Soundsystem (after an o

i know right? hopefully someone can help me see the err of my ways early enough in 2008 to save myself from wasted time.

?

lol i didn't say deep but no... Lu stayed with relatives of mine for a while in San Francisco when she was first just starting out around the early 70's when she was 19-20. the first time I ever saw her in '97 w/ Patty Griffin opening in Bozeman, MT, i talked to her afterwards and mentioned their name, her eyes lit up and she gave me a huge hug. it was pretty cool .