This is one of those albums that I have always wanted to write something about. Released in the latter part of 2000, it for me is without doubt the best album I have ever heard. Subjective a point though that may be, I struggle to see some of the recent lists of favourite/best albums of the noughties that do not even give this group a look in.
For those of you who may not know the band(I will call them GYBE), they are one of the most prominent and critically acclaimed post rock bands in history. Post rock certainly gets a lot of stick for itself, accusations of pretense and over-complicating their style, or even trying too hard to be different, are all commonplace. GYBE have an orchestral feel, added to by virtue of their large number(roughly nine band members) and the inclusion of a type of free jazz, and without doubt hints of chamber music. This classical approach, twisted with long compositions, rock instrumentation, (at times) psychedelic approach, intricate and intelligent progression, stripped up and stripped down variations, and most importantly, fine musicianship, for me make this record incontestable and unmatched, certainly in the post-rock circuit. I will briefly mention a two other post rock bands that come to my head to try and solidify my point. God is an Astronaut are certainly my favourite of all the contemporary offerings, and in some ways can even be labelled 'generic' post rock for their lack of experimentation within the boundaries of the genre, but despite this rather crude accusation they still remain(for me) one of the best groups doing it for the moment, their first and most recent albums standing out by a country mile each for me. (As a side note, look them up on YouTube, the best example I can give is 'Fragile' - a song by them, they play video pieces when they play live I suppose, to kind of fill the lyricless void, and it does a lot more than that).
Whilst they are a brilliant band, God is an Astronaut have not been able to reach the sort of musical, orchestral peaks that GYBE on their third offering. I will ensure brevity only referencing one more example, Mogwai(I wanted to talk about Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia... but I only have one of their albums as of yet). Now, this band is a great pioneer of attempting to push this post rock genre into any sort of mainstream. I will only say that Mogwai have failed to reproduce the same sort of material that they offered on their debut, and on Rock Action, on a consistent basis. Which means an awful lot in a genre where many often accuse the proponents of lengthy, boring, bland instrumental pieces.
You can either hear this album, and hear a lot of white noise, clumsily included speeches, loose progression that springs up and down out of nowhere, and conclude your pre-garnered suppositions of the genre. Though it does take a sort of commitment to listen to this band. The first seven minutes of the second track 'Static' seem to be just rumbling along with no clear direction, until an incredible monologue is delivered. The meaning of which we cannot be sure, GYBE are not the type of band to give any clues, "There will be terror under this day of night, there will be a song of jubilee waiting for your King, there will be nothing you will be looking for in this world, except for your God. This is all a dream, a dream in death. "
Now I will not attempt to play simply on the sound scope I am so impressed with in this album. It is true that GYBE fill a lot of void with monologues which include ranting leftish rhetoric about, "the way things used to be," or about rebelling against authority. It, for me, is a loose, inaccurate, almost sloppy political calling. But to focus on it too much would be to miss the point I believe. If I am to sum up the musical offering of this I will string a pretentious sounding sentence together like this; this work is painfully beautiful, I know of no other band who can combine fascinating, chaotic, buzzing, shoe gaze inspired crescendos, combine these with lulled and haunting melodies with a sonic scope that was beyond its time, and most importantly, build a bridge between the two for an entire album. This album is absolutely essential for all, as it approaches its ten year anniversary.
RATING: 10/10
You can either hear this album, and hear a lot of white noise, clumsily included speeches, loose progression that springs up and down out of nowhere, and conclude your pre-garnered suppositions of the genre. Though it does take a sort of commitment to listen to this band. The first seven minutes of the second track 'Static' seem to be just rumbling along with no clear direction, until an incredible monologue is delivered. The meaning of which we cannot be sure, GYBE are not the type of band to give any clues, "There will be terror under this day of night, there will be a song of jubilee waiting for your King, there will be nothing you will be looking for in this world, except for your God. This is all a dream, a dream in death. "
Now I will not attempt to play simply on the sound scope I am so impressed with in this album. It is true that GYBE fill a lot of void with monologues which include ranting leftish rhetoric about, "the way things used to be," or about rebelling against authority. It, for me, is a loose, inaccurate, almost sloppy political calling. But to focus on it too much would be to miss the point I believe. If I am to sum up the musical offering of this I will string a pretentious sounding sentence together like this; this work is painfully beautiful, I know of no other band who can combine fascinating, chaotic, buzzing, shoe gaze inspired crescendos, combine these with lulled and haunting melodies with a sonic scope that was beyond its time, and most importantly, build a bridge between the two for an entire album. This album is absolutely essential for all, as it approaches its ten year anniversary.
RATING: 10/10
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