Thanks for the time you took to answer my question. That is exactly the
type of response I was hoping for. You actually gave a better defense for
why you do not care too much for TRT than I could for why I do enjoy it. I
now have a few new perspectives to apply to it the next time I play it.
While I do enjoy and quite frequently listen to TRT, I was disappointed
upon first hearing the entire album. The opening of Killed By An Angel
immediately clued me into how different from HIFTBSO (my favorite) this
album was. I quickly warmed up to the new style as I listened to tracks
1-6 and actually really enjoyed One, Rain Song, & The Ocean the first time
through. But the latter portion (excepting The Rising Tide which I love)
seems to bog down heavily into melodramatic lyrics and music. I can't say
that I do not care for each of those songs on their own (although I cannot
stand the chorus & title to Televison) but placing them all together in the
track listing seems just painful to me. I do appreciate the album as a
whole now and do not consider it a failure but it took me some time to get
to that point. There has of course always been plenty of drama and emotion
in all of SDRE's lyrics, which I think we as fans love. But the
tracks 7-10 seem forced to me. Not so much a pouring out of the heart but
more of an attempt at writing music/lyrics to meet whomever's
expectations. They just do not feel natural to me. I think the
simplicity of the arrangements on a couple of those tracks goes along way
in why they seem that way to me. Of course, who am I to judge their
motives? But that is the feeling I initially received. I finally made up
mind to put aside any judgements I had towards their art until I actually
had something more substantial than my own impressions of someone else's
art. Now I just enjoy if for what it is before me. & I have plenty of
respect for anyone who cannot stand the album so long as they can back it
up with something more thoughtful than "TRT sucks" : )
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 19:27:29 EST
>Subject: Re: [sdre-l]: TRT
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>X-Mailer: 6.0 sub 10501
>
>I think there are many things that make The Rising Tide just a less-enjoyable
>album for me, but I suppose the main reason is just the record's general
>atmosphere, which is kindof a difficult reasoning to explain but, like.. as a
>whole is just sounds *for lack of a better term* corny.. like not corny like
>80s hair-band corny, but like Hall and Oates/ life insurance commercial
>corny.. lol, sorry that's the best way I can explain how it strikes my ears
>atmospherically. People whine about it being "over-produced".. but I think
>production can be a good thing, so I'll call it "mis-produced".. there's lots
>of stuff thrown in there that just sounds *to me* wrong, or un-needed.. for
>example, like the tons of keyboard/piano tracks that are just playing the
>vocal line. The vocal lines themselves kinda bug me too.. they sound like *I
>know this sounds wierd but:* overthought.. like he spent so much time
>analyzing them that he made em all snazzy to the point where they don't fit
>the song at all... some of the songs bug me because they
>harmonically/arrangement-wise just seem not to fit together at all, like Rain
>Song or The Rising Tide.. some bug me because they have this really wierd new
>wave sound to em that just gets on my nerves: like Television and Disappear..
>and others because they seem too repetitive or un-arranged for their own good
>(as much as repetition and simplicity CAN be a good thing): like Tearing in
>my Heart and Faces in Disguise. It seems like I've knocked on ever song but
>the "rock" ones.. and those too didn't have much staying power for me, I
>liked Fool in the Photograph and Snibe at first... and I still like em ok..
>but they aren't so spectacular to my ears as to hold up the whole album...
>Killed by An Angel really bugs me now.. like this lame attempt to "rock"
>again.. and a self-admittedly Neil Young rip-off riff.. it's dissapointing to
>say the least.. The Ocean is still a good song, while a little "mis-produced"
>it flows nicely.. One just sounds like a big, whooping ear of corn, I'm
>sorry..
>sorry to go on this big rant about it, but The Rising Tide is just
>dissapointing to my ears.. and I thought I'd try my best to answer your
>question about reasonings for that. Remember, his is just my .02 dollars, and
>that can't even get you a stick of gum.
>- j o e
>
>np; Hum - "Puppets"
