frogproduction

To those who justly chastised me for hastily setting aside the musical part: it's true that I did, but I firmly believe that the true center of this album is its claim to present itself as an ideological operation before being musical or poetic. Tom Morello presents it as a collection of anthems, real battle slogans, and suggests listening to it as something revolutionary in itself (perhaps the fault lies not only with Morello but also with Sony's marketing department, but if he puts his face to it, it means he agrees). Well, once I perceived this ideal center of the album and noticed its profound hypocrisy and inconsistency, I just couldn't focus on the music. Which, among other things, is truly pointless.

Hello! I thank everyone who is commenting and also for the flattering feedback on the review... To alessioIRIDE: it's obvious that the whole groupies thing is a bit exaggerated, let's face it, but until the middle of the last century, all boys from good families up to the age of 18 used to write poetry; now they form musical groups or, if particularly foolish, dance hip hop and dream of appearing on De Filippi's show. Every now and then, there's someone with more talent, passion, luck, focus, and soul who writes/plays stuff better than the others. And over time, they become an artist, and what they do becomes the center of their existence. The fact remains that very few people play the cor anglais, and it is an instrument with practically unlimited expressive and poetic possibilities (alongside the triangle, the tin drum, and the kazoo, of course).

Great review. Below is what I wrote on my blog (it doesn't seem necessary to post another one online if this one already exists, which is also much more thoughtful):
"Reviewing Conor Oberst's latest album poses a challenge: the Bright Eyes I love are those that, when shuffle serves them up, force me to stop whatever I'm doing and listen to a tone-deaf teenager rambling about his life and, in addition, move me as if I were still eighteen myself. How do you review the album of that teenager, who has since grown up and has no intention of hiding it? Who writes his lyrics in a totally different way and still can’t carry a tune but now with meticulously crafted arrangements? It took me quite a while to appreciate Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, and Cassadaga is taking just as long to grow on me. However, I've come to terms with the fact that Conor Oberst has matured; he’s about my age and if he continued to write like he did back in the days of Fevers and Mirrors, I fear it would only elicit pity. Now, he could occasionally temper the sweetness (Make a Plan to Love Me), but when he mixes his personal stories, biblical imagery, and quotes from Yeats (Four Winds), it makes me think there’s a future, that this kind of "country" classicism is something every great American songwriter must go through sooner or later, as Will Oldham's example shows. And if this leads to noteworthy results (Soul Singer in a Session Band, Classic Cars) or even superlative ones (Middleman and No One Would Riot For Less, the award for best song title in these early months of 2007), we can ultimately expect more good albums in the future and maybe even a masterpiece like Fevers and Mirrors, but completely different; that losing a singer who told endless stories for one who sketches feelings in lyrics that aren’t always perfectly in focus can also be fine, since the "new" songwriter seems good too, even if his songs don't stick in your head after the first listen and require time to be sung with warmth.
A good album: if it hadn't been by Bright Eyes, I might not have listened to it long enough to like it, but if it hadn't been by Bright Eyes, I might like it much more by now."

I don't go crazy for Allevi, sometimes I find it a bit affected. What puzzles me is that those who recommend "going to listen to Keith Jarrett instead," use more or less the same arguments that Keith Jarrett's critics have always used. (n.b. Jarrett's critics are no longer heard, since, as Arbasino says, he has passed to the status of "venerated master," after being a "young promise" and a "usual jerk." Probably now Allevi is in the "usual jerk" phase, given his success. The same thing happens to Brad Mehldau. We'll talk about it in a few years; after all, they sell much more useless records, and this might still work to impress the unsuspecting...)

Ah, a gem: good old pops has categorized the tools as post rock instead of metal (and I don't agree with either classification, for different reasons), but has anyone noticed the wonderful quote/plagiarism in "Wings for Marie Pt 1"? Everyone complains that nothing happens, that there should be an explosion like Meshuggah, and instead there's a thin distorted guitar riff. Homework: listen to Slint, "Spiderland", track number 3, "Don, aman": brilliance in some cases lies in subtraction, not in accumulation. (Thanks, Walford, we need more drummers like you, capable of being quiet!)

Ah, a gem: good old pops has categorized the tools as post rock instead of metal (and I don't agree with either classification, for different reasons), but has anyone noticed the wonderful quote/plagiarism in "Wings for Marie Pt 1"? Everyone complains that nothing happens, that there should be an explosion like Meshuggah, and instead there's a thin distorted guitar riff. Homework: listen to Slint, "Spiderland", track number 3, "Don, aman": brilliance in some cases lies in subtraction, not in accumulation. (Thanks, Walford, we need more drummers like you, capable of being quiet!)

In the Liars' DVD, there are three different videos for each song... one should never have listened to the album and watch them one after the other...

And buy the liars in the edition with DVD, it costs little.

I forgot the grades.