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murlough23
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« on: September 15, 2005, 06:24:59 PM » |
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So, I mentioned in the Music Journals thread that Plumb's new album Chaotic Resolve originally had a due date in September, and now it's been pushed back to February 2006. I was wondering if anyone else here liked her. I've been into Plumb since they were a band on their first few albums... now it's a solo thing, but same difference, since most of her arrangements are still very rock-based and I'm sure she has at least a studio band.
Anyway, for those unfamiliar, Plumb came out in 1997 with a bit of a dark, edgy, industrial-tinged modern rock sound akin to Garbage. I really liked the attitude and the oddness of that first record. candycoatedwaterdrops followed in 1999; a more consistent collection of songs overall, but definitely more smooth and pop/rock radio-oriented. Some of the arrangements were still very unique, so the record was a good balance even if it lost a little bit of the uniqueness. Beautiful Lumps of Coal came after that in 2003, and it was basically a disappointing pop album ready for WB primetime dramas, with a few notable high points.
The new album seems at first to be another BLoC, putting two extremely sappy love songs and an obvious Christian radio single (albeit a good song) right at the beginning, but after that point, it smartly delves back into Plumb's darker and more electronic roots. I wouldn't say it sounds like the early albums, but plenty of the songs have the spirit of those first two albums, and there's a good amount of crunch and even danceability to be found within. I'd say that tracks 4-10 are incredibly solid, and if the rest of the record followed in that vein, it'd be one of the best rock records of the year. As it is, it's still worth checking out if you've ever had a passing interest in the band or just like female-fronted rock bands.
So, anyone else here like Plumb?
NP: "Masterfade", Andrew Bird
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starhawk
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« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2005, 09:00:00 PM » |
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I enjoy Plumb. I agree with your assessment of their (her) releases- I personally feel the s/t to be the best, but I enjoy waterdrops too. Don't get me started about Coal...
Based off of the new songs I've heard (if they remain that way in the final record), I think Resolve sounds promising and should at least be better than the last one.
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« Last Edit: September 15, 2005, 09:01:54 PM by starhawk »
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ajyouthguy
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« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2005, 10:12:53 PM » |
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I like Plumb. I liked the self-titled a lot, because I thought (and still think) it was pretty fresh and innovative for a CCM release, but the other two albums were so-so at best, and both disappointed me really.
Live, when I saw them with Jars, they put Jars to shame that night, though. Although, it was very cool hearing Tiffany come out on the Jars set and sing the 'to love you...' part of "Worlds Apart."
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"When we spend so much time promoting everything we're against that the message of who we are for gets lost, when Christians are putting everyone else down, how is Jesus lifted up in that?." Doug Fields
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plumb_fan
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« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2005, 10:45:56 PM » |
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Though she is part of my screen name, i'm not all that big of a fan anymore. I like the first two albums. The third was...okay, I suppose (though I heaped praises upon it when released). From what i've heard, I won't be buying this one though.
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BecauseEdwardISEdward
Inphrequent Poster
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On loan from elsewhere
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« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2005, 12:44:32 AM » |
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I loved Plumb when they first came out, even if the label flooded the station I worked at with "HOTTEST NEW CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVE BAND!!!" type fliers, demo CDs, and watered-down versions of Unforgivable so the CHRs wouldn't have to worry about any real rock music getting on the air. I think the first is my favorite, but candycoatedwaterdrops was still quite good for a 2nd album. It got a bit of flak (mostly over "God Shaped Hole"), but it had some really good songs as well. "Stranded" should have been a top 40 hit, had Essential figured out what it was doing.
Beautiful Lumps was mixed, IMO. I liked a bit of it, but the "abuse" song on this album wasn't all that memorable, and seemed forced this time. A few others songs were simply boring. It wasn't a total wash, but it wasn't like what came before.
I may the only one, but "I Can't Do This" didn't really get my hopes up. I like Evanescence as much as the next guy, but we don't need more than one of them. I know she's mentioned she doesn't want to go back to "Crazy," but that edge is what I miss about Plumb.
Still, it's amusing to know that they tried to make her into a youth-groupy/teen star before she did Plumb.
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"Oh, you meant post-modern. Phew, for a second there I thought it said 'porno Christian,' which made me really intrigued to see exactly what your church's average Sunday service was like." - murlough
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murlough23
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« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2005, 02:01:38 AM » |
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Live, when I saw them with Jars, they put Jars to shame that night, though. Although, it was very cool hearing Tiffany come out on the Jars set and sing the 'to love you...' part of "Worlds Apart."  She didn't do that for us! Lucky punk. Oh well, that was still one of the best concerts ever. Plumb covering "In Your Eyes" at the end of "Endure" would have been an even bigger bonus, had I known the song at the time. I may the only one, but "I Can't Do This" didn't really get my hopes up. I like Evanescence as much as the next guy, but we don't need more than one of them. I know she's mentioned she doesn't want to go back to "Crazy," but that edge is what I miss about Plumb. "I Can't Do This", while it's a song I like, is the definite obvious CCM radio single, and it's not representative of the album. That and the two love songs I mentioned are kind of the odd ones out. Past those three tracks, the album gets darker and more inventive with the electronic rock stuff for a while. Oh, and someone mentioned abuse songs? This one has two or three of them, and I think they hit harder than "Nice, Naive & Beautiful". I also don't mind the Evanescence-isms because Plumb was doing that sort of stuff before Evanescence anyway. It's kind of nice to hear an Evanescence-esque song about not wanting to hate someone for a change. |
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Wildcatblue7
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« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2005, 08:12:07 AM » |
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I loved candy and was kind of building up my hopes for this one . . . maybe I'll buy it next year.
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plvarona
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« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2005, 10:32:20 AM » |
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I'm not the biggest fan of Plumb, but I do like most of the songs I've heard from her. I didn't really listen to Christian music much at the time her first CD came out, and the consensus looks like that's her best one, so maybe I would have been a bigger fan of hers if I had known about her earlier? I've heard a few radio singles from candycoatedwaterdrops, and I liked most of them. However, I was a little disappointed with Beautiful Lumps of Coal, as there were too many "blah" songs on it.
I was able to listen to all the tracks on Chaotic Resolve that were posted on the web earlier, and I pretty much agree with murlough's assessment. I thought the CD was pretty weak at the beginning, but started getting a lot more interesting around track 4 or 5, and I liked just about every song after that track, so I'd be interested in checking out the CD once it finally releases.
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- Phil V.  My current pub songs: Andrew Peterson: "The Reckoning (How Long)" (from Counting Stars) Jars of Clay: "Out of My Hands" (from an upcoming release) The Mynabirds: "Numbers Don't Lie" (from What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood) |
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PaulDA
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« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2005, 11:23:18 AM » |
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Any Plumb fans here? I especially like the ones that get bright red inside. They taste the best to me. |
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« Last Edit: September 16, 2005, 11:23:31 AM by PaulDA »
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murlough23
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« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2005, 12:22:17 PM » |
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Any Plumb fans here? I especially like the ones that get bright red inside. They taste the best to me. I figured it would either be that, or some smart-assed comment about fixing pipes. That's why we all love Paul. |
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Tom
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« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2005, 08:14:59 AM » |
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my wife got me into Plumb several years ago. at first i wasn't that keen on it; but after multiple listens Plumb really grew on me.
my wife favors the first album for it's edgy rock and i favor her second album for the songcraft. but we both were underwhelmed by B.L.O.C. it sounded way too much like mainstream country music, (albeit of far, far better quality than say...Shania Twain or Faith Hill) but it left us scratching our heads.
will the REAL, (pun intended) Plumb please stand up?
but yeah, we're fans. and it is quite irritating to hear the new one has been pushed back.
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« Last Edit: September 17, 2005, 08:15:22 AM by Tom »
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PaulDA
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« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2005, 12:12:18 PM » |
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I figured it would either be that, or some smart-assed comment about fixing pipes.
That's why we all love Paul. I didn't even think of the pipes analogy. I'm a wise ass, but only a simple wise ass.  :bosh: |
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« Last Edit: September 17, 2005, 12:13:46 PM by PaulDA »
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starhawk
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« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2005, 04:12:47 PM » |
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Did they mention any reasons why it was pushed back?
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murlough23
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« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2005, 06:22:48 PM » |
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BecauseEdwardISEdward
Inphrequent Poster
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« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2005, 06:31:46 AM » |
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IIRC, "Beautiful Lumps" was delayed as well. By quite a bit, if I remember.
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"Oh, you meant post-modern. Phew, for a second there I thought it said 'porno Christian,' which made me really intrigued to see exactly what your church's average Sunday service was like." - murlough
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ajyouthguy
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« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2005, 12:10:19 AM » |
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"When we spend so much time promoting everything we're against that the message of who we are for gets lost, when Christians are putting everyone else down, how is Jesus lifted up in that?." Doug Fields
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murlough23
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« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2005, 02:35:09 PM » |
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starhawk
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« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2005, 06:37:31 PM » |
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If Plumb really has made a turn around, I'm excited. Nice review.
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ajyouthguy
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« Reply #19 on: January 31, 2006, 09:10:04 AM » |
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i saw the video for "Cut" yesterday for the first time...it's a powerful, gut-wrenching song about self-mutilation, or 'cutting,' something that i've encountered about 10 times in the past year or so in youth in my youth group and/or their friends outside of my youth group. it's very interesting that she chose to tackle this incredibly heavy issue, but it's very much needed.
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"When we spend so much time promoting everything we're against that the message of who we are for gets lost, when Christians are putting everyone else down, how is Jesus lifted up in that?." Doug Fields
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murlough23
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« Reply #20 on: January 31, 2006, 12:14:17 PM » |
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i saw the video for "Cut" yesterday for the first time...it's a powerful, gut-wrenching song about self-mutilation, or 'cutting,' something that i've encountered about 10 times in the past year or so in youth in my youth group and/or their friends outside of my youth group. it's very interesting that she chose to tackle this incredibly heavy issue, but it's very much needed. What do you think of the end of the song? It seems to come close to a resolution with the bridge that says "I am not alone", but at the end, the character seems to still find relief in cutting. Is there now a different meaning to that same chorus that is escaping me? Or is the whole point of it that knowing one is not alone is step one in solving the problem, but not a complete solution that tidily wraps everything up by the end of a four-minute song? I'm OK with either, because one would be interesting writing technique, and the other is just plain honest; I'm just confused, that's all. |
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worldofcm
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« Reply #21 on: January 31, 2006, 01:36:56 PM » |
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I'm being lazy and don't feel like searching - anyone got a direct link to the "Cut" video by Plumb?
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Chris~~
worldofcm.com
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ajyouthguy
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« Reply #22 on: January 31, 2006, 02:41:58 PM » |
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I'm being lazy and don't feel like searching - anyone got a direct link to the "Cut" video by Plumb? i got it on my Interlinc loop, so i'm not sure if it's actually online. What do you think of the end of the song? It seems to come close to a resolution with the bridge that says "I am not alone", but at the end, the character seems to still find relief in cutting. Is there now a different meaning to that same chorus that is escaping me? Or is the whole point of it that knowing one is not alone is step one in solving the problem, but not a complete solution that tidily wraps everything up by the end of a four-minute song? I'm OK with either, because one would be interesting writing technique, and the other is just plain honest; I'm just confused, that's all. i think you're right in that it doesn't wrap things up neatly and tidily...it seems to hint at progress and steps towards healing, and also at the realization of the fact that the 'relief' is a faux relief, but i think she is getting into the life and mind of the cutter and though she is making progress, she still is struggling with it. that makes for a sure to be controversial song probably within CCM ranks, but based on my experiences with them over the past year, it's probably pretty close to reality. i know at least 3 of my cutters who don't do it right now, but still very much struggle with the thoughts of it and the temptation of it. it's not something that easily goes away...we've compared it to alcoholism, in that you can be a recovering cutter, but not sure you ever are totally a 'recovered' cutter. |
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« Last Edit: January 31, 2006, 02:42:41 PM by ajyouthguy »
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"When we spend so much time promoting everything we're against that the message of who we are for gets lost, when Christians are putting everyone else down, how is Jesus lifted up in that?." Doug Fields
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murlough23
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« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2006, 03:00:30 PM » |
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i think you're right in that it doesn't wrap things up neatly and tidily...it seems to hint at progress and steps towards healing, and also at the realization of the fact that the 'relief' is a faux relief, but i think she is getting into the life and mind of the cutter and though she is making progress, she still is struggling with it. that makes for a sure to be controversial song probably within CCM ranks, but based on my experiences with them over the past year, it's probably pretty close to reality. i know at least 3 of my cutters who don't do it right now, but still very much struggle with the thoughts of it and the temptation of it. it's not something that easily goes away...we've compared it to alcoholism, in that you can be a recovering cutter, but not sure you ever are totally a 'recovered' cutter. Good analysis. I'm sure many in the CCM market will shun it for exactly that reason. NP: "Makes Good Sense", The Elms |
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Nathan
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« Reply #24 on: April 29, 2006, 02:43:24 PM » |
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"Willow Tree" and "Send Angels" were standouts on a fine first album, but I haven't been that impressed since. If the new album harkens to those roots, I'll have to check it out.
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Today I was not blinded, crippled and dipped in boiling silver to make a graven image of the spiritual condition to which I naturally tend. So it was a good day.
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murlough23
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« Reply #25 on: April 30, 2006, 05:50:09 PM » |
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"Willow Tree" and "Send Angels" were standouts on a fine first album, but I haven't been that impressed since. If the new album harkens to those roots, I'll have to check it out.
It doesn't. The trip-hop influence never really came back. The spirit of the music is darker in the middle of the album, which makes it resemble the first album, but it also has strong elements of the other two albums. Personally, you singled out a few of my least favorite tracks from Plumb. |
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