Second Guess The Critic: Reloaded, Round 3

[Brenden]

Critic Picks:

Josh: John Reuben - Word Of Mouth (Clips) http://www.amazon.com/Word-Mouth-John-Reuben/dp/B000MG2LSQ/sr=1-2/qid=1171054908/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
NinjaRob17: Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High (Clips) http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-High-Fall-Out-Boy/dp/B000LC4ZIK/sr=1-1/qid=1171055009/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Murlough23: Norah Jones - Not Too Late (Clips) http://www.amazon.com/Not-Too-Late-Norah-Jones/dp/B000KCHZK6/sr=1-1/qid=1171055074/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Bloop: Relient K - Five Score & Seven Years Ago (Clips) http://www.amazon.com/Five-Score-Seven-Years-Ago/dp/B000MX7SR8/sr=1-2/qid=1171055131/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Brenden: Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Clips) http://www.amazon.com/Armchair-Apocrypha-Andrew-Bird/dp/B000MV9A1C/sr=1-2/qid=1171055217/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Plvarona: Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home (full album) http://www.myspace.com/dustinkensrue

This round ends next Thursday at 10 PM Eastern time. Also, here's the theme for next round.

"Haven't I Seen You Before?", albums that include people from other bands. For example, Switchfoot qualifies, but albums who have all members who were not in other bands beforehand do not count. Solo albums are allowed, I believe, this idea came from Plvarona, so if I've gotten something wrong, let me know.

[murlough23]

Bloop: 3
Brenden: 4
Josh: 3
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: 3

[bloop]

Josh:  3
Rob:  3
Murlough:  4
Brenden:  4
Plvarona:  3

about the next round, is it OK if the album has a guest spot or two from an artist from another band, or does it need to have a "defector"?  I'm not thinking of much for the latter - hoping Modest Mouse leaks soon or something.

[Brenden]

Josh:  3
Rob:  3
Murlough:  4
Brenden:  4
Plvarona:  3

about the next round, is it OK if the album has a guest spot or two from an artist from another band, or does it need to have a "defector"?  I'm not thinking of much for the latter - hoping Modest Mouse leaks soon or something.

I'm thinking it was meant to be a "defector", but I would probably allow guest spots to fall into the catagory, providing it's signifigant not a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of guest spot.

[Brenden]

Josh:  3
Rob:  3
Murlough:  4
Bloop:  3
Plvarona:  3

[plvarona]

I'm thinking it was meant to be a "defector", but I would probably allow guest spots to fall into the catagory, providing it's signifigant not a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of guest spot.

Just so you hear this out of the horse's mouth, Brenden is right.  I was referring to "defectors" when I had this theme in mind.  Also, solo albums from artists who were/are parts of other signed (or otherwise nationally-known) bands are allowed.

Onto my guesses:

Josh: 3
NinjaRob: 3
murlough: 3
Bloop: 3
Brenden: 4

[murlough23]

I'd love to do The Accident Experiment for Round 4, but I've had no luck downloading the album. I don't suppose I could bum it off somebody who has it?

NP: "The Clock", Thom Yorke

[bloop]

Your np reminded me that Thom Yorke's solo album would be alright to do if I didn't freaking already do it last year.

[murlough23]

Your np reminded me that Thom Yorke's solo album would be alright to do if I didn't freaking already do it last year.

Yeah, I kind of wish I'd held off on it myself.

[eatahouse]

Josh: 3
NinjaRob17: 3
Murlough23: 3
Bloop: 3
Brenden: 4
Plvarona: 3

[Josh]

NinjaRob17: 4
Murlough23: 3
Bloop: 4
Brenden: 5
Plvarona: 4

[NinjaRob17]

Josh: 3
Murlough23: 4
Bloop: 3
Brenden: 4
Plvarona: 4

[RedcoatJones]

Josh - 3
NinjaRob - 3
Murlough - 4
Bloop - 3
Brenden - 5
Plvarona - 4

[ajyouthguy]

Josh: 4
NinjaRob17: 3
Murlough23: 4
Bloop: 3
Brenden: 4
Plvarona: 4

[murlough23]

Stupid Amazon. They have no sound clips on the page for that Fall Out Boy album. Guess I have to hit up AMG.

I'm thinking of doing Dustin Kensrue for the next round, so I'll call it the "I Knew You Before" round.

[Brenden]

A note, if the other critics want to submit their ideas for theme rounds, they should before the end of the next round, that way I can let everyone know at the start of the next regular round.

If the other critics don't want to think up a theme round, just let me know and I'll use one of my other ideas.

[murlough23]

A note, if the other critics want to submit their ideas for theme rounds, they should before the end of the next round, that way I can let everyone know at the start of the next regular round.

When I did this, I allowed the "winner" of one theme round to choose the next, so long as I thought the idea was a feasible one. I was waiting to "win" such a round before suggesting a theme. But if it's a free-for-all, then I'll feel free to suggest something creative. Give me a few days.

NP: "Lovely Day", Michelle Tumes

[Brenden]

When I did this, I allowed the "winner" of one theme round to choose the next, so long as I thought the idea was a feasible one. I was waiting to "win" such a round before suggesting a theme. But if it's a free-for-all, then I'll feel free to suggest something creative. Give me a few days.

NP: "Lovely Day", Michelle Tumes

I'm basically doing it as a free-for-all, so yeah.

[Brenden]

Round is officially over.

I gotta say, i wasn't thrilled with this cd at first. I listened to it and didn't really like most of it. However, the more I listened to it, the more I noticed little things and the more memorable it became. Fiery Crash, Imitosis, and Heretics were intast standouts. then came Dark Matter, Simple X, and Sythian Empire. Soon enough, I fell in love with the whole album, aside from a few moments near the end, but nothing major. So this album has basically gone from a "meh" reaction to me giving it an A-, which equals 5 stars.

Next round I'm gonna do Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts Of The Great Highway.

[Josh]

It looks like I was correct in assuming that you pholks would underestimate my appreciation of the John Reuben album. It's certainly not great, but I actually think it's pretty well-done as far as Beck-styled rock/rap/pop hybrids go, and some of the lyrics are pretty good. I'd give it a B/B-, which ammounts to 4 stars.

(Fwiw, my favorite music critic, Andy Whitman, gave it 4.5 stars at AMG, which is probably the only "hint" that anyone may have noticed.)

Next round: Sarah Shannon, City Morning Song (she was in some other band whose name escapes me right now...)

[murlough23]

(Fwiw, my favorite music critic, Andy Whitman, gave it 4.5 stars at AMG, which is probably the only "hint" that anyone may have noticed.)

I noticed that, but given your previous difficulties with the genre and the fact that I, a Reuben fan, had a tough time getting into the album at first, I figured 3 stars was a safe bet. (I would have updated my guess, but didn't get around to it. Oh well.)

Now for my rating... I think you guys overestimated my appreciation for Norah Jones a little bit. True, I've given her first two albums B grades... but just barely. There are always a few songs that are just too slight, too "background"-ish to warrant giving her anything more than that. This time around, she's done an album full of her own compositions, no covers, which is good, and the lyrics are a little more pointed on a few songs, breaking from the relaxed, take-it-easy tone of previous albums if you're paying attention. So she's shown growth. But she's also made her music more sparse than it already was, and overall she's got her least consistent set of songs here, so I'm gonna have to go with 3 stars. Better luck next time, Norah.

Next round: Please Come Home by Dustin Kensrue, lead singer of the kick-ass band Thrice.

[plvarona]

It looks like the opinions were pretty split on what I'd think of the solo debut for Thrice's lead singer Dustin Kensrue.  I will say that one of the "groups" was right, but which one?

Album Reviewed: Please Come Home - Dustin Kensrue

Pros: The CD's folk-rock sound is right down my alley musically, and Dustin mixed up the instruments enough to keep me interested.  A few of the tracks really stand out for me.  These include "I Knew You Before", which is a good solid up-tempo folk-rocker, "Considering The Ravens", which has IMO the most catchy chorus on the CD, and "Weary Saints", which sounds like something the old Caedmon's Call would have done.

Cons: Cliched lyrics, cliched lyrics, cliched lyrics.  This tends to stick out a lot more on a stripped-down CD like this one, and thus I found it to be a major irritant here.  Dustin's voice sounds awkward on a few songs, most notably "Pistol."  Also, a few tracks don't do much for me, which becomes a bigger problem when you consider there are only 8 songs on the CD.

The Bottom Line: I really wanted to like this CD, but unfortunately the cliched lyrics and inconsistent song quality prevent me from giving it anything more than a mild recommendation.

Rating: "C+", which for the purpose of this game is a high 3 stars.

On Deck For Next Week: One Zero (Acoustic) - Derek Webb (formerly of Caedmon's Call)
(Link to audio clips: http://www.thejesusunderground.com/p-WEB13.html)

[bloop]

Bottom line for the new Relient K disc for me is that maturity looks good on these guys, and the funnier moments are at least now more funny than punny, which I also appreciated.  They aren't even afraid to be a little showy musically - generally a pop-punk no-no, so I would go with a 7.0 to 7.5 (I need a little while to decide B or B+ for the disc), which is 4 stars either way.

(never thought I'd see the day where I'd be likely to rank Relient K over The Shins)

Next up:  Let It Come Down by James Iha.  You may know him from the Smashing Pumpkins.

[NinjaRob17]

This album is overproduced, the lyrics incomprehensible, and most of the songs are either forgettable, mediocre, or just bad. However, a couple songs ("This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race", "I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers") are pretty good, which save this from being a 1 star album. So, I'll rate it a D, or 2 Stars.

Next week I'll do Luna Halo's Shimmer, which contains members of Reality Check.

[murlough23]

Bottom line for the new Relient K disc for me is that maturity looks good on these guys, and the funnier moments are at least now more funny than punny, which I also appreciated.  They aren't even afraid to be a little showy musically - generally a pop-punk no-no, so I would go with a 7.0 to 7.5 (I need a little while to decide B or B+ for the disc), which is 4 stars either way.

I figured the musical diversification would probably impress you, but since I noticed myself criticizing several songs for settling on cliches when working on my review, I figured that those might be enough to tip the balance to 3 stars for you despite the really good material present. I'm happy to see that I was wrong, even if it means I get a few less points this round.

(never thought I'd see the day where I'd be likely to rank Relient K over The Shins

Nor did I.

NP: "Twilight", Future of Forestry

[Brenden]

I'll score this round tommorow afternoon when I get home from work, I've been working and catching up on lost sleep today, I don't have time before I head off to work early, early this morning.

[Brenden]

Round 4 has begun.

http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?topic=3471.0