Butch Walker - Stay Gold (August 26, 2016) Album • Page 7

What's the other?

 

Dude the last three song on Letters I can do without (excluding hidden track Stateline which is one of his best), but If Stay Gold prove to be consistent as the song we already heard... sorry Letters.

 

The 1975.

It's also possible that the Menzingers sneak in there somehow if they top their last album.

 

But Promise is one of his best songs! And I think RC&GR is fun for what it is. Thank-you Note is good but not my favorite.

Agreed on State Line though, amazing song.

 

This and The Spade are sort of similar stylistically and in terms of mood, so they're easy to compare. Like I've said elsewhere in this thread, I think this is a more complete realization of that direction with more interesting lyrics and storytelling. Doesn't hurt that it might be his sharpest collection of hooks.

I wouldn't say all five tracks on side two are better than all five on side one. "Stay Gold" and "Wilder in the Heart" are both some of his best songs. But the last three are the best tracks on the record, IMO. "Spark: Lost" is probably the best chorus he's written since "Closer to the Truth and Further from the Sky," "Record Store" is maybe he most accomplished bit of storytelling yet, and "Can We Just Not Talk about Last Night" is just a ton of fun.

Yeah, I don't think anything's ever topping Letters for me. It's just too significant in my life for me to ever rank anything over it now. But I think I like this one more than Sycamore Meadows after spending a lot of time with it, which is also pretty shocking for me.

 

Nah..Promise make me sleepy. If he put All Falls Apart and Last Flight Out instead, it would be a perfect record.

 

I don't think either of those songs fit the record. The concluding trio is beautifully understated and leaves room for "State Line" to come in with the big emotional wallop.

 

Ok thank for the info.

The weird thing is no one say that Left of Self Centre as one of his best album. Come on people fess up!! It's a rocking album.

 

Letters is really the only Butch I care for but these new songs have been pretty alright

 

LOSC is fun, but a pretty distant seventh out of his eight solo records for me. It lacks a lot of the maturity and songwriting craft of his later records, imo. The last four songs and "Sober" are really damn good, though.

Not sure if we can be friends anymore tbh.

 

I honestly can't rank his albums....

@Craig Manning how would you rank them?

And anyone else that cares to rank them, please chime in!

 

I have trouble with it too. Probably:

Letters>Stay Gold>Sycamore Meadows>Rise & Fall=Afraid of Ghosts>The Spade>Left of Self-Centered>I liked It Better When You Had No Heart

 

When I see this I just go ok... That makes sense... But then that changes to I don't know... And that's basically why I can't rank them..

 

:(((( for what it's worth Letters is a masterpiece!!!

 

Hmmmm, I think id be something like this

The Spade
Sycamore Meadows
(ReadySexGo)
Rise and Fall
(Hey!Album)
Letters
Afraid of Ghosts
(Maya)
Peachtree +End of the World single tracks
(Math and Other Problems)
I Liked It Better...
Left of Self Centered
(Floyds Funk Revival)
(Creamy)

But that's top of my head based around how much play they get

 

I differ from the general consensus in that I like Rise and Fall more than most people and don't like The Spade as much as most people. A lot of people around these parts especially seem to consider The Spade among his best. It's a fun record, I just don't think the songwriting is one the same level as his best stuff for the most part.

Letters IS a masterpiece!

 

Yo, we are so similar up till here

 

The Spade is a ton of fun, but it feels a little ... rushed? Almost like the spirit of the Black Widows banging it out and coming up with stuff off the cuff took precedent over really honing the songs. It totally works in some moments (like the banter at the beginning of "Bullet Belt") but others it's just kinda meh. I also think the songs Butch didn't write outside of "Synthesizers" ("Every Single Body Else" and "Sweethearts") are easily the worst songs on that album.

Man, "Closest Thing" is a tune and a half, though.

 

I used to rank the M3 albums higher. I wouldn't put them as high now. I'd probably put Hey and RSG back by LOSC and Math & Other Problems after I Liked It Better. Those albums are also a lot of fun, but I think they're pretty inconsistent. I think he's just better at everything (writing/telling a story, singing, playing guitar, etc.) than he was back in that era. Maya is below all of those, for me. I don't really count the Floyds stuff.

Like I Liked It Better, it just has too much influence of other writers, especially Michael Trent. I don't think Trent's style really meshes well with Butch's, so I think it's kind of odd that they were songwriting partners for awhile. I think the fact that by far the best songs on the album are solo writing credits ("Summer of '89" and "Closest Thing") says it all. Agreed on "Every Single Body Else" and "Sweethearts": those two are both pretty thin and are rescued by being surrounded by better songs. I think the album has about five fantastic songs and the rest get by on vibe and style. It still ends up being a great fucking album and an absolute blast to listen to, but when I sat down earlier this year to do the Perfect LP thing, I was surprised at how few of those songs were even in contention.

In contrast, Stay Gold has a similar looseness but feels way more fully realized. Plus, all of the songs are fucking next-level. "Summer" and "Closest Thing" are probably the only songs on The Spade that I'd put up to anything on Stay Gold.

 

Who wants to read me gush about this?

Butch Walker - Stay Gold • chorus.fm

 

Very nice review! Really looking forward to hearing (the second half of) this record.

You did misspell Bob Seger in the last paragraph though.

 

Fuckers, I definitely fixed that at some point. That draft must not have gotten saved. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

I still love M3, but those songs simply pale in comparison to what he'd wind up doing. Hey Album and RSG are wonderful and charming, but for all of the personal memories I have with them, I have more (and more personal ones) associated with Letters, Syacamore, and I Liked it Better...

The Spade is very good, however there are a few songs that get by more on sound/style. I'm really hoping that this record becomes my favorite.

 

If this beats the Spade for me, i'll be surprised. But very pleasantly surprised.

 

No problem! And does your review going up mean we might get to hear this this week?