The Maine - The Maine (August 1, 2023) Album • Page 22

I haven’t seen either under 200 in a long time now. :,(

 

You Are Ok was my favorite for a while, but XOXO might have overtaken it. I like LLL but have never quite gotten into it as much as y’all!

 

Yup, same tour! Mine was at Lupo’s in Providence. Crazy this was 15 years ago now

 

I have LLL on the original purple pressing from 2017 in pristine condition. It has been played a total of twice. Willing to let it go for somewhere approx. around the Discogs median price, if anyone's interested PM me.

I also have an extra copy of the limited edition CD that has the extra instrumental disc.

 

I love how much the fade out at the end of Cars & Caution Signs sounds like the fade out to Anberlin’s Christa Paffgen

 

Yeah it’s rough out there. Maybe others with LLL have had different experiences but I wouldn’t recommend giving in to the resell market unless you find a super good deal - my copy gets pretty grainy towards the end of each side. If/when they repress I’ll likely try to cop a new one

 

I've been listening to basically nothing but The Maine this week. I know it's early but I think I'd but this new album at #2, right behind LLL.
Also interestingly I'm clicking more with You Are Ok today, and was less impressed with XOXO (though still a great album). Gonna give Forever Halloween a listen now, I honestly can't remember the last time I listened to it. Pretty sure I used to rank it last.

 

Top 5 for me:

LLL
XOXO
S/T
AC
YAO

The only thing keeping me from putting the S/T at #2 (or even #1) is that I feel the album runs out of urgency/energy after Thoughts I Have. No offense to Funny or Cars (really good songs), but all three of the closing tracks feel a little aimless and relaxed...

Not sure if it's strictly a sequencing thing where Funny kills the momentum and it would be better as a closing track exhalation, or, if it's just that Spiraling is a whiff for me and if there was a Face Towards the Sun or Flowers On The Grave at the end instead, my attention span wouldn't go off the rails.

 

Cars feels like one of the most purposeful and intentional, fully thought out songs I’ve heard from ‘em haha.


Now, that could be totally off-base, but that’s how I felt listening. When the “are we there yet” part started flickering in and out of the crescendo of backing music….damn

 

Coming around on this a little more today, other than “Spiraling” which I think might be my new least favorite Maine song. What a weird choice of closer.

 

Don't get me wrong, Cars is a hell of a vibe and it is absolutely purposeful as a song, but my point is more that the pacing of the song is leisurely. It eventually arrives, but it takes nearly 2 minutes to reach the first chorus and nearly 4 minutes to fully realize into that bridge... along with a lot of time spaced between John's lines and a chorus that camouflages itself into the verses.

Personally, I just get lost inside the flow of Cars more than anything else... Which is enjoyable and definitely feels like the intent of the song! Unfortunately, it's sandwiched between the slowest song on the album and the most aimless closer... so I end up finding myself on mental autopilot more than the song deserves.

 

The more I listen to this the more I do wish Cars was the closer. It feels like a climactic and personal moment, and going from that to something way more (imo) generic for the last song takes away a little extra power from that ending. That’s really my only criticism of the record, though. I like all 10 songs on their own, including Spiraling, and this will probably be my AOTY

 

Agree 100%

 

Cars and Caution Signs is the one

 

it is such an incredible song

 

definitely agree. Easily my least favorite. I hate using “fuck” for no reason at all in the most meaningless way. For a band that seems to be so intentional and usually has amazing closers, the decision is so weird to me lol.

 

I’m shaking my head so hard right now.

 

Spiraling rules and is a good expansion on the hip-hop influence that is coursing through this album.

 

I don’t mind spiraling at all. Will be a fun live song. Gives me sweaty late night/early morning nightclub vibes where you’re just swayin’ the night away

 

Also - no idea if this was the intention but the fact the album is bookended with Dose and Spiraling is cool. Dose2 to me is like, the natural high of performing and spiraling feels like the superficial lackluster regrettable drug high serving as dose1

 

I just love the way his lyrics and voice flow, “another drink, inhale some things, can’t sober up, I’m spiraling, around the room..” it’s just so smooth. And then that bouncy bass and drum. Vibe up.

 

Oh yeah - that’s how I felt about the mood I’m in as well

If I've been unapproachable, or I seem too emotional
Life has been a rollercoaster
So it goes
I've been avoiding confrontational bullshit conversations
So if I forgot to say hello
It's just the mood I'm in

 

I really dig the low vocals in the last chorus of that track instead of going up the octave. Might’ve been out of necessity to stay safely with John’s range, haha. But it’s really effective in juxtaposition with the wall of noise instrumental, and a more energetic delivery wouldn’t really sell the apathetic lyric as well

 

the mood I’m in /jsyk is the best song that wasn’t on YAO