Manchester Orchestra Band • Page 56

Well you did rate two albums this website holds in very high regard so that comes as no surprise

 

Did you already do METN? Did I miss that one scrolling through?

 

Page 54

 

Awesome! I don't agree anywhere near as much as I did with Virgin, but I'm still very excited for Simple Math and Cope!

 

Virgin-Simple Math-Leave It Alone is probably my favorite stretch on any MO record.

 

I would probably argue a few of the songs for METN have been too highly rated but I definitely agreed with I'm Like A Virgin and I've enjoyed your analysis - it's great to hear why different people like (or dislike) different songs. There's too many average songs at the backend of METN for me.

 

hahaha I just think of our Facebook convo

 

Simple Math
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1. Deer - 10 - I love this opener. Lots of connections to this songs, Andy does such a beautiful job with it. Love the lyrics. It does feel out of place musically, but sets the stage thematically and I adore it and the live version last year was haunting
2. Mighty - 7 - Nothing much to say about this song, felt sort of out of place for some reason
3. Pensacola - 9 - Ok, I have to admit the live version of this song has made me love it. I record a video of the crowd and I every time everyone shouts "ALCOHOL, DIRTY MALLS, PENSCAOLA FLORIDA BARS" at each Stuffing.
4. April Fool - 9.5 - This song gets overlooked, but I actually really enjoy it. Great guitar and background voice layering and I like the "I GOT THAT ROCK AND THAT ROLL"...no shame
5. Pale Black Eye - 8 -
6. Virgin - 10 - Pink Floyd vibes, children choir, unique to them, slow build up, great music video.
7. Simple Math - 11 - Fantastic Mix of everything MO does right, one of my favorite music videos ever, the slow build up and emotional explosion and sounds....so great
8. Leave It Alone - 9 -
9. Apprehension - 7 -
10. Leaky Breaks - 6.5 - I know some people love this song, and it is a nice soft farewell to the album, but I don't find myself coming back to this song often. Doesn't offer much for me. I kind of get lost in it and forget it's even playing sometimes. It's not bad. Has a nice ending.

Album Rating: 8.7 - This album has a pretty mixed reaction, but I'm glad they made it. They experimented a little more, dove into some cool music videos, hit gold in some areas and added some great additions to their live sets. This album felt like a dive into a first young tumultuous marriage after the first two feeling a bit more youthful and full of angst. I did notice that there wasn't as much religious comparisons besides the one direct line in Deer as there are in every other album. Honestly missed them. Perhaps he has settled his battles with God for the time being and is now focused on the hypothetical battle in his marriage and with himself inside of that

(Reminder that I'm rating these tougher because they are my favorite band and I basically love every song...5 is average, 8 is great, 9 is incredible 10 is AMAZING! and you get one 11 per album)

 

hah I like your ratings, except leaky breaks is one of my favorites just bc I love that Andy stays reserved vocally the entire song, never tries to be make it big or anything.

There are going to be some people who disagree with this heavily, especially the song simple math since I know a lot of people don't like it ha. I probably would put the record at like an 8.7 as well which is really good

 

I was down with most of that until the last two. Apprehension and Leaky Breaks are two of my favorites just on lyrics and vocal performance alone. Also I think the back half is a near perfect run though, so maybe I'm biased.

 

I do enjoy both of the songs. Both are good songs, just for me personally it felt like the album ran out of breath after hitting that long stretch of jams. Just my personal opinion and I can absolutely see why other people would enjoy the songs and I see what makes them good.

 

My thoughts exactly. I still really like Apprehension and Leaky Breaks as individual songs but having them back to back to end the album doesn't do it for me.

 

I totally get that. It definitely is a sudden drop, which I could see someone losing interest or feeling the album lost steam. I used to ignore the last 3 songs until one day it clicked and I was blown away.

 

I still only listen to I'm Like a Virgin. What album should I get into next with the intent of getting into everything eventually?

 

Oh man I strongly disagree with the Leave it alone, Apprehension and Leaky Breaks ratings. I'd probably put this album at a 9

 

Since this is my favorite of theirs, I'll take a stab at it:

1. Deer - 8.5 - It may feel out of place musically, but this album is all over the place musically, so I actually think it opens the album well.
2. Mighty - 8.5 - Always love this side of MO. Just loud and badass.
3. Pensacola - 9 - One of their catchier tunes with a great bridge. Stylistically, way out of place in their discography. But that's what this record was. It's the Isle of Misfit Toys. And that's part of the reason I love it. Also, I'm a sucker for layered lyrics and this song delivers.
4. April Fool - 9.5 - I compare this song to I've Got Friends in that they're both radio-friendly singles. But this one is much louder, and much more what I think of when I think of MO.
5. Pale Black Eye - 8.5 - I like this song much more now that I used to. I've never cared much for the palm muted staccato riff. But it contains one of Andy's most emotional moments (I wish I loved you like I used to) and one of his best lyrics (Bite your veins, bleed your pain into me), and for that, this song is essential.
6. Virgin - 8.5 - Just my opinion, but this song suffers from the fake children's choir (it was just Dan Hannon's two kids layered over each other). Had they recorded a choir like the one that did the Letterman performance, this song would be truly haunting. I also wish they would have withheld the chorus for a verse, instead of leading off with it.
7. Simple Math - 9.5 - The type of epic we're used to from Andy. Only reason I can't rank it a 10 is because actually using math terms in the song seemed a little contrived.
8. Leave It Alone - 7.5 - My least favorite from this album. I've grown to enjoy the gradual build, but the song as a whole still just doesn't do much for me. Kind of boring. Don't kill me.
9. Apprehension - 9 - A little heavy handed/not nuanced enough for my liking, lyrically. Still a great song and musically fantastic.
10. Leaky Breaks - 9.5 - My favorite closer in their discography. I love how this takes us through the stages of his alcoholism, and how it effected his relationship with his wife. "I was drinking heavily/I've been drinking carefully." Beautifully done.

Album Rating: 8.8

Both ILAVLAC and METN have songs that I like more than any song on this album. But to me, this is the most complete, most consistent album Andy has released (up there with The Eventually Home).

 

This live acoustic version of "Shake It Out" I just listened to is wow. Definitely my favorite variation of that song.

You should be able to listen to it/watch here:
[Watch] Manchester Orchestra - Live Session for Radio 104.5

 

I'm trying to stay calm right now!

 

When can we expect Cope @BoldTitan ?

 

RIGHT NOW TO DISTRACT FROM MY SIMPLE MATH REVIEW. (and because I'm tired of work)

 

So am i, thanks for making my day go by quicker ;)

 

I still never gave Hope and Cope a fair shake. I loved Mean Everything to Nothing and ILAVLAC but they lost me with Simple Math.

I should go back and revisit their catalog for sure.

 

Go right in order

 

COPE/(HOPE)
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1. Top Notch - 10 (10) - Solid start to show what the album is all about, the Hope version with the piano is beautiful
2. Choose You - 9 (9.5) - I love both version: the voice layering on Hope is gorgeous and the bellowing on the Cope version
3. Girl Harbor - 9 (9.5)
4. The Mansion - 10 (10) - This song transfers so well across both and I love the entirety of both
5. The Ocean - 7.5 (7) - I do enjoy the chorus, but I feel like that is the only thing I hear the entire song.
6. Every Stone - 9.5 (8) - The Cope version grew on me on a road trip with the windows down, the Hope version grew on me with the cave session that is on their YouTube
7. All That I Really Wanted - 6.5 - Not a huge fan of this song, gets lost in the mess and doesn't stand out
8. Trees - 7 (7.5)
9. Indentions - 7.5 (8.5) - I enjoyed the alternating lyrics on this one.
10. See It Again - 7.5 (8) - Interesting lyric changes that more heavily focuses on the religious aspect in HOPE. No instruments was a cool choice with the voice layering, bummed I didn't get it live, but makes sense.
11. Cope - 10 (9) - Works better as a hard song for sure, but still pulls of really well in Hope version.

Album Rating: 8.5 (8.65) - These are FRONT HEAVY albums. Minus the Title track at the end and the last third of See It Again the album really falls off either at the Ocean or Every Stone depending. the usual complaints about mixing, the too sameness of the songs, the lack of depth, etc. I do think that these albums are GREAT live, had I never heard any of these songs live, I would probably drop everything .5 or 1, but the live renditions are so good it's hard not to have that in my mind when listening. Being fortunate to see the Cope AND Hope tour, I'm really glad I got both sides. Hope helped me to appreciate Cope more and they work great as a pair.

(Reminder that I'm rating these tougher because they are my favorite band and I basically love every song...5 is average, 8 is great, 9 is incredible 10 is AMAZING! and you get one 11 per album)

 

The Ocean is my favorite version on Hope.

Also, After The Scripture should've made the album!