Re: "When My Story Ends - It's Going To End With Him" - A Big Whiskey Review
Fantastic review, OP! Here's my initial thoughts..
Second listen now, and its going to take a while to really figure out how I view this album. Really, it takes awhile for me to give an objective look back. Like 6 months to a year to really get how it works objectively. I won't be able to compare it to other DMB albums for awhile yet.. but I can definitely say it beats out ED and SU by miles and miles.
So far, me likey. Conceptually, DMB seems to be as far away from their roots as they've been, but it doesn't feel inappropriately so. This seems like the album they were trying to make with Stand Up. Not sonically, but conceptually. This album was meant to be played loud, as Mark Batson said with the SU album.. much more so than SU is. The lyrics seem largely well done here and I can tell there will be much to discover as I continue to listen. There's a great balance of depth and playfulness here. Tim seems to have been cut loose and amped up in places and I love that. He's felt underused on past studio albums to me, despite how brilliant his work was on those. Here's he's at the forefront much more and I love it. Alligator Pie is a favorite.. Lying in the Hands of God is beautiful. Spaceman is really nice. Seven is so much better than it was live.. There's not a single track that I flat out don't like.
Some things I'm not so sure about. Some of this might seem nitpicky, and it's more of kneejerk reaction at this point. The album teeters very close at times to being overproduced. The reason I say 'teeters' is because in places that approach works, and the 'quieter' songs are really done very well. But that's mostly a feeling at this point.. With SMLAM, it works and I like it a lot. I don't mind that rich production work, so long as it feels appropriate and it does there. Lillywhite was about the subtlty in his production, and I like that Cavallo has brought the balls from the live performance in some of these songs and that's exciting. I was a little dissaponted in Why I Am, and that's probably because after hearing SMLAM, I really thought that song would be more like the Live version, but it sounds as if Dave is restrained. I probably wouldn't really think that if I hadn't seen that song live first.. but I really prefer the live version there. One last thing is I really hope I continue to discover more of Roi's influence on this record as it progresses. Outside of the obvious (Grux, the album outro, and the lyrics to Why I Am) I just don't feel like I sense it, but I get the feeling I will as I listen more.
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