There is a new video up for The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
song called Kelly. Check
it out, give them your love.
The list is up for Record
Store Day Black Friday. Check it out and check out the Awesome Mix Vol. 1
cassette for Guardians of The Galaxy. I am so getting that!
Here we go with a short but long post...
This is the first single from Let Me Run. It was released in
2008 on Devildance Records in association with XOXO Records. It is a 7” record
on white vinyl. This single was released to support the album Meet Me At The Bottom
before it’s release. This is completely different from the band released CDr EP
from 2011. There was also a limited numbered version of this single that had a
different cover. This different cover more closely matched that graphic that
would be the cover for the full length album Meet Me At The Bottom. Both tracks
that are on this single, Like A Fish and Don't Stomp, I Battle, have been released on the full length album. I just
wanted to get everything that I could in relation to the band as they have now
broken up. I really liked what they created as a group and I stuck with them
even if they never got out on tour as far as my neck of the woods. They primarily
toured the east coast only. I really like this group and I am happy to have a
copy of this single to round out my collection of their music.
So, a long time ago I briefly mentioned the standard release
of this album (my first year writing, episode 25). I have recently picked up
this version of the album and will give it a proper review now.
This is one of the groups first releases on their new label,
Paracadute. I believe they bought the album back from Capitol so that they
could put out this release. This is a two CD version with access to extra
downloadable content from the record companies’ web page. I have not had a
chance to listen to all of the downloadable content yet, there is a lot, but it
looks like it is mostly remixed songs. Some of those remixes are done by fans
and some by other artists and professional remix artists. Those tracks from
that download content may be talked about at a later date but I just want to
talk about the content of the two CDs that came on this Extra Nice Edition.
The album was released in early January of 2010 through
Capitol. It was then re-released through Paracadute on April first of the same
year with two extra songs. The new independent label took over all
responsibilities for the album from Capitol around the same time. I bought the
standard CD version when it was released through Capitol but didn’t get the
Extra Nice Edition or the Capitol released vinyl until recently. The Extra Nice
edition was released on November second of 2010. This version of the album has
a second CD with 22 tracks. The first third of the second disc is rare versions
and cover songs. The second third is demo tracks and the last third is an
interview. It is talked about that the sound of the band has changed to have a
sound that resembles Prince. They have embraced this idea citing that Prince is
a major influence from their childhood.
For me the important tracks are in the first third of this
second disc. The first track is an
acoustic version of Skyscrapers. I think this gives the listener a better view
of the basics of the group. It strips back all of the electronics and lets you
hear exactly where the band is at musically.
The next track is the song that the group included on the
soundtrack for Twilight: New Moon called Shooting The Moon. This is a good song
but doesn’t really get me moving. I also already had a copy of the New Moon
soundtrack so this wasn’t really new to me.
The next track, Louisiana Land I had never heard
before. It is an acoustic track with a chord progression that reminds me of The
Velvet Underground track called Sweet Jane. This OK Go track spins away from
what Sweet Jane is but the essence is still there and makes it a bit
distracting listening to the song.
The next track is the marching band version of This TooShall Pass from the video that was done for the song. I like this version of
the song mainly because I played in pep band and marching band in high school.
The video that goes with it is a lot of fun too.
The next two tracks are both covers. The first is a cover of
the Pixies song Gigantic and the next is a cover of the Zombies song This Will
Be Our Year. Both are great covers.
The last track that I find important on this second disc is
a remix of the song This Too Shall Pass by Passion pit. It is called the Sunday
Hangover Remix. It has a lighter feel to it than the original version with the
addition of high pitched synth and some drums added and subtracted at certain
parts during the song. I like it, it is a lot of fun in a new way.
Now, let’s get to the singles on the album. There are a
whopping eight singles released from this album. The first single from the
album is called WTF? We all know what the initials mean, if you don’t ask an
adult. The song starts off and runs with some amazing distorted guitar that
runs through the whole song. It escalates on the guitar solo that just melts my
face it is so hot. The song is just a bunch of awesome and caught me by
surprised after hearing the song that was included on the soundtrack for
Twilight: New Moon.
The second single from this album is called This Too ShallPass. This single has a big beat that works so well for me. The song is not as
heavily distorted as WTF? and includes the use of piano and other electronic
sounds. The group is famous for the Rube Goldberg machine video that
accompanied the song on its release date. There was also a second video that
was also released on the same date. This video employed the University of Notre Dame
Marching Band. Obviously this is the alternate
take that is included on the second disc of this expanded album that is talked
about above.
End Love was released as the third single. This song has a
definite Prince vibe through out the song. It reminds me of that 1984 prince
sound let alone the general pop sound of that time period. The song is about
the end of a relationship and the heart ache that follows. The video is nearly
200 hours of footage compressed into a four minute video. It is quite amazing
the amount of effort that the band puts into making their videos. It just shows
that they have as much creativity and drive for creating videos and other arts as
they do in making music.
The next single is called White Knuckles. This track is even
heavier on the Prince influence. It is awesome how much a group can sound like
another group but still retain the original sound of who they are. The music is
simple but big and fun. The guitar solo in this track is also just face melting
but very repetitive. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The
different distortion sounds on the track are also just killer. I am not sure
what it is that they do for their distortion but I really like the original
sounds that they come up with. With this track the video is absolutely
adorable. They employ the cup stacking art but make it bigger and employ the
use of highly trained dogs to take the video up a notch. Absolutely genius
video, give it a watch.
The fifth single from the album is called All Is Not Lost.
This is not really a slower track but maybe has more breath in the music giving
it a slower feel. It still has that big sound that the previous tracks have had
but seems to provoke more emotion from me giving me the feel of a slower more
meaningful song. I like the song and how it makes me feel. Even the guitar solo
makes me feel a little more emotion than I have on any of the previous singles.
The video for the song is also special as the members of the group and
performing members of Pilobolus 7 have created a video together dressed in
sea-foam green jumpsuits. The video was commissioned by Google Chrome as a
Chrome Experiment for HTML5.
Last Leaf is the sixth single from the album. This song is
an acoustic song that talks sweetly about waiting for the person that you love.
Damian sings about waiting for ever if needed for that person to come back. It
is super emotional with just his vocals and an acoustic guitar. It is a lovely
song with great verbal visuals. The video that accompanies the song brings
those verbal visuals to a new simple level. The video was shot in stop motion
on toast. Each piece of toast is laser etched with a graphic. It is fun and
simple and emotional at the same time. Watch it, you’ll love it.
The next single from the album is called Needing/Getting.
The song starts off with a fast picked intro that shows where the song is going
to move to. It then kicks hard into big drums and heavily distorted bass
guitar. It is absolutely fantastic. The song talks about wanting to be with
someone in a romantic way, classic rock and roll in my book. The song is done
well though and makes me feel good at the same time reminds me of being a young
adult and having these desires to be dating girls that were out of my range. It
is really cool how some songs can bring out the strangest feelings from when I
was growing up. Anyway, the video for this one is very different as the group
doesn’t actually play any instruments; they drive a car that plays the
instruments. It is so cool!
The last single from the album is called Skyscrapers. This
is a slower song from the album with a great synth bass line. The drums are a
bit subdued as it is a slower more emotional song. Damian is asking that the
skyscrapers forgive him as he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. I
get the feeling that he had a partner that he could have had the hole time but
he kept looking for something else, something bigger and as a result lost what
he already had. This happens to people a lot. I am sure that it has happened to
me but I can’t think of anything specific at the moment.Again, the video is very intelligent. It features a couple dancing the tango and as the background changes the outfits that the dancers are wearing change as well. It kept my interest to say the least.
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I think that
I am even happier now that I have this Extra Nice Edition. There is so much
more music and an interview to delve into. There is also that extra bit of
downloadable content that I haven’t even gotten into yet as well. If you
haven’t heard the standard album yet then do so. Also, this version is only
twelve bucks on Amazon right now! Go get a copy while there are still some on
the shelf!
That is all for now...
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