Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Del Amitri Take It To The Bridge Special 19th July 1997
Saw this line up and tour at the Supper Club in New York City with my old roommate and high school buddy Johnny D. This was the last time I got to see Del Amitri live. Got to see Justin when he came to Phoenix a few years ago, but did not realize at the time I would never see Del Amitri again. I really should have gone to Scotland this summer for the reunion. This band should have been huge, but then again I am not sure if I would like to share them with too many other people. Del Amitri will always be very personal for me, and kinda of my band.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Lifelong Del Amitri Fan Reminisces and Reviews "These Are Such Perfect Days: The del Amitri Story."
Summer 1995, that cusp year between trying to stay in Virginia and hang onto to college and college friends and going back to New York to put on my big boy pants and start the career I am still in 23 years later. The first Del Amitri show year in DC was at the 9:30 Club. My memories of that show are limited. I thought I remembered more about that first show. I remember paying a guy to "watch" our car when we parked, I remember the t-shirt I bought, and I clearly remember Justin doing an extended version of "Last to Know" where he climbed on top of some table or a different part of the stage where he got very close to the crowd. I remember it was the first time I was in a room full of people who loved Del Amitri as much as I did. But there is a lot about that show I don't remember. I always thought that show was during the winter, but according to the new biography/history of Del Amitri These Are Such Perfect Days: The del Amitri Story by Charles Rawlings-Way it was during the Spring: April 1995.
1995 was before cellphone cameras. When I try to remember these concerts, it is like the Toad the Wet Sprocket lyric "don't even have pictures, just memories to hold, that grow greater each season, as we slowly get old." These Are Such Perfect Days provides in the 4th appendix a "Dell Amitri: Gig List." As weird as this may sound, this was one of the most powerful parts of this detailed history for me personally. The April show at the 9:30 Club, the August 12 show at the Bayou, and that last time July 31, 1997 at the Supper Club in New York City. Three nights that are of mythic proportions in my canon, the three nights I got to see Del Amitri. Seeing those dates and the names of the clubs flooded my memories of bits and pieces and fragments of those three nights.
I have been to many concerts in my 46 years, but one of the biggest changes is how easy it is to document and relive these concerts thanks to social media: either my own or others. I can go to Youtube and listen to Lord Huron crush my favorite part of "The Stranger" from that show at the Van Buren. I can also go back to the very first time I saw Mumford and Son, in a tiny club for 10$ with only about 200 people. I can watch that footage anytime of a band on the cusp to becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. Unfortunately, I can't do that for those Del Amitri shows from 1995 and 1997. Seeing those shows in the 4th appendix of the book were about as close to those shows I have been in over 20 years.
I could never remember the name of that club. I remember Justin telling the crowd how they usually play the 9:30 Club. I remember where I was in the Summer of 1995: Working at the Holocaust Museum in DC. I remember the opening song that night: Stone Cold Sober, one of my all time favorites. I remember going crazy when I heard those first lines:
EVERYBODY IN THE FUN HOUSE....SAYS THEY WANT OUT
I remember being so excited and singing along, that the girl standing in line turned around and "shushed" me. But I could never remember the name of the club. Non of my criticisms of this new history of the Scottish band Del Amitri can outweigh the gift of learning the name of that club again.
To know me is to know Del Amitri. To understand so much of who I am or who I was in my late teens, college years, early adulthood is to understand the music and lyrics of Del Amitri. Pete Townshend is the music of my elementary and middle school years, Lord Huron and Mumford and Sons are certainly the music of my middle age and my years now living in the desert Southwest, but Del Amitri is the sound track of my life from senior year at JFK high school on Long Island, my Mary Washington years in college, and the single years of my early adulthood. August 12, 1995 at the Bayou was in the heart of those Del Amitri years.
I know exactly where I was and what I was doing in the Summer of 1995. I was living in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was in that listless in between college and a career stage. I have been teaching for 23 years now, but in 1995 that career choice was in jeopardy. I was unable to find a teaching job in both New York and Virginia. I bounced between two states, retail jobs and substitute teaching gigs and eventually found myself back in Fredericksburg commuting either by rail or car into DC to work at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Though I could never remember the name of the club, other than it was in Georgetown, I never forgot getting shushed, nor did I ever forget the aftermath of that show. I must have seen an ad for the show in either the Washington Post or more likely City Paper. At the end of the book, Rawlings-Way asks the question almost all Del Amitri fans ask "why the hell wasn't this band more successful." This section of the book "A Little Luck" in my opinion is where this book shines brightest. Del Amitri, at least in the US, is known as a one hit wonder for "Roll to Me." The majority of people who may know anything about Del Amitri in the US will remember that song or perhaps the strange video of the song. They have probably heard Del Amitri music playing in the background at various retail shops and fast food restaurants, not knowing the song or the band. It is quite strange to be sitting in a burger king hearing some of the most important songs in my life playing in the background. When the internet was new and VH1 played more adult alternative music they had a message board. This mid 1990's VH1 message board titled something like "Del Amitri: The Best Band You Never Heard of." Quite accurate, here in the states.
I can't tell you how much time I spent from the time of Waking Hours to the release of Twisted trying to get people to listen to Del Amitri. So trying to get people to go to that show in August in Georgetown was typical. Trying to tell people how they got to see this band they never heard of. So, I remember working at the museum trying to convince my co-workers that this awesome band was playing in Georgetown and we had to go. There was actually a tour guide at the museum that summer, who one day in the elevator started singing Del Amitri, and he was the first Del Amitri fan I had ever met besides myself. That is being a Del Amitri fan in the states in a nutshell. That rare occasion when you actually meet someone else who loves Del Amitri. At that point I had been listening to Del Amitri since 1989 and 1995 was the first time I actually met a Del Amitri fan. The next time I would meet a Del Amitri fan would be around 2012. Ironically, the tour guide couldn't go to the concert at the last minute. But, I actually did convince several people to go to the show and check out them out after work on a hot and muggy August night in Washington DC. I also remember that summer had a record number of days of 95 degree heat with over 90% humidity.
As if seeing Del Amitri live in their prime was not memorable enough the aftermath of this show adds to the mythology. The plan was simple, see the show, and then we would crash at the apartment of one of my co-workers who went to the show with us, and then go to work at the museum the next morning. I don't drink at concerts. I love the music too much to waste it being impaired. I never drink at concerts, and this show at the Bayou was no different. Unfortunately, that did not stop my co-workers. One or two of my co-workers got so drunk during that show, they simply disappeared. In fact, one co-worker in particular did not show up for work for several days after the show. The guy whose apartment we were supposed to crash in got so drunk and passed out in my car and we could not wake him up to tell us where he lived. We tried driving around DC for a bit until he woke up, but he didn't. I ended up having to drive back 50 miles to Fredericksburg that night. I remember when he woke up on the floor in apartment the next morning, he asked where we were. I told him Fredericksburg and he thought I was joking! I remember we all showed up late to work at the museum that day. This was the first or second year the museum was open and people used to line up early for tickets, it used to be packed. I remember the museum manager pulling me into his office that day making me promise not to take any more co-workers to concerts! All this I could remember, but until reading These Perfect Days I could never remember the club was called "The Bayou."
The appendix of gigs is just one of four appendixes in the book that are filled will a treasure of information Del Amitri fans will love. There is also information about where the ever changing band personal are today, a discography, and a great listing of songs by subject. This kind of information is a great example of both the strengths and weaknesses of this book. Information Del Amitri fans will love, and the general public could probably care less about.
Let me stop here and give two disclaimers as I review this book. First the book I just finished prior to reading this was the second volume of James Kaplan's massive biography of Frank Sinatra. Kaplan's biography of Sinatra was two volumes and close to 2000 pages. It was one of the most detailed and interesting biographies I have ever read. It basically took me two years to read the 2000 pages. The books were not just a biography of Sinatra they were a history of America, American music, hollywood, movies, politics, organized crime from before WWII until the early 1990s. Reading and trying to review another music book, another musical biography immediately after the two Kaplan books is unfair. Those two volumes are the gold standard for an entertainment biography and you will be hard pressed to find something to match them, regardless of whether you actually like Frank Sinatra, because those books were so much more than books about the Chairman. Did I mention that during the 1997 Supper Club show, Justin started playing New York, New York and then halfway through stopped and said the song sucked. It is like trying to read any epic fantasy novels after reading the first three Game of Thrones books. Those first three Game of Thrones books are so good, they have basically ruined all other epic fantasy books for me. I can say the same about Kaplan's Sinatra books. It will be difficult for me to read any biography, but especially a biography of an entertainer or musician after reading those books.
The other problem with reviewing this book is personal. Deeply personal. A few years ago, I finally saw the Elvis of my people, Neil Diamond. It was a religious event for me, Neil Diamond has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. It was in a large arena and Neil played for over two hours and 10,000 people sang along to EVERY SONG! I can use Who concerts as similar examples, three hour shows, multiple dates and sellouts, 15,000 people singing along to 50 years of giant hits. The second time I saw Mumford and Sons was at the Railroad Rival tour in Tempe Arizona. The previous show I had seen Mumford had like 200 people, that Tempe show had 12,000. There was a time for me Mumford was like the new Del Amitri. There were a few months when their record first came out that I kept trying to get people to listen and I kept telling people how awesome this new band was. Nobody knew who I was talking about. The first show was in a small club, with a hardcore group of fans and it reminded me of seeing Del Amitri that first time at 9:30 Club. However, that all changed quickly. In just a few months, Mumford and Sons was one of the biggest bands on the planet. The Tempe show was less than a year from that first show and the crowd went from 200 to 12,000. I remember driving home from Tempe that night and a car full of ASU girls pulled up next to us and they were all singing "The Cave." It was at that moment I knew Mumford would be huge. There was never was that moment for Del Amitri. The closest it ever came to a moment like that was when "Roll to Me" was a hit. I remember friends from college, who had heard me either talking about Del Amitri or playing Del Amitri in the dorm room endlessly and endlessly trying to convince them that Del Amitri was the best band ever, called me when they saw the video on MTV and VH1. There was that band I had been talking about and they had a huge hit on MTV. That was the closest Del Amitri became an "I told you so band" for me to my friends. There was the tour guide at the Holocaust museum, the VH1 message board, Allison's early version of delamitri.com, and my co-worker in 2012 and that was it in terms of me being able to share my love of Del Amitri with other people. My wife things they are boring and my kid would rather listen to Imagine Dragons. What I am trying to say is this. Del Amitri has always been a very personal thing for me. It is something that I love so much that very few people know about. I can share my love of The Who with 15,000 fans for 4 nights in a row at the Garden, I have never really had that opportunity with Del Amitri. Del Amitri is so personal to me, it is like a little secret between me and my radio in the car, in the dorm room, or laying in bed. This book was clearly written by a fan of Del Amitri. This book was written by someone who not only likes Del Amitri as much as I do, something I didn't believe exists, it was written by someone who knows more about Del Amitri than me. How can someone know more about Del Amitri than me? In short, I am jealous. This is a book I have written in my head 1000 times. The chapter on why Del Amitri was not a bigger band is a chapter I have written in my head and debated in my head 1000s of times. This book is like seeing someone walking down the street who has the life you want. I am simply not used to sharing Del Amitri with other people. My love of Lord Huron, the Who, Neil Diamond, and Mumford and Sons is shared by hundreds of thousands. However, Del Amitri is my band. I am very ethnocentric about Del Amitri. After years of trying, I am simply not used to sharing Del Amitri with others.
Del Amitri is so personal for me, it is hard for me to be objective about Del Amitri. I unfortunately found that to be one major issue I had with the book. The author clearly loves Del Amitri and the book in my opinion needs to be more critical. In the author's defense, I probably would have done the same thing. There is a bit too much fanboy in the book, and after reading the Sinatra biography which humanized Sinatra showing all his sides: the good, the bad, the ugly. When you read the Kaplan books you see what a musical genius Sinatra was, and at the same time you see things that show he could be a pretty shitty person who hung out with some very questionable characters. With the exception of some stories about dealing with some band personal issues, there was too much hagiography here. Writing a book about how awesome Del Amitri is preaching to the choir. I would have liked the book to be more objective. When you read this book you learn how awesome Del Amitri is. But I already knew that, and everybody who is going to read this book knows that.
This book is clearly written by a Del Amitri fan for Del Amitri fans. It is very inside. I don't think I could give this book to a non Del Amitri fan. I am not a fan of Frank Sinatra's music or his movies. Yet I could not put down 2000 pages about his life, because it was so interesting. 2000 pages of saying how great Sinatra is not very interesting to someone like me that is not a fan of his music. I love Del Amitri, I know how great they are, you don't need to tell me that. Other people need to know how great Del Amitri is, but I don't think someone who has never heard of the band outside of "Roll to Me" is going to pick up this book, read it, and go stream Change Everything.
As a fan, I devoured this book. I read it in just a couple of days, it was a book about my favorite band of all time, that talked about how awesome they are. Of course, I loved that, but could I give this book to my roommate from college back in 1990 who had to listen to me play Waking Hours on tape endlessly to read? I don't think the book would hold his interest past one or two chapters. It is very inside baseball. It is very niche. But, maybe that was the purpose of the book and the intended audience for it. If so the book is a homerun. So as a fan, of course I loved this book, but I don't think it will appeal to people who don't already love Del Amitri already. Del Amitri fans wish more people would listen to Del Amitri, would listen to the lyrics of Justin Currie and realize just how awesome this band it. There is a part of being a Del Amitri fan that wishes the band reached the level of fan they deserved. However, I don't think this book will do that. This book is more about preaching to the choir than it is about objectively telling the story of Del Amitri and their music.
I feel the book got better as it moved along chronologically. I felt the author did a better job starting around Chapter 7 discussing the issues that resulted from the failure to capitalize on the success of Twisted and the disappointing sales associated with Some Other Sucker's Parade. The story of Big Country is similar in some ways to Del Amitri. Scottish band, amazing success in the UK, none as a one hit wonder in the US, should have been a bigger band, hurt by bad luck and industry mistakes. I would have liked more about the Scottish music scene in the 1980s that Del Amitri and Big Country evolved during. The book has an origins story, but I would have liked it in the bigger context. I have always heard that Del Amitri's first tour of the states was quite the story, the book mentions it is quite the story but the actual chapter about it is kinda of a let down. I would have liked to know more. Here is another issue with the book and the discussion of the 1986 tour is a good example. The book relies heavily on primary sources. Primary sources are awesome in many ways. The book used great material from Justin, Iain and other members of the band. This really added to the book and gave some great insight into the band and the music. However, primary sources have challenges as well. Primary sources are biased, primary sources also suffer from what the subject remembers, doesn't remember, or perhaps chooses not to remember. I felt the book needed more secondary sources to balance the primary sources. I felt it needed more objective and maybe more critical secondary sources to compliment or supplement the primary sources. Again, while Justin, Iain and other band members provided excellent context and behind the scenes information, but too many of the other primary sources used and people interviewed just seemed about how great Del Amitri is. I know this already! Del Amitri had a very memorable tour in 1986, the chapter and the people quoted kept saying how memorable the tour was, but I never felt I learned why it was so memorable.
Another issue I had with the book, and this is a problem I have had with many music biographies or autobiographies is that I would have liked to know more about the songs and the song meanings. Rawlings-Way did a great job focusing in on focusing in on one or two songs per record: like "Stone Cold Sober" on Waking Hours or "Be My Downfall" on Change Everything. Recently, I had the same issue with the Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen books too. So many good songs, I wanna know the stories behind them, the meanings. Justin Currie writes some of the most amazing lyrics in music, I would have loved more analysis or discussion of them. I felt the book missed an opportunity to go deep into the lyrics and the music. I would have loved more from Justin about what these songs were about and how they were written. On the tracks Rawlings-Way does this he does it very well, I just wanted more.
Speaking of the music, something that the book did a great job discussing were the Del Amitri b-sides. Some of my favorite Del Amitri songs are b-sides. Waking Hours, Change Everything, and Twisted are three records that are as close to perfect as I have in my music collection. But for each of these records there are b-sides that I wondered how could this song not be on the record. The book did a good job discussing how, when, and why b-sides were recorded and released when they were. Did I mention how much I love Learn to Cry?
I don't want to make it sound like I don't like this book. I am glad this book was written and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. The intro was awesome, and hit very close to home. There were some things I did not know about Del Amitri, that I know now thanks to this book. In never knew the band was big in Chicago and Australia. To be honest I never really knew much about the first record aside from the song "Hammering Heart," nor did I know what happened leading up to the release of the final studio record "Can You Do Me Good." The book filled in many gaps that I had living in the states and following a band in the pre-social media days. Also, I never knew about the reasons for the many personal changes in the band. The face of the band was always Justin and Iain. Learning about all the various other members of the band was quite interesting and perhaps how some of these past members were treated is the only subject in the book that is really critical of the band and Justin. The book also did a good job showing the missed opportunities between Twisted and Some Other Sucker's Parade. I never thought about it in those terms and while I actually liked that album a lot, it is not on the level of the prior three records. Can You Do Me Good? was a record that even as a fan, I did not like when it came out. However, years later it is a record I appreciate more and more. But learning some of the background to that record, the different producers, and what was happening to their record company and contract as well in the context of the disappointing sales of the prior record, it makes more sense. This is stuff I never knew about.
Where the book really shines is in the discussion of Del Amitri's dealings with various producers, the record company and the changing face of music in the time period Del Amitri was active. Del Amitri's sound is in between formats. It was not hard rock, it was not pop, it was not grunge, it was not alternative. Streaming, satellite radio, YouTube did not exist yet. There was no real outlet to play Del Amitri music. You could argue Waking Hours was Americana or alt-folk before those genres existed. The use of banjo on Waking Hours is Avett, Lumineers, or Mumford-esq 20 years too early. Del Amitri put out their best music at a time where record companies, the record industry, the internet were changing so fast and unfortunately in many ways they fell through the cracks. Rawlings-Way's writing is at his strongest and most reflective when he looks at the issue of how all these issues in many ways made it difficult for Del Amitri to succeed. Del Amitri was a band that had a sound that was hard to put into a neat box, during a time period both the music and the music industry were constantly changing. I often wonder, if Del Amitri would have been more or less popular in the music industry of today. The author talks about Del Amitri's lack of internet presence in the late 1990s, during the exact time it should have been strongest. Again, this is something I was quite aware of as a fan, but never really thought about in the larger context. It is an excellent point and another great "what if." The book makes it clear that there were a number of questionable decisions by the record company that contribute to the "what if's" and the whole question of why isn't Del Amitri a much bigger band. Maybe releasing music right after the magazine cover, better music videos, having an internet site, or returning to Australia might have changed the history of Del Amitri. But it is a paradox for me. Part of me wishes Del Amitri was a bigger band that filled giant arenas where 10,000 people sang along to "Hatful of Rain" and the selfish side of me wants to keep Del Amitri the band all to myself.
I read a lot of history books and I read even more book reviews. I really despise the New York Times and Washington Post because often they review the SUBJECT of the book more than the actual book. If there is a wonderfully written biography of someone they do not like, they will spend more time in the review bashing the person then they will discussing whether or not the book is good or not. In the reverse, if the subject of the book is someone they agree with they will spend the majority of the time praising the subject and not really saying whether or not it is a good book. When I read a book review, I want to know if the book is good. There are people I don't like that have had great books written about them, and there are people that I respect and admire that have had shitty books written about them. Pete Townshend has been one of my rock gods since I was 10, yet I did not like his book. I love Pete Townshend, but did not like his book. I am not a fan of Frank Sinatra's music, but I loved the two Kaplan books about him. So in reviewing These Are Such Perfect Days: The del Amitri I am trying hard to review the actual book and not the band. It is not easy to do. I really think there are two ways to look at this book: As Del Amitri fans or as general reader. There is a lot of inside baseball in this book that as I lifelong Del Amitri fan I really enjoyed reading and I know other fans will enjoy reading. There is a lot of great primary source information and insights from both Justin and Iain. However, the book is too much hagiography. While the book is highly critical of certain aspects of the music industry, the majority of the writing is page after page about how awesome Del Amitri is. The book does not look at the band or the music objectively or critically enough. This is a book about how Del Amitri is one of the best bands that ever existed and how talented Justin Currie and Iain Harvie are. It is exactly the book I would have written.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Vide Noir Album Review
How many good albums can a group make? What happens when a group has a debut album, or in the case of Lord Huron a debut and sophomore record, that are so good and they have to follow it up? Can the next record ever be as good as that debut or again in the case of Lord Huron that debut and that follow up? It is a difficult question to answer and sometimes it is unfair to the band. Look at the case of Big Country. The Crossing, their debut, is as good a record that has ever been released. Whether it is 1983 when it debuted and I first saw "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire" on that new thing called MTV, or in 2018 while listening on Spotify, that record sounds amazing. So amazing that as good as "Steeltown" the follow up was, The Crossing is so good, in a way it doomed them in states. Steeltown is a great record, unfortunately it is a great record following an amazing record and in 1984, I just didn't give it a chance. It was not until 2017 that I realized how good that record is and how unfortunate that I and many other fans of the Crossing did not do that record justice. Another example of a debut just too good to follow up in my opinion is the Head and the Heart. Their debut, the self titled record, is amazing, again a record that you can listen to beginning to end over and over again. The two follow up have been good. They are good records, but they pale when compared to the debut. "Let's Be Still" is a very good record, but had no chance of living up to the debut. What sets apart say a group like The Who is that over the course of 50 years they have produced so many good records and songs. Groups like The Who, the Stones, and only a few others have produced multiple multiple great records, to be honest most groups will only make no more than 3 great records. So, in anticipation for the release of Vide Noir and giving it those first listens, I wondered after "Lonesome Dreams" and "Strange Trails" could they make a great third record.
Also, in 2018 it is difficult to review an entire record. So many younger music fans, do not listen to a whole record. They know songs. They may download some songs from a record. Those songs may be great, but is the whole record great? Many music fans, especially younger fans, don't need the whole record to be great, they need a couple of songs to stream or download. For example, I love the Lumineers. The two Lumineers concerts I saw, were two of the best concerts I have ever seen. Their debut record, is an amazing record that I have listened beginning to end countless times. However, I do not like the Cleopatra record, the follow up. What? How can I not like Cleopatra? There are 5 amazing songs on that record: Sleep on the Floor, Ophelia, Cleopatra, Angela, and In the Light...5 amazing songs. However, the record has 11 songs. I really do not like the other 6. In terms of streaming, yeah awesome 5 songs...actually amazing 5 songs, but I can't play that entire record. I do not like that record as a whole. I am old fashioned. I still think in terms of an entire record. I still review records as a whole. Another group I can point to is the Avett Brothers, an amazing band, amazing to see live, and they always have some amazing tracks on their records, but their last three records I have not enjoyed as a whole. Do they have some great songs, yes 3-4 per record, but what about the other tracks? Perhaps it is not fair, but keep that in mind as I review Vide Noir. That is what makes Lord Huron so much fun to listen to and review. All three records are concept records. All the songs are connected. You really do need to listen to the entire record to appreciate each individual track. When Ancient Names 1 and 2 were released, I was not crazy about the songs, but I knew and was correct that I could not judge those songs because I did not know where they fit into the theme of this record and how they play into the concept of the record. Once I was able to hear the entire record and know some of the background of the record, I really love those songs.
Big Country, one of my favorite bands, in my opinion has put out three great records: The Crossing, Steeltown, and the underappreciated Buffalo Skinners. Del Amitri, perhaps the band most personal to me and the band that defines so much of who I am, in the end put out three great records: Waking House, Change Everything, and Twisted, their other records were good, very good, but not in the league of those three. Mumford and Sons put out two records that probably twenty years from now I will still listen to beginning to end. But what about that third record? Wilder Mind by Mumford and Sons is a good gateway to the Lord Huron Vide Noir record. The first two Mumford and Sons records were banjo Americana alt-folk masterpieces. Those first two records were so much about that electric banjo sound, but Wilder Minds was a departure. It was a different sound. It was a sound that was not what the fans were used to nor what drove them to listen and love to Mumford and Sons. They went from accordions and banjos to a more rock sound. In reality they had to do it. As a band, they could not make the same banjo record every couple of years, but how do you make a record with a sound different than the sound your fans fell in love with. Lord Huron on record three has a similar challenge. Lonesome Dreams is alt-folk and Strange Trails is also alt-folk with some rockabilly, but Vide Noir is different. It was clear from Ancient Names 1 and 2, this record was not going to be Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails. So how do you make a record that has a different sound than the sound your fans love? Lonesome Dreams and Strange Trails are two of my favorite records of all time, so how does the very different sounding Vide Noir compare? Mumford and Sons Wilder Minds is a terrific record with some of my favorite Mumford and Sons songs, but I will never love or listen to that record the way and the amount I listen to Babel and Sigh No More. Will Vide Noir be the same? The answer is NO. Spoiler Alert: I love Vide Noir.
When Mumford and Sons released the first track from Wilder Minds called "Believe," I and many other fans hated it. It originally sounded like Mumford and Sons was trying to sound like Cold Play. Today, that song is one of my favorite songs by Mumford and Sons, but upon its original release I hated it. Why did I and so many hate it? It was too radical a departure from the electric banjo and foot stomping songs that made me fall in love with Mumford and Sons. It was 180 degrees from what we were used to and it really did take some time to get into that track. With that in mind, "Lost in Time and Space" was the perfect song to open this record with.
"Lost in Time and Space" opens with those small sounds that permeated the Lonesome Dream record. One of the things I so love about that record are those small sounds that are on some many of those songs, and "Lost in Time and Space" opens like that. But then it turn rock a billy like Strange Trails, but as the track continues it becomes more psychedelic signaling the change in Lord Huron's sound and letting the listener know this record is going to be different. I love how they did that with this track, this transition, paying homage to the past two records but setting you the listener up for the change. I loved this track so much, that the first day I had the record, I had a hard time getting past this track, I love it so much. The song also introduces a phrase you will here on several tracks on this record "Lost in time and space"
Speaking of records, let me pause here. I no longer have anything that really plays CDs anymore. None of my computers have CD Rom, my cars do not play CDs, so how was I going to listen to this album. Well the old fashion way, I bought it on LP. Yeah, it streams on Amazon and Spotify, but the best way to listen to this great album in on vinyl. Get the LP!
In the late summer I saw Lord Huron for the 3rd time. It was at the Van Buren in downtown Phoenix. They played a number of new songs from this record. However, they did not really say much to the crowd about these songs. No titles, no discussion of their meanings, they just played several songs that were obviously new. In this day of multi-media and social media, I know very little about Lord Huron. There is a mystery to this group and their music. Lonesome Dreams are songs based on fake books by a fake author out of Tucson. Strange Trails I think is supposed to be about characters in a movie that was never written or made. Vide Noir, well I am not too sure and like all their other music it is unclear and the band does not help. Two things I have been able to find about the meaning of this record is 1) it is based on the city of LA and Ben Schneider's travels across LA at night and 2) it is about a girl high on Vide Noir and a man who loves her who travels across time and space to bring her back only to be rejected in favor of the drug in the end. Who knows for sure? I saw Lord Huron for a 4th time this March and they again played many of these new songs and again not much context. That 4th show really showed the transition. They played very few songs from Lonesome Dreams and only the fast songs from Strange Trails. This 4th show was way more reflective of the new sound of Lord Huron. More Ancient Names than Ghost on the Shore.
Let me also say this about the record and Lord Huron's music. Lonesome Dreams is a record for traveling in wide open spaces. Lonesome Dreams is about going to the "ends of the earth." It is the perfect soundtrack when on a plane or in a car driving through the California desert between Blythe and LA. Strange Trails to me is about the Southwest. I will always associate my first listen to Strange Trails and the drive between Phoenix and Sedona. Strange Trails is a much smaller world, maybe even one world from one track in Lonesome Dreams. Lonesome Dreams is the macro and Strange Trails in the micro. However, both have a distinct mountains and desert feel. To me, both are about long daytime drives. Vide Noir to me is more urban and more night. Lonesome Dreams and Strange Trails are records I play in the morning as I drive to work in the shadow of the White Tank and Estrella Mountains. Vide Noir is about driving through downtown Phoenix at night. Vide Noir might be based on LA, but to me it could be Phoenix at night just as well.
There is another thing about where I play this record that is different. When I am at the gym, my playlists or my distance running playlists may have "Time to Run" or "She Lit a Fire" or "Hurricane" on them. However, I would never play Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails as a whole at the gym. Vide Noir absolutely works on the gym, and especially on the most boring place in the gym on the treadmill. Vide Noir is a great record for that 35 minute run on the treadmill, something I would never thought I would say about a Lord Huron Record.
As "Lost in Time And Space" ends there are some ending vocals that sound right out of Lonesome Dream, it is a last call of sorts to the sound and vibe of that amazing record. Because after an extremely short transition and fade comes and heavily baseline and the new sound of Vide Noir and Lord Huron 2018.
The second track on the record "Never Ever" sets the stage and makes it clear that this record is different. "Lost in Time and Space" has elements of the past records, "Never Ever" let's you know this record is not "Lonesome Dreams." The same can be said about "Ancient Names 1 and 2." Also, by themselves, out of context of the album, I was not thrilled when "Ancient Names 1 and 2" were streamed a few weeks before the record was released. But I knew, and I was correct, in the context of the record and in the context of the first two tracks and the songs that follow, these songs take new meaning. I love the songs and the transition between them quite a bit, now that I know where they fit in the bigger picture of the record.
I don't know if my review of this record would be the same from the point of view of a newer music listener who knows individual downloads or streams vs. listening to a band or a whole record. I can tell you as someone who is listening to this record as a whole, who listens from first song to last, this is a great Lord Huron record. I can't compare it to Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails because they are not similar records to compare, just as I can't compare Neil Diamond to the Who, I love both, but they are not the same.
Hands down, my favorite track on the record in "Moonbeam." Like "Lost in time and space" I can listen to this track over and over. This is my favorite song on the album both lyrically and in sound. There is just something about the line "I could use a few laughs and a couple of songs." I love it.
This is a great record, but I have one criticism of it. Strange Trails and Lonesome Dreams end with two stunning songs. "In the Wind" and "The Night We Met" are such emotional songs. They are perhaps, the two best album ending songs I have ever heard. You leave both of those records with a "wow" moment. The power and emotion of those two songs is incredible. I didn't think you could end a record with a more emotional song than "In the Wind" until I heard "The Night We Met." Lyrically, "Emerald Star" has that emotional impact. We our main character realizes the girl he traveled through time and space for would rather stay on vide noir than return with him is quite powerful. However, the sound of this song, lacks the emotional impact of "In the Wind" and "Night We Met." I would have liked this record to have ended with a stunning song like the first two records. Lyrics wise, yes it is stunning, but in terms of the vocals and sound, in my opinion it is one of the weaker tracks on an otherwise fantastic record.
If you are a fan from Lonesome Dreams or even more recently from Strange Trails this is a record that is very different. It might not be the Lord Huron you are used to. This is the paradox about fans and good bands. There is a sound that you like, that sound is why you love this band. This band puts out a record or two records with a sound you love. On one hand you want a new record to remind you or to sound like that record from 5, 10, or even 30 years ago. Del Amitri is my favorite band. Justin Currie puts out new and interesting music, but I still long from 1989 and Waking Hours, part of me wants a 2017 Justin Currie record to sound like 1992's Change Everything. However, great bands evolve. For great bands to stay great, they have to reinvent themselves and put out something that is fresh. The Beatles at some point had to put out Sgt. Pepper, the Stones at some point put out the brilliantly different Exile on Main Street. Mumford and Sons had to put out a record that was not the alt-folk Americana of Sigh No More or Babel. Mumford and Sons would have broken up had they not evolved their sound. I love the Bodeans, they put out some great records in the late 80s and early 90s, but there was a point where every record sounded the same. I will never fully appreciate Wilder Minds, despite some amazing tracks on that record, but I fully appreciate that Mumford and Sons could not keep putting out electric banjo records. Vide Noir is a different Lord Huron. It is not the Lord Huron that I put on when I am in an airplane and want that dreamy open spaces feel of Lonesome Dreams. However, unlike Wilder Mind which I hardly play and totally do not love like I should, Vide Noir succeeds. There is no hard sell needed, no need to tell why you needed to change the sound. Ben is spending more time in LA, LA has affected what he sees and knows and his music reflects that now, just as the desert Southwest or the Great Lakes may have affected earlier songs.
I am not talking one hit wonders, I am talking that the music industry is littered with bands who put out an amazing first record, but were never able to follow up that artistic or commercial success. Lord Huron followed Lonesome Dreams with the equally strong and amazing Strange Trails. The music industry is also littered with bands who never made it past two good records. Lord Huron is not one of these casualties. Vide Noir makes Lord Huron 3 for 3. This is a terrific record. Now the challenge is how do you follow up 3 amazing records?
Also, in 2018 it is difficult to review an entire record. So many younger music fans, do not listen to a whole record. They know songs. They may download some songs from a record. Those songs may be great, but is the whole record great? Many music fans, especially younger fans, don't need the whole record to be great, they need a couple of songs to stream or download. For example, I love the Lumineers. The two Lumineers concerts I saw, were two of the best concerts I have ever seen. Their debut record, is an amazing record that I have listened beginning to end countless times. However, I do not like the Cleopatra record, the follow up. What? How can I not like Cleopatra? There are 5 amazing songs on that record: Sleep on the Floor, Ophelia, Cleopatra, Angela, and In the Light...5 amazing songs. However, the record has 11 songs. I really do not like the other 6. In terms of streaming, yeah awesome 5 songs...actually amazing 5 songs, but I can't play that entire record. I do not like that record as a whole. I am old fashioned. I still think in terms of an entire record. I still review records as a whole. Another group I can point to is the Avett Brothers, an amazing band, amazing to see live, and they always have some amazing tracks on their records, but their last three records I have not enjoyed as a whole. Do they have some great songs, yes 3-4 per record, but what about the other tracks? Perhaps it is not fair, but keep that in mind as I review Vide Noir. That is what makes Lord Huron so much fun to listen to and review. All three records are concept records. All the songs are connected. You really do need to listen to the entire record to appreciate each individual track. When Ancient Names 1 and 2 were released, I was not crazy about the songs, but I knew and was correct that I could not judge those songs because I did not know where they fit into the theme of this record and how they play into the concept of the record. Once I was able to hear the entire record and know some of the background of the record, I really love those songs.
Big Country, one of my favorite bands, in my opinion has put out three great records: The Crossing, Steeltown, and the underappreciated Buffalo Skinners. Del Amitri, perhaps the band most personal to me and the band that defines so much of who I am, in the end put out three great records: Waking House, Change Everything, and Twisted, their other records were good, very good, but not in the league of those three. Mumford and Sons put out two records that probably twenty years from now I will still listen to beginning to end. But what about that third record? Wilder Mind by Mumford and Sons is a good gateway to the Lord Huron Vide Noir record. The first two Mumford and Sons records were banjo Americana alt-folk masterpieces. Those first two records were so much about that electric banjo sound, but Wilder Minds was a departure. It was a different sound. It was a sound that was not what the fans were used to nor what drove them to listen and love to Mumford and Sons. They went from accordions and banjos to a more rock sound. In reality they had to do it. As a band, they could not make the same banjo record every couple of years, but how do you make a record with a sound different than the sound your fans fell in love with. Lord Huron on record three has a similar challenge. Lonesome Dreams is alt-folk and Strange Trails is also alt-folk with some rockabilly, but Vide Noir is different. It was clear from Ancient Names 1 and 2, this record was not going to be Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails. So how do you make a record that has a different sound than the sound your fans love? Lonesome Dreams and Strange Trails are two of my favorite records of all time, so how does the very different sounding Vide Noir compare? Mumford and Sons Wilder Minds is a terrific record with some of my favorite Mumford and Sons songs, but I will never love or listen to that record the way and the amount I listen to Babel and Sigh No More. Will Vide Noir be the same? The answer is NO. Spoiler Alert: I love Vide Noir.
When Mumford and Sons released the first track from Wilder Minds called "Believe," I and many other fans hated it. It originally sounded like Mumford and Sons was trying to sound like Cold Play. Today, that song is one of my favorite songs by Mumford and Sons, but upon its original release I hated it. Why did I and so many hate it? It was too radical a departure from the electric banjo and foot stomping songs that made me fall in love with Mumford and Sons. It was 180 degrees from what we were used to and it really did take some time to get into that track. With that in mind, "Lost in Time and Space" was the perfect song to open this record with.
"Lost in Time and Space" opens with those small sounds that permeated the Lonesome Dream record. One of the things I so love about that record are those small sounds that are on some many of those songs, and "Lost in Time and Space" opens like that. But then it turn rock a billy like Strange Trails, but as the track continues it becomes more psychedelic signaling the change in Lord Huron's sound and letting the listener know this record is going to be different. I love how they did that with this track, this transition, paying homage to the past two records but setting you the listener up for the change. I loved this track so much, that the first day I had the record, I had a hard time getting past this track, I love it so much. The song also introduces a phrase you will here on several tracks on this record "Lost in time and space"
Speaking of records, let me pause here. I no longer have anything that really plays CDs anymore. None of my computers have CD Rom, my cars do not play CDs, so how was I going to listen to this album. Well the old fashion way, I bought it on LP. Yeah, it streams on Amazon and Spotify, but the best way to listen to this great album in on vinyl. Get the LP!
In the late summer I saw Lord Huron for the 3rd time. It was at the Van Buren in downtown Phoenix. They played a number of new songs from this record. However, they did not really say much to the crowd about these songs. No titles, no discussion of their meanings, they just played several songs that were obviously new. In this day of multi-media and social media, I know very little about Lord Huron. There is a mystery to this group and their music. Lonesome Dreams are songs based on fake books by a fake author out of Tucson. Strange Trails I think is supposed to be about characters in a movie that was never written or made. Vide Noir, well I am not too sure and like all their other music it is unclear and the band does not help. Two things I have been able to find about the meaning of this record is 1) it is based on the city of LA and Ben Schneider's travels across LA at night and 2) it is about a girl high on Vide Noir and a man who loves her who travels across time and space to bring her back only to be rejected in favor of the drug in the end. Who knows for sure? I saw Lord Huron for a 4th time this March and they again played many of these new songs and again not much context. That 4th show really showed the transition. They played very few songs from Lonesome Dreams and only the fast songs from Strange Trails. This 4th show was way more reflective of the new sound of Lord Huron. More Ancient Names than Ghost on the Shore.
Let me also say this about the record and Lord Huron's music. Lonesome Dreams is a record for traveling in wide open spaces. Lonesome Dreams is about going to the "ends of the earth." It is the perfect soundtrack when on a plane or in a car driving through the California desert between Blythe and LA. Strange Trails to me is about the Southwest. I will always associate my first listen to Strange Trails and the drive between Phoenix and Sedona. Strange Trails is a much smaller world, maybe even one world from one track in Lonesome Dreams. Lonesome Dreams is the macro and Strange Trails in the micro. However, both have a distinct mountains and desert feel. To me, both are about long daytime drives. Vide Noir to me is more urban and more night. Lonesome Dreams and Strange Trails are records I play in the morning as I drive to work in the shadow of the White Tank and Estrella Mountains. Vide Noir is about driving through downtown Phoenix at night. Vide Noir might be based on LA, but to me it could be Phoenix at night just as well.
There is another thing about where I play this record that is different. When I am at the gym, my playlists or my distance running playlists may have "Time to Run" or "She Lit a Fire" or "Hurricane" on them. However, I would never play Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails as a whole at the gym. Vide Noir absolutely works on the gym, and especially on the most boring place in the gym on the treadmill. Vide Noir is a great record for that 35 minute run on the treadmill, something I would never thought I would say about a Lord Huron Record.
As "Lost in Time And Space" ends there are some ending vocals that sound right out of Lonesome Dream, it is a last call of sorts to the sound and vibe of that amazing record. Because after an extremely short transition and fade comes and heavily baseline and the new sound of Vide Noir and Lord Huron 2018.
The second track on the record "Never Ever" sets the stage and makes it clear that this record is different. "Lost in Time and Space" has elements of the past records, "Never Ever" let's you know this record is not "Lonesome Dreams." The same can be said about "Ancient Names 1 and 2." Also, by themselves, out of context of the album, I was not thrilled when "Ancient Names 1 and 2" were streamed a few weeks before the record was released. But I knew, and I was correct, in the context of the record and in the context of the first two tracks and the songs that follow, these songs take new meaning. I love the songs and the transition between them quite a bit, now that I know where they fit in the bigger picture of the record.
I don't know if my review of this record would be the same from the point of view of a newer music listener who knows individual downloads or streams vs. listening to a band or a whole record. I can tell you as someone who is listening to this record as a whole, who listens from first song to last, this is a great Lord Huron record. I can't compare it to Lonesome Dreams or Strange Trails because they are not similar records to compare, just as I can't compare Neil Diamond to the Who, I love both, but they are not the same.
Hands down, my favorite track on the record in "Moonbeam." Like "Lost in time and space" I can listen to this track over and over. This is my favorite song on the album both lyrically and in sound. There is just something about the line "I could use a few laughs and a couple of songs." I love it.
This is a great record, but I have one criticism of it. Strange Trails and Lonesome Dreams end with two stunning songs. "In the Wind" and "The Night We Met" are such emotional songs. They are perhaps, the two best album ending songs I have ever heard. You leave both of those records with a "wow" moment. The power and emotion of those two songs is incredible. I didn't think you could end a record with a more emotional song than "In the Wind" until I heard "The Night We Met." Lyrically, "Emerald Star" has that emotional impact. We our main character realizes the girl he traveled through time and space for would rather stay on vide noir than return with him is quite powerful. However, the sound of this song, lacks the emotional impact of "In the Wind" and "Night We Met." I would have liked this record to have ended with a stunning song like the first two records. Lyrics wise, yes it is stunning, but in terms of the vocals and sound, in my opinion it is one of the weaker tracks on an otherwise fantastic record.
If you are a fan from Lonesome Dreams or even more recently from Strange Trails this is a record that is very different. It might not be the Lord Huron you are used to. This is the paradox about fans and good bands. There is a sound that you like, that sound is why you love this band. This band puts out a record or two records with a sound you love. On one hand you want a new record to remind you or to sound like that record from 5, 10, or even 30 years ago. Del Amitri is my favorite band. Justin Currie puts out new and interesting music, but I still long from 1989 and Waking Hours, part of me wants a 2017 Justin Currie record to sound like 1992's Change Everything. However, great bands evolve. For great bands to stay great, they have to reinvent themselves and put out something that is fresh. The Beatles at some point had to put out Sgt. Pepper, the Stones at some point put out the brilliantly different Exile on Main Street. Mumford and Sons had to put out a record that was not the alt-folk Americana of Sigh No More or Babel. Mumford and Sons would have broken up had they not evolved their sound. I love the Bodeans, they put out some great records in the late 80s and early 90s, but there was a point where every record sounded the same. I will never fully appreciate Wilder Minds, despite some amazing tracks on that record, but I fully appreciate that Mumford and Sons could not keep putting out electric banjo records. Vide Noir is a different Lord Huron. It is not the Lord Huron that I put on when I am in an airplane and want that dreamy open spaces feel of Lonesome Dreams. However, unlike Wilder Mind which I hardly play and totally do not love like I should, Vide Noir succeeds. There is no hard sell needed, no need to tell why you needed to change the sound. Ben is spending more time in LA, LA has affected what he sees and knows and his music reflects that now, just as the desert Southwest or the Great Lakes may have affected earlier songs.
I am not talking one hit wonders, I am talking that the music industry is littered with bands who put out an amazing first record, but were never able to follow up that artistic or commercial success. Lord Huron followed Lonesome Dreams with the equally strong and amazing Strange Trails. The music industry is also littered with bands who never made it past two good records. Lord Huron is not one of these casualties. Vide Noir makes Lord Huron 3 for 3. This is a terrific record. Now the challenge is how do you follow up 3 amazing records?
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