W2MN - the best, the worst

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W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by sickthing » Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:38 am

Now that a number of people here have heard the album, what are your early favourites? and which songs do you dislike?


My favourite song is I am Made of You. It is strange for a rock album to start with a slow song but this is, in my view, one of the best songs by Alice in a long time. the lyrics sound good and pretty personal, alice sings like he really means it, and the guitars get some time to shine.

Other favourites: What baby wants (i find this pretty catchy and as skeptical as I was about KeSha, it works), When Hell Comes Home (this song sounds like something that could easily have been on BP, the lyrics are pretty good, and it's nice to hear Neal, Dennis, Mike and Alice back together although it sounds nothing like their early work in my view), and The Congregation.


Worst songs: Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever - too cheesy, and i thought the whole hell is a disco thing was already tried on GTH to mixed results....and Ghouls Gone Wild.


Overall, it's a good album definitely best since BP (not yet sure if i like it better than BP or TLT...will have to see how i feel about it in a few months, first).

I feel the overall product would have been better without those two songs. Can't wait for the Classic Rock fan pack to come in the mail to read the magazine and to hear Under the Bed!!

Thoughts?

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by James1981 » Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:09 pm

I like every track on the album and can't pick a bad one. I think they all flow perfectly together. Have to disagree with you on disco bloodbath boogie fever. I love it. Can't wait to get the bonus tracks and add them to the iPod to make the album even longer. Will just have to decide in which order to place them.
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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by departmentofyouth » Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:05 pm

I like every tune as well! The diversity between tracks makes the album far more entertaining. DBBF is basically 2 different songs and the contrast between the 2 is fantastic!

I rank this album up there with some of the best.

Agreed James, bring on the bonus tracks!


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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by MacGyver » Sun Sep 04, 2011 4:23 pm

The first 7 songs are great! I find some of the transitions between songs to be done poorly, particularly the first 4 tracks. From Disco to When Hell Comes Home... Meh.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by hannu30 » Sun Sep 04, 2011 4:39 pm

Best:
1. Last man on earth. Love it. Best track on there imho.
2. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
3. I am made of you

Worst:
- A Runaway Train

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by MacGyver » Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:48 pm

Though I will say the coda to "Disco" is friggen kick arse! :rock:

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by AlongCameASpider27 » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:12 pm

Having listened to it a lot...I can't find a bad song at all on the album...my top 3 favorites are I Gotta Get Outta Here, Something to Remember Me By, and The Congregation

That ballad is one of the sweetest things I've ever listened to. Alice's vocals are just fantastic on it.

I plan on doing a more detailed review of it sometime this weekend and doing a Youtube video review.
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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by bigbradwolf » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:47 pm

I think its a fantastic album, can listen to all the tracks. Love it! However I think the transition between songs as someone stated could have been done better.

The Congregation is going to be an awesome setlist opener IMO!

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Freeze » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:49 pm

Hello , new poster here! For now my favorite tracks of W2MN are I Am Made Of You , Caffeine, Last Man On Earth and Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever. Best Cooper album in a long time in my opinion!

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by sparkinthedark » Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:44 pm

At the moment The Congregation is my favourite song on there, closely followed by What Baby Wants (and I was also very skeptical about the whole Ke$ha thing) and Last Man On Earth - I love the New Orleans kinda feel that it has going on.

I'm pretty fond of When Hell Comes Home - I tend to like "darker" songs and if it was up to me (which of course it isn't) I'd have preferred the whole album to have had a much darker feel, though I also love the way Alice's sense of humour is frequently showcased. Disco Bloodbath... this made a couple of non Alice fans that I played it to cringe (incidentally, they really liked The Nightmare Returns and What Baby Wants). To me, this track is a bit like Alice does Eminem and came across nicely tongue in cheek.

Least favourite for me is Caffeine - it just doesn't do much for me.

I'm pretty fond of The Underture - I recall Bob Ezrin trying to talk to Alice about this in the middle of a MnG line at Halloween last year and I just thought, "Underture... what's he talking about?" Well, now I know - and I like it. IMO a nice way to round off the album. As to the cover of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - personally I'll take the original.

All in all I think W2MN is a good album and different parts of it grow on me a little more each day - seems I never skip past any of the tracks, which is generally a good sign. :)
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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Devils Food » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:56 pm

It's not funny and it serves no purpose. The record id a disappointment unfortunately. Alice missed badly this time.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by James1981 » Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:13 pm

Devils Food wrote:It's not funny and it serves no purpose. The record id a disappointment unfortunately. Alice missed badly this time.
Sorry dude but I 100% disagree with you.
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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Model Citizen » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:08 am

Thumbs up to:

I Am Made Of You
The Congregation
Caffeine
I Gotta Get Outta Here

Thumbs down to:

Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
Something To Remember Me By

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Owepar » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:33 am

"Along Came a Spider" had to grow on me, and after hearing "I'll Bite Your Face Off" (which I'm still not enchanted by), I feared this was gonna be more of the same -- since Alice generally releases albums in pairs. Thankfully, I was pretty captivated in a way I haven't been since I first heard TLT. Easily his best album in a while.

While I don't think the auto-tune ruined the song, I wholeheartedly agree that "I Am Made of You" would have been better without it. Part of Alice's appeal (or at least what makes him distinctive) is he doesn't always hit the perfect notes, and auto-tune is just so generic and phony. Otherwise a great opener, and a wonderful mingling of classic WTMN tunes. Hopefully a non-auto-tuned version will be released at some point.

Wasn't sure what to think of "Ghouls Gone Wild" the first time I heard it. Seemed a little too "Summertime Blues" meets Jan and Dean. Upon second listen, it became one of my favorite tracks. Just a feel-good little ditty. And actually, once I thought about it, it's sorta appropriate. The original had "Some Folks," which hearkened back to the '20s/'30s in the '70s. And now we're 45 years past the beach-band sound, so...

And speaking of "Some Folks," I immediately liked the very similar "The Last Man on Earth" -- but I liked it more once I got to the ending, which really made me chuckle.

Expected to hate "I Gotta Get Outta Here" based solely on the title (there's a lot of little lyrical call-backs throughout the album from everything from WTMN to "Clones" to "Spider"), but it's easily my favorite new song.

Don't dislike "Something to Remember Me By," but it really doesn't fit in with the other tracks. I was eagerly awaiting a "Millie and Billy" twist ending which never arrived... you know, 'I cut off my _____(ear, finger, leg, penis, whatever) so you'd have something to remember me by.' Without the twist, it feels like a generic "It's Me" sorta ballad, which really didn't fit on that album and certainly doesn't belong on this one. Would've been at home on "Diamonds" or "Eyes" but feels totally outta place here.

The only real complaint I've got about W2MN is there's nothing original that's creepy. WTMN had "Steven," "Years Ago" and "The Awakening," which all had a very ethereal feel (so they're sampled here ad nauseum). The closest this album has to that weird, unworldly sound is "The Nightmare Returns," which is only like 30 seconds before it segues into "Steven" for the final 45 seconds. I suppose "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever," which pretty blatantly (but effectively) rips of the Winkie Chant from "The Wizard of Oz," is kinda creepy too, but it hardly compares (and I venture to guess it's gonna be targeted as the album's most-hated song).

Anxious to hear the bonus tracks (and simultaneously annoyed that they're scattered over 50 different releases, all of which I'll doubtlessly end up paying for).

One last thing... Is it just me, or does it seem like THIS is the album that should have followed "Fistful?" Both in prose and sound, "Is Anyone Home" would perfectly fit on W2MN, and I kept thinking about that as I first listened to it.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Devon » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:20 am

Part of Alice's appeal (or at least what makes him distinctive) is he doesn't always hit the perfect notes, and auto-tune is just so generic and phony.
Auto tune wasn't used to fix anything with his vocals.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by dadascot » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:43 am

I have listened to this album a lot over the last few days and it continues to grow on me which is great as I liked it first time. I had a lot of trepidation in the run up to this and was disapointed by IBYFO, which I think works much better in the album.

Ok favourites are
Caffeine - Great early 80' sounding rocker
I am made of you - I think the auto tune adds to the atmosphere, this is a personal song but fits in
when hell comes home - Could have fitted on Killer. Great track.

I could also have added another three or four to this list without too much argument.

weak songs
Disco bloodbath boogie fever - On a good day I catch this and then yeah quirky and different but mostly I think it too disjointed and out of place.
Ghouls gone wild - I like the 60's surf feel and think it could have been pushed even more in this direction but at other times I agree with the poster who said that it sounded like a scoobie doo theme tune.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Owepar » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:46 am

Uh, have you actually listened to "I Am Made of You," Goat Herder? The entire first verse is UNMISTAKABLY Auto-Tuned. His voice sounds electronic and it unnaturally changes pitch. The Auto-Tune drops off at the chorus, but most of his subsequent "In the beginning" verses have been ever-so slightly tweaked -- plus they added an electronic echo to a huge chunk of the song. Again, I didn't think it destroyed it, but it's not especially Alice-esque, and it's quite annoyingly unnecessary.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by James1981 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:50 am

Owepar wrote:Uh, have you actually listened to "I Am Made of You," Goat Herder? The entire first verse is UNMISTAKABLY Auto-Tuned. His voice sounds electronic and it unnaturally changes pitch. The Auto-Tune drops off at the chorus, but most of his subsequent "In the beginning" verses have been ever-so slightly tweaked -- plus they added an electronic echo to a huge chunk of the song. Again, I didn't think it destroyed it, but it's not especially Alice-esque, and it's quite annoyingly unnecessary.
I think what Devon is trying to say is that the auto tune was used as an effect on certain part of the song and not to fix anything. Personally i think it works pretty good and adds another dimension to the song.
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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Devon » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:52 am

Owepar wrote:Uh, have you actually listened to "I Am Made of You," Goat Herder? The entire first verse is UNMISTAKABLY Auto-Tuned.
Well, Trash, yes I have. I didn't say Auto Tune WASN'T used, I said it wasn't used to fix his voice. It was used as a vocal effect.

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Re: W2MN - the best, the worst

Post by Mr. Skull » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:52 am

Goat Herder said that it wasn't used to fix anything,
it's used to create a certain effect in this song imo.

Like Cher in believe

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