C/D - Phoenix - Alphabetical?

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Anyone have any thoughts on this yet? I picked it up yesterday and wasn't that impressed (so far!). I'm not sure if it matches up to United.

Anyone else?

― Mark Harris, Thursday, 1 April 2004 07:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i heard the single and thought it was sort of unremarkable

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 1 April 2004 07:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Well I only listend to the first side and it is the one tune that I thought was really good!

― Mark Harris, Thursday, 1 April 2004 07:53 (twenty-one years ago)

more here

i like it, or at least bits of it, but i don't love it.

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 1 April 2004 08:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Pretty good feature on them (for those who read French) in today's Liberation: http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=190804

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Thursday, 1 April 2004 08:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Just discovered that Phoenix are supporting the Scissor Sisters on all their UK tour dates between April 4 and April 11 (manchester sheffield nottingham glasgow middlesborough leeds). I was getting quite excited about seeing them (liked Untitled a lot) until I read both the Phoenix threads...

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 1 April 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

i absolutely love the record. it wasn't what i'd call a grower. first listen i hated it, second listen, i loved it. not sure how that worked, there was nothing gradual about it. give it a couple of spins.

― pitwithspikes (pitwithspikes), Thursday, 1 April 2004 12:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd agree with Mark so far, off one listen its not brilliant, but I really didn't like United at first, so maybe its a grower as well

― actionjackson, Thursday, 1 April 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Can you guys elaborate on why you don't think it's that great? I think it is a good record, almost too good - a lot of the songs seem like they were produced in some factory where pop melodies/arrangements are made to sound as if I've heard them a hundred times before. It seems like half the album could be hit singles, but it also seems oddly detached.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 1 April 2004 13:03 (twenty-one years ago)

that was my impression of the single

the lyrics are godawful, even by french rock in english standards

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 1 April 2004 14:20 (twenty-one years ago)

what I heard sounded like the neptunes re/mixing sloan.

meh.

― ddb, Thursday, 1 April 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm still not feeling these guys.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 1 April 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

sort of unremarkable

mod, please close thread. this is exhaustive.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Thursday, 1 April 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Is the single "Everything is Everything"? I do like that a lot -- it reminds me of "Like I Love You"! It's weird, though: the whole album is very pleasant and all, and maybe even a shade more cohesive than United -- but it seems unmemorable somehow. This doesn't bother me entirely, because it just means I keep finding myself inclined to listen to it, to dig in more.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 1 April 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

my friend tells me i need to listen to it again

i will

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 1 April 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

you are all mentalists. this is ace.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh, not really.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

what is that shop doing to you strongo?

― mullygrubber (gaz), Thursday, 13 May 2004 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i just want to fit in!!

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 13 May 2004 00:20 (twenty-one years ago)

i do like it though

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 13 May 2004 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I'm liking this more and more.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:01 (twenty-one years ago)

It's OK

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Nothing remotely rivals 'Everything is Everything' though

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

with the exception of other records.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:10 (twenty-one years ago)

that sterling wit again

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:37 (twenty-one years ago)

It's grown on me loads -not as immediate as "United" but I like it almost as much (which is saying a lot). There are a lot of interesting touches on it production-wise, too, little bits of computer tomfoolery in the margins... especially the slowdown at the end of the title song. And the intro to "Victim of the Crime" seems like a nod to contemporary hiphop...

― Conor (Conor), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

sterling wit? i did like that house track he did. something about being all right.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd rather listen to Boz Scaggs -- or Wit (not W.I.T.), for that matter.

― Andy K (Andy K), Thursday, 13 May 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

It's definitely growing on me. (but that's a whole other thread)

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 13 May 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

"what I heard sounded like the neptunes re/mixing sloan.

meh.

-- ddb (dd...), April 1st, 2004 7:49 AM."

There was definitely a time on this board when that claim would have been seen as a RINGING endorsement...

Anyways, I love "Alphabetical." Surprised by the lukewarm reactions to it... I think it's excellent. "If It's Not With You" is so fun.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 13 May 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I love it at this point. It continues to make more sense as the weather improves.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 May 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, I'm really liking this now - I now really like 8 of the 10 songs rather than 3 a month ago.. I'm enjoying it MORE as the weather gets WORSE.

― edward o (edwardo), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Gotta go back to it then.. I remember being turned off by 'I'm an Actor'

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Friday, 14 May 2004 07:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I kind of want to be able to see what everyone else sees in Phoenix, but I just can't. It makes me go "meh..." and little all else.

― ___ (___), Friday, 14 May 2004 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Agree that it is a killer summer album. I recommend listening to it poolside, while sipping a 1/2 Lemonade - 1/2 Merlot (my official summer cold beverage).

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Saturday, 15 May 2004 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i really like it, but i have to struggle a bit to get past the awful awful awful lyrics.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 15 May 2004 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

S/FJ rates it number 2 album of 2004 so far
http://sfj.abstractdynamics.org/archives/001095.html

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Saturday, 15 May 2004 10:12 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

This record is amazing in the sun.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 7 June 2004 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

It continues to make more sense as the weather improves.

Absolutely. Played it yesterday afternoon while doing the garden, and it sounded wonderful. As did the Emma Bunton album, which is also coming into its own, climate-wise.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, I wasn't convinced on first few listens, but it's been an LP I've kept coming back to, & now it's probably my favourite of the year. Their show at the Mean Fiddler last weekend was just incredible too.

Awful awful lyrics? Those lyrics are fabulous!!

― harveyw (harveyw), Monday, 7 June 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

CLASSIC. I listen to it almost every day lately, and I never get sick of it. Ideally, at least six of the songs on the record should be massive pop hits ("Everything Is Everything," "Holdin' On Together," "If It's Not With You," "Run Run Run," "Love For Granted," "Anybody")

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

define "fabulous"

(extra bonus points: define "fabolous")

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 7 June 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I love the way that the lyrics are made up of apparently unrelated individual lines or couplets which could each be expanded into songs or themes of their own. Yet they also hang together on their own terms. The sound of the words (or, more accurately, the way Thomas sings them) is also pretty unique. That sounds kind of fabulous to me.

― harveyw (harveyw), Monday, 7 June 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

i do like the way he sings, but i'm not sure i buy your argument re. the lyrics as a defense. the impression i get is songs totally vacant of literal meaning, which is not a crime really.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

http://auspiciousfish.blogspot.com/2004/06/until-dialogue-has-taken-up-arms-to.html

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

it kinda sounds like maroon 5

― juiceboxxx (juiceboxxx), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Nick S has hit the nail on the head. The lyrics could be utterly meaningless or they could say everything you need to know about everything. One of the lines he's chosen ("The things I do possess, sometimes they own me too") could just be words, or they could be something more political, more meaning-full. Depends on how much you want to analyse it.

The lyrics kindof reming me of Eggstone's.

And yes, the hotter it gets, the better it sounds.

― harveyw (harveyw), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"remind"

― harveyw (harveyw), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

judging by the singles, i might really like this. i think the lyrics are fine. his voice occasionally reminds me of beck, but this is thankfully fleeting. bachelor-pad reverie doesn't usually do it for me, but... but.

― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 6 August 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

this is a great album, and right up ILM's street i would have thought? the vocals are great. i love the almost imperceptible layer of electronic shininess that glosses over the whole thing - reminds me of Hot Shots II i think. 'everything is everything' has my favourite lyrics this year.

― pete b. (pete b.), Friday, 6 August 2004 12:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I just downloaded it last night, I am in that sort of mood.

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 6 August 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

This is the direction Belle and Sebastian seems headed in. But I doubt they'd do it as well or make it sound as rich. There'd be too much winking and such. The first four tracks come out like gangbusters and then its a slight let down, but I think thats only because the begining is so good.

― artdamages (artdamages), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

I'm really enjoying this, esp. the trio of 'Love for Granted', 'Victim Of The Crime' and 'You Can't Blame It On Anybody'. It took a few tries, but it's hit hard and wonderful now. I haven't listened for the lyrics at all, to be honest, and I'll probably try not to.

'Love for Granted' is a great delayed climax; you don't get the 'hang on to a little chance'(?) line that makes the song until past the 2:30 mark, at which point it's all warm and glorious.

It's a little less here than on, say 'Too Young' or 'If I Ever Feel better', but Phoenix is still steeped in the most wonderful and pristine production sound. The vocals are really incredible.

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 20:58 (twenty years ago)

i need this; why can't i find it for less than $16?

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 21:05 (twenty years ago)

amateur!!st it's $ 13.49 at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001K634G

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 21:15 (twenty years ago)

Amateurist, I can burn you a copy and give it to you on Saturday.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 21:22 (twenty years ago)

This has been unexpectedly the sdtrack of my summer 2004. Perfectly suited for carefree roadtrips

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 21:32 (twenty years ago)

jaymc i kiss you. no really, i kiss you saturday. big serbian man kiss.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Thursday, 9 September 2004 01:48 (twenty years ago)

You're Serbian?

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 9 September 2004 03:55 (twenty years ago)

racist! you think only serbians can give serbian man kiss?

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Thursday, 9 September 2004 04:02 (twenty years ago)

croatian man kiss is superior

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 9 September 2004 04:10 (twenty years ago)

i try this too, i tell no difference

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Thursday, 9 September 2004 04:41 (twenty years ago)

dud. is there any particular reason the whole album feels like it's played at half time?

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Thursday, 9 September 2004 11:04 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

In light of Wolfgang..., I've been giving this a few spins. And while the production is pretty brilliant, despite some of the pronouncements of folks on this thread, it's by far the weakest album of theirs in terms of songs. And the sequencing does it no favors.

(BTW, just noticed Southall says this on his blog: "At least half-a-dozen of the ten tunes here could be massive summer pop hits" while Perpetua says "Ideally, at least six of the songs on the record should be massive pop hits" -- nice job stealing platitudes from each other, guys)

Still, the highlights are very solid and bring you back to some of the lesser tracks. The two opening tracks are both good...not great. Which is to say they're memorable but not subconscious burningly so. "Holdin' On Together" is...catchy. "You Can Blame It On Everybody" is easily the best thing on here -- the best song the Bee Gees never wrote.

― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 18 June 2009 03:49 (sixteen years ago)

I love this album. Partly because of the fantastic production, but also because I feel like the songs are a bit more cohesive than on - well, the debut in particular. They are less repetitive, with more of a sense of climax.

Now, the recent one is their best, but their weakest album to me remains the previous one, which sounded way too unpolished for its own good. Phoenix are supposed to have that 10cc/Supertramp-perfection.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 19 June 2009 01:58 (sixteen years ago)

actually ordered this today, for my sister who graduated from high school.

― Ludo, Friday, 19 June 2009 11:28 (sixteen years ago)

Geir, first off, their previous one has the best tunes of any record they've done -- and I would include the new one in that (tho "Lizstomania" is possibly their best song).

Secondly, you've mentioned that about the production before -- but I don't think it's unpolished at all, actually. In fact, I'd say it's a very, very polished guitar record. I suggest you spin it again.

― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 19 June 2009 11:37 (sixteen years ago)

I've never read Perpetua's blogs and I doubt he read mine, so either we both stole that idea / line from elsewhere, or else, y'know, half a dozen songs off that album could have been pop hits.

― Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 19 June 2009 11:52 (sixteen years ago)

Ha, well, I'd be more sympathetic if I even remotely agreed with that sentiment, Nick. Like I said, I like this record and some of the tunes are really good, but it's not it's Phoenix's Radio City or anything. Especially when stacked up against their three other records, it comes across about as monochromatic as its artwork.

― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 19 June 2009 19:29 (sixteen years ago)

Funny, because I've always thought the monochromatic artwork was a poor choice for such a multihued album.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 19 June 2009 19:45 (sixteen years ago)

Weird that you say that, bc I agree w just about everything you said upthread about it seeming more cohesive than United but less memorable. It's kind of hard to put a finger on -- maybe bc even when they're not at the top of their game songwriting-wise, they still sound very comfortable and familiar.

― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 19 June 2009 22:31 (sixteen years ago)

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