MOJAVE 3 : "Excuses For Travellers" VS. "Out Of Tune" ? Which one is better?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I loved the first album but I don't have these other ones...How are they and which one is better? How are they compared to the first one? thanks. todd.

― todd, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Both are quite good, but a bit different from Ask Me Tomorrow. There's a lot of Dylan influence, and they are more rock oriented than the debut record. I prefer Out of Tune slightly, but the songwriting on both is very strong. Actually they are pretty similar albums. Start with Out of Tune and if you like that one you will also like Excuses...

― g, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Actually.. I'm looking for more stuff like "Candel Song 3".. you know.. romantic "make love" music... todd

― todd, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well, the later 2 records are not as sparse or minimalist sounding as the first one, but the songs have a similar melancholia to them. You may dig the last Slowdive (former band of some of the Mojave 3 members if you aren't familiar) record if you haven't heard it (Pygmalion), it has a similar aesthetic to Ask me Tomorrow but not so much of the country music shadings. It's kind of hard to find these days though. If you haven't listened to Mazzy Star you will probably like them, fits perfectly with Ask Me Tomrrow. Even Hope Sandoval's new album might fit the bill. Btw, isn;t Mojave 3 lead singer Neil Halstead coming out with a solo album shortly?

― g, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah.. I got turned on to Mojave 3 because I loved SLOWDIVE... I could never find Pygmalion though.. it's out of print and when I see it.. it goes for 50 bucks... I saw Mazzy Star. Hope is incredible. OPAL is amazing too.

Todd.

― todd, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well, i recommend you check out Out of Tune, it does have several amazing tracks on it

― g, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I come down on the side of Excuses for Travellers. I thought Out of Tune was pretty good, but when I first heard Excuses, it blew me away. Weirdly, though I love My Bloody Valentine, I never really got into Slowdive all that much, and I think Excuses is where Mojave 3 really found their legs, especially when it comes to writing really memorable melodies.

As far as Pygmalion goes, I used to see it around fairly regularly here in Toronto, at typical used prices. Haven't spotted it in a while, though.

― Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I own only Excuses and quite like it. A lot of sad, soft country-ish ballads.

― bnw, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

though I love My Bloody Valentine, I never really got into Slowdive all that much

This may have something to do with the fact that despite canonical dogma, THEY DON'T SOUND ANYTHING ALIKE. (NB: yes, I am deliberately overstating the case.) I mean, there's this rock-crit desire to peg all shoegazers as "imitators" of MBV (perhaps just as a way of building up the pedestal Loveless rests on), as opposed to considering it a viable micro-genre, with really quite a bit of variation (infinitely more so than a lot of recent dance micro-genres I can think of); by the time Slowdive got to Pygmalion, they have more in common with Talk Talk than Isn't Anything. I find both Souvlaki and Pygmalion brilliant in ways that have very, very little to do with Kevin Shields.

― Nitsuh, Wednesday, 26 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

any day will be fine (can't remember which f the two mentioned album's it's on) is a lovely record, one meant to be listened to on a sunday morning with the sun coming through the curtains and a pretty girl in your arms.

― chris, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Does that mean heterosexual women won't enjoy it? Cause that'd mean men couldn't listen to it properly, either, just pairs of pretty lesbians who don't go to church.

― Nitsuh, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Actually, nevermind the snarkiness: I might as well just admit that I find the last clause of Chris's post to be thoroughly tasteless, and all the more so because that fact obviously didn't cross his mind.

― Nitsuh, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Your point is well-taken, Nitsuh. The problem for me is that when Slowdive came out, the label was purposely trying to align the two, from what I recall in the release information. That association in my head has probably forever damned Slowdive in my mind, because of that dissimilarity. I suppose I feel cheated. Even this many years later. Which, I suppose, is no fault of Slowdive's. Still. I've tried going back and listening to their albums objectively, after the fact, and I still can't really get into them. Mojave 3, on the other hand...

― Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The trick about Slowdive is that you have to think of them as being a Cure-inspired band in the early days and a Durutti Column-inspired one in the later (I see the Talk Talk comparisons there, Nitsuh, but I'll plump for DC more -- especially given that one song is called 'Rutti' and all ;

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think only the first couple of singles have any real similarity to MBV. After that they made an album (Just for a Day) that had a lot in common with chapterhouse, ride (esp. on the song "Waves"), and the other shoegazers of the day. Then they developed a more unique sound on the next 2 records. I guess Mojave 3 is a step back in terms of uniqueness of sound, but the songwriting overall is much stronger.

― g, Thursday, 27 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.