Count me in for loving that song too. I've found it interesting from the beginning. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but it was memorable. After hearing it 2 more times, It was one of my favorites (along with TalkTalk, Hourglass, Feathers, Disillusioned, The Doomed, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish, By and Down the River).
So I really didn't like So Long and Thanks For All The Fish at first, but it got stuck in my head. And then I read the lyrics and read about the reference and I think the lyrics and the concept behind the lyrics is just awesome.
Now it's the one I keep listening to.
Pitchfork just fucking massacred it... 4.9
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums...-the-elephant/
I basically agree with the review. 14/15 years between albums and this is the best they can come up with? The new Tool is going to be so bad
The album isn't outstanding (hasn't got a good flow, the title track is a snorefest), but i'll buy it when i'll come across a good deal
P.S. i have a good feeling about new Tool, hovewer, which i can't really explain.
Last edited by BenAkenobi; 04-23-2018 at 04:19 AM.
I like the album aside from So Long, Delicious and DLB. So Long just made me think of The Cranberries the first time I heard it. I got nothing against The Cranberries, but it's not the style I'm looking for when I listen to APC. Delicious just sounds musically pretty generic, and it feels Maynard's lyrics echo that. I think the subject matter of that song is interesting, and reminds me a bit of Flippant, but, as a whole, it feels pretty weak to me.
DLB just seems like intermission filler. Like Billy came up with a piano melody, but couldn't find a way to create a whole song out of it, but he liked it enough to throw it on the album anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear a song later that takes this melody and extrapolates on it similar to Lullaby and Pet on Thirteenth Step.
Been listening to this (and a few others) over the weekend with my headphones and, some songs i don't really like, but others i freaking love!
I'll start with the weaker tracks, for me at least, 1 - 2 stars...
Eat the Elephant
Feathers
The Contrarian
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
I don't think after this week i'll listen to these again, they just aren't doing anything for me. Maybe Feathers and Eat the Elephant might grow but right now they're not doing it for me.
The 3 star songs
Disillusioned
By and Down the River
DLB
TalkTalk
These are OK, they'll get onto my phone but probably won't get a heavy rotation.
The 4-5 star songs
The Doomed
Delicious
Hourglass
Get the Lead Out
These are great, up there with Pet and Passive (for me), and are already getting heavy rotation on my commute to work.
All in all the album is above average, better the eMotive and some really freaking great songs.
On a different, when i was adding this and the other albums i'd downloaded to my phone over the weekend, Add Violence disappeared...even though it's pretty much been on repeat on my phone. Was no longer on my phone (and not hidden in any files) not on my music program on my PC, not even in the hard drive anymore! And the email with the download was dead, and my NIN account no longer existed...it's like i never owned it!
Hey @Tyson , are you the same Tyson that frequently posts on Fourtheye?...
Eat The Elephant is pretty homogenic.
Yes, but so was Mer de Noms. On first listen both these albums have songs that sound very much alike.
Eat The Elephant has a weird, sort of anti-climatic flow and structure with skippables and filler.
Yes, but so has 13th Step.
My biggest problem with Eat The Elephant is how few strong hooks the songs have, unlike the first two albums. Both musically and lyrically, it feels like melodies are a bit lazy, like theyre the result of first take jams. There are literally no earworm choruses here, at least not as strong as those on MDN and 13S, which is why I think it comes out as an overall lackluster listen.
That being said, I still enjoy it more than I probably should. TalkTalk, Disillusioned, So Long, Feathers all have parts I look forward to.
I listened on repeat all weekend to see if i would change my mind, turns out i like it even more...
This album is starting to make me think it might be similar to Smashing Pumpkins' Adore in that upon it's release, a considerable chunk of the fan-base is initially confused and alienated by it, but after several years have passed, many of the aforementioned fans will revisit the album and see it for what it is, not what they expected or thought it should be, and develop a newfound appreciation for it. As with Adore, I understood why many of my friends didn't immediately love it like they had Siamese Dream (Mer de Noms) or Mellon Collie (Thirteenth Step) before it. But like Adore, Eat the Elephant feels like a very honest record that will age well. It deviates from the previous material more than expected, yet still sounds unmistakably like APC (at least to me). Granted, I am saying all this only a few days after its release.
i still can't get past that stupid fucking cover.
This. Every listen seems better than the one before for me. I went from "eh, it's alright" and not really feeling the singles at all to "not as bad bad as I thought" to "this might be pretty good afterall".
First time I heard "So Long", my immediate reaction was "wtf is this?! U2?!". Was also probably my least favorite songs of the five singles. Now, it's probably one of my favorite songs from the album.
No beating The Contrarian, I think. I really love that one.
It seems like it's a thing now to hate new albums for no reason whatsoever. People hated TKOL, A Moon Shaped Pool, Hesitation marks, Monuments to a Elegy, Villains, Like Clockwork, 10K Days, I'm with you, The Getaway, etc etc.
Can't wait for the new Tool album, that's when the floodgates will open for reals.
Think it's always been a thing to instantly hate on something that goes against your expectations.
“Get the Lead Out” is a saxophone away from being on par with “While I’m Still Here.”
FWIW, I fucking loved SP's 'Adore' when it dropped.
I didn't hear Adore until years later. Didn't know about the backlash it got. Loved it instantly. I get why it would though. It's not easy going from an album like Mellon Collie, a single like Ava Adore, then surprise everyone with an electro/acoustic album. People were blindsided.
Not the case here. You had a good idea of what you were getting. It's whether or not you have an open mind and are willing to accept and see what the album really is, like Adore.
With Eat The Elephant, you got to hear five songs early. You got an idea what you were getting, but not the context of what they offer to the full album.
Dear god why can’t people fuck off with the broad brush that is painting everyone who doesn't like the same art as you as being close-minded? I don’t dislike this album because I expected something different than what I got — I had a very good idea it would be what it is, I just happen to not care for what it is. Anyone could use that argument of “I guess you’re too close-minded to enjoy this” to defend literally any band, book, movie, show, etc. and it’s bound to be true of some people but it’s not a great case to make at all.
The hooks didn’t catch me, the melodies didn’t do anything for me, the lyrics left me cold save for some rare exceptions and the production bored me. I’m not a fan of the fact that most of these songs could lose half their length and be just as impactful, I don’t like that Maynard’s preachiness feels childish and underwritten, I don’t enjoy the fact that none of the critiques made are unique or original and most of all I don’t enjoy it when I hear it played. That’s valid, just as liking this album is valid, and to dismiss everyone who doesn’t enjoy it as close-minded entitled children who just can’t accept new ideas is elitist and tries to take your taste and weaponize it into a judgmental tool that allows you to deride anyone who doesn’t like the same things as you.
Last edited by implanted_microchip; 04-23-2018 at 04:18 PM.
Except “they” is always one persons opinion. I still don’t understand why a music publication/website/wutever like that doesn’t have a panel or a number of their writers review the same album. It’s like having one judge during the olympics (ok, bad example).
That dildo who reviewed The Fragile and Lateralus was NEVER going to like those albums just because of who the bands/musicians were. His hands are probably now callused from jerking off Thom Yorke.
While I do enjoy most of this album, “Delicious” really isn’t grabbing me much at all. Also, “DLB” just feels like an unnecessary filler track.
I don’t think people are close-minded. I do tire of people coming here to wax poetic about how bad the album is and prattling on about all the album’s flaws.
If it’s not your thing, great. But you’re literally going out of your way to find this thread, open it, and spend the time telling us you didn’t like it and opining on the band’s failures.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk