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Title: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Aug 31st, 2010, 10:26am I got the new album, and have been listening to it NON STOP for the last hour and a half. The album is AMAZING, I actually can't believe it. I was not expecting to love it this much AT ALL - so many of the songs really hit me hard. I actually cried 3 times during the album, it really shocked me. I would really be happy with any of the songs being singles - my CD did have a sticker on it that said featuring singles "Home" and "As I Am" - so I guess As I Am will be the next single! Here is my break down of all the songs: The Sweetest Lie - Easily my least favorite song on the album. I never really liked it from the live videos and wasn't sure if I would like it on the CD. It's a good song, it sounds very GutterFlower to me. As I Am - Easily one of the best songs on the album! It's so great. So sad - John's voice soars over the music. I think it's a good choice for a single (maybe not the best) but I think it will be really successful. Home - This is probably my second least favorite song on the CD. I have never been that crazy about it - and now that I've heard the album I think all the songs would have been a better choice for the lead single. NotBroken - Another great song! It reminds me of Greenday for some reason (I don't really like greenday), but I love this song. The lyrics are so good - the line "Time will never steal my soul" really resonated with me. I feel like this song will become a classic goo song! One Night - Yet another great song. I feel like it has a great balance of anger and love - if anyone knows what I mean haha. Nothing Is Real - This song is another one of my favorites. I think John sounds AMAZING on this song. He sounds the best he does on the album in this song. The lyrics are so amazing, this is another song that really hit me hard. It's probably in my top 3 songs on the album. This song SHOULD be a single, if it's not I will be very disappointed! It's so modern and now, but it stays true to Goo at the same time. Now I Hear - I love all of Robbys songs on the album! I find they are really consistent with Johns. I like this song more than Say You're Free, I think. Still Your Song - I have already heard this song, and I still love it. When I heard it, I expected it to be my favorite song on the album - I'm glad I was wrong! It's an amazing song amongst many other amazing ones. Something For The Rest Of Us - This song is sooo GOOD. I feel like a lot of people will be split on this song - either love it or hate it. It's very "Become" from LLI. I don't think this song should be a single, because I don't think it will do very well with all the other music that's out there. I love it though! Say You're Free - This is an ok song for me. Now I Hear is a lot better than this one. I don't really love it that much. Hey Ya - Get ready for this one guys. As much as we all made fun of this song, it's actually one of my favorite songs on the album! I think it has HANDS DOWN the best lyrics. The second verse hit me like a big yellow school bus and I burst into tears. The most profound song John has ever wrote I think. It's in my top 3. I think it's the most personal song on the album. Soldier - This is a good song. I feel like because it's placed after Hey Ya, I don't like it as much haha. It's a great song, great lyrics. I'm not crazy about it, but its a great song. The album is spectacular. It's really premature, but I think it might shape up to be my favorite Goo CD. I would describe it as all the good things about their last 3 albums put together. More to come! |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Shannon on Aug 31st, 2010, 11:22am Great review Forbes! I love how music is so subjective and hits everyone differently. For me the song that stood out and screamed to me was Soldier. That song is telling my story. Telling the story of anyone with a personal struggle who is keeping the faith and soldiering on with life every day. That song actually made me cry when I was listening to it in bed last night. It felt like he wrote it for me (even though I know he didn't). I love how music can touch you like that. I really love this whole album. All the songs are so solid to me. I need to listen to this more to give a more in depth opinion on the rest. But I can't stop listening to Soldier. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Aug 31st, 2010, 12:24pm Yeah! It's weird how stuff happens. Just last night a good friend of mine came out to me and told me he was gay, so songs like Hey Ya and As I Am really effected me today. This album is so great! |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Pon on Aug 31st, 2010, 2:45pm whoa, individual song reviews. I just got the album too. It was only 7.99 at Target!!!! I wasn't expecting that...maybe 17 or something. Anyways, I only love "Soldier", except for the part after the 2nd chorus...very annoying. 2 other good songs are "nothing is real" and "hey ya'. All of the songs sound like it came off the radio. Soldier sounds a lot like Korn. Other songs sound like Bruce Springsteen. Sometimes it sound like "Life house". I'm not saying they plagerize or anything..just saying the style sounds similar to other groups. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Aug 31st, 2010, 4:03pm The CD was 13 something at WalMart. I love those two songs (Hey Ya and Nothing Is Real). Two of my favorites! :) |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by laurengoo on Sep 1st, 2010, 9:55pm on 08/31/10 at 16:03:31, sympathy_0 wrote:
I bought a regular copy at Wal-Mart whilst waiting for my regular copy that should be coming any day now.... I ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY love 'One Night'...I love the guitar, & I get what you're saying Forbes about love & anger...I've definitely listened to that one over & over again ;D |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 1st, 2010, 10:56pm You first. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 1st, 2010, 11:11pm I am not allowed to review it until I have it in my actual possession, which may be never. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by partygoober on Sep 1st, 2010, 11:45pm I know i'm late and i don't have an actual review....i'm surprisingly busy and a bad fan....because i thought the end of august was so far away i completely forgot that the end of august came! i had work and school yesterday from 7:30am-10:10pm and forced my sister to go out and get me the cd and i met her at a rita's water ice to get it from her i've only listed to it once really b/c my commute from work is only 10 minutes...(i'm in a wedding so i am constantly on the go today after work) i really want to just sit down after work and just listen to it on repeat and shuffle like i did when i was away in college and annoyed my roommate sorry i really rambled...what i really wanted to say is what i've HEARD and listened to i have LOVED i really did not dislike anything at all..at least not yet... and i really do love sweetest lie...i guess i can relate to it more..but i love the beat too but those boys never disappoint me...i love them and every single piece of music they put out |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Shannon on Sep 2nd, 2010, 12:11am on 09/01/10 at 23:11:57, sftrOu wrote:
I can't believe you still haven't gotten it. That's inexcusable. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Sep 2nd, 2010, 1:26am on 09/02/10 at 00:11:38, Shannon wrote:
That is ridiculous. Weren't you supposed to get it like.. two days ago? Haha. I hate ordering stuff, no matter how long you wait it always seems too long. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Nicole on Sep 2nd, 2010, 8:40am I'm multitasking while listening to this, so I really can't comment too much on the lyrics and how it resonates with me until I'm able to listen to it more closely. Sweetest Lie- Not a fan of this song. I liked the live versions much better. The studio version sounds like it is lacking in power. As I Am- I like this song, but it's not one of my favorites. I think it would make a good single, but I prefer the more rocking songs. Home- I really loved this song when I first heard it live. I've gotten a bit tired of it now that it has been a bit overplayed. �I like the acoustic version better than the album version. Not Broken- This is a really song good too. Maybe it's because I'm listening to the songs on my crappy headphones now, but I feel this song was a little lacking too. One Night- I really like this song. It's definitely one of my favorites at this point in the album. � Nothing is Real- Hey! This song is pretty good. The lyrics are well written and leave it up to your interpretation. Now I Hear- Another great Robby song. This song could easily fit in with his songs from DUTG or Gutterflower. Still Your Song- I put this song on one of the mix cds I made for the 8 hour drive to school and listened to it on repeat quite a few times. I didn't really like it at first but the more I listen to it, the more I enjoy it. I think this would be awesome live. I really like the piano at the beginning and the more rocking chorus. Something for the Rest of Us- I really like the short unplugged version I heard a while ago. I think Nightmares and Dreams would have been a better title. I like when the album title relates to a song on the album but isn't a song title. This song will be really nice when done acoustically but it does have a good guitar solo. Say You're Free- I don't like this as much as other Robby songs. Hey Ya- I hate the title and cannot really take the song seriously with that title. It is a very good song and the lyrics are really well written. I can see how a lot of people will be able to personally relate to it. Soldier- This may be one of my favorites on the album. The sound is different, almost spooky sounding in some parts. Bonus Tracks Postcards From Paradise- I really like this cover! Rough Boys- �I like this cover better than the Robby songs on the albums |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by laurengoo on Sep 2nd, 2010, 11:50am on 09/01/10 at 23:11:57, sftrOu wrote:
I got my copy today...& that's really weird usually shipping to Canada takes a bit longer. It's going in the box...AHHH! ;D |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Sep 2nd, 2010, 12:38pm Nicole, I agree with a lot of what you're saying! :) Nothing Is Real is still my favorite song off of it, though. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Saz_Goo on Sep 2nd, 2010, 5:59pm I'm going to do a quick review as well, because I've been insanely busy the last month or so too. Damn this grown-up, working-for-a-living malarkey! I pre-ordered the album and it didn't come on time, so I cracked last night and bought the mp3s, so I could at least LISTEN to it. Then the CD arrived this afternoon. Go figure... :P So. I've only been listening for a day, and therefore these are still very initial musings. My first impression was totally Meh. :-/ It's very, very MOR. Nothing stuck out. But, you know, its growing on me. I'm worried my less-dedicated friends won't bother sticking with the album and letting it grow on them, though. I'm already skipping some songs... On the plus side for the album, the guitars are more obvious, it's a big improvement from LLI. But there's still no really sweeping guitar solos to get stuck into. I feel like sitting the band down with ABNG and reminding them how much a good solo lifts a song...but anyway, I digress. At least the guitars are actually THERE this time around. I agree with a lot of what Nicole said, so, word. Sweetest Lie is a good opening track. And it's been stuck in my head a lot today, which is a good sign. I actually prefer the album version to the live one I heard from Improv Ice... As I Am... the opening, does anyone else want to start singing "And I didn't think about...." from It's Over? I don't know, just the opening chord, it's very similar. Home - I actually like it more now I have it in context with the album. Possibly because it's only just started being played over here, so I haven't been over-exposed yet. Notbroken - I really don't feel this song AT ALL. Which is a shame, because clearly a lot of people do. I guess it's my Become of this album, where everyone else likes it and I just think it's twee and overdone. Hopefully my opinion will change the more I listen... One Night - I like it. not much more to say on it right now. Nothing Is Real - actually probably my favourite track. Not sure why, but it is. I think this would be EXCELLENT as a single. It's catchy, and Goo-like, but not in a formulaic way. I just like it a lot. Now I hear - love the intro. It's a good, solid robby song, but nothing special. I want another Tucked Away, dammit!! Still, it fits well with the album. Still Your Song - again one of my faves. I LOVE the intro, and I really like the lyrics. 10 years ago I was 18. I can very much relate to those moments where you ring someone you used to be close to, and your lives are totally different now...they've moved on...but you still owe them something, whether it''s a song or whatever. So anyway, I like this song a lot. Something For The Rest Of Us - I heard the acoustic clip that got posted ages ago, and loved it. It was probably what got me excited about this album. The actual song doesn't quite live up to my expectations, I guess I was hoping for an acoustic and rawer version, I think this song could have been EXCELLENT if it was stripped-down. I will have to download the acoustic version and see if that is closer to what I'd expected. Still, i like the song, love the ending. And I agree they should have stuck with calling it Nightmares & Dreams. Say You're Free - it's ok. I think it could have been rockier. Hasn't made much of an impact yet. Hey Ya - yeah, it's better than I expected, but I still don't love it. Seriously, John? You couldn't think of ANYTHING better for the chorus than hey ya, hey ya? Anyway, chorus lyrics aside, it's a good song. Soldier - great song. Choked me up a bit. A great way to end the album. All in all, it's good - if I put it up against LLI. And I hate that I have to do that, I wanted it to stand on its own against the rest, and I'm not sure it does.... I was terrified that I was going to hate this album. I wish I loved it more, but maybe that will come. I guess I just have to accept they're never going to be the same band as they were 8-17 years ago. And that's on me, not them.... :-/ Still love the band. Don't flame me!! :P |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Shannon on Sep 2nd, 2010, 6:11pm "As I Am... the opening, does anyone else want to start singing "And I didn't think about...." from It's Over? I don't know, just the opening chord, it's very similar." OMG ... yes. Every time I hear it I start to sing the beginning of It's Over. I did that today and started laughing. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Nicole on Sep 2nd, 2010, 9:24pm Which version of the album had the acoustic SFTROU? |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 2nd, 2010, 9:33pm Hey Yaaaaaa, Drew, I don't think I have the exact same feelings about the album, but I just want to give you an A+ for mentioning Tuesday. KEEP THE HOPE ALIVE! |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 2nd, 2010, 9:36pm Buy acoustic SFTROU. It is beautiful. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Christina on Sep 2nd, 2010, 10:02pm on 09/02/10 at 21:33:21, sftrOu wrote:
http://i53.tinypic.com/21nlkky.jpg (Sorry, dragging this off topic... I'll post my review tomorrow though! Drew & Saz, you definitely both had points that I agreed with...) |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by laurengoo on Sep 2nd, 2010, 11:36pm on 09/02/10 at 21:36:45, sftrOu wrote:
Did you get your cd yet? |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Nicole on Sep 3rd, 2010, 9:24am From favorite album to least favorite 1) SSCW 2) DUTG 3) SFTROU 4) ABNG 5) GF 6) LLI 7) HMU I don't own First Release or Jed |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Shannon on Sep 3rd, 2010, 12:00pm I didn't know you could buy acoustic SFTROU as a single on Amazon. I thought it was album only. Woo Hoo! *Runs to go buy it* |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by laurengoo on Sep 3rd, 2010, 12:21pm Stupid Amazon.com & Amazon.ca not being the same! GAH! :(...lol |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by DWG on Sep 3rd, 2010, 12:52pm Heck, I wanna know where I can buy that kewl "Tuesday" poster, lol. nice job, Christina. :thumbsup: |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Sep 3rd, 2010, 1:29pm Shade it's weird how your two least favorite songs on the album are my favorite! haha. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Lamb_Chop on Sep 3rd, 2010, 9:58pm All right so I got home from college a few hours ago and was VERY excited to finally listen to my CD! I've listened to it once so here are my thoughts after the first time: Sweetest Lie- It makes me sad that no one else seems to like this song... This is by far one of my favorites on the album. It sounds like they were trying to go back to their older sound. It's also gotten stuck in my head since I heard them play it live last December at that ice show. As I Am- Another favorite. The first time I heard it on You Tube, I didn't care much for it, but when I saw the Goos live and they played this song, my opinion completely changed! Home- Already growing tired of it. Not a good sign. Notbroken- I'm not as crazy about this as everyone else is, I guess. It's a good song, but it's probably one of my least favorites on the album. One Night- The chorus is catchy... I don't really remember much else about this song at the moment. Nothing is Real- Another favorite. Absolutely LOVE it. Now I Hear- I'm not usually big on Robby's songs, but I have to admit that I like this one. Not as good as Lucky Star, Burnin' Up, or Slave Girl, but definitely one of his better songs. Still Your Song- This song was really sweet. It actually reminded me of an ex (but in a good way, not depressing). I could see this being a single in the future. Something For the Rest of Us- I'll jump on the band wagon and say that they should have named it Nightmares and Dreams (wasn't it originally supposed to be called that anyway?). I like it, but it's probably towards the least favorite side for me. Say You're Free- Catchy, but that was about all it had going for it. Hey Ya- I don't care if it has a stupid name, I liked this song! Soldier- I'll go with the crowd on that they probably could have stopped after the second chorus part, but still... Good song. Overall, this was MUCH better than Let Love In. I'd actually probably say it was better than Gutterflower also. CD rankings: Superstar Car Wash (will never be topped most likely) A Boy Named Goo Dizzy Up the Girl Something For the Rest of Us Hold Me Up Gutterflower Let Love In |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Saz_Goo on Sep 4th, 2010, 6:49am on 09/02/10 at 18:11:26, Shannon wrote:
I'm so glad it's not just me!! :P Hahah Christina I'm loving the Tuesday poster! God, I'd love to hear Tuesday. I don't know how I feel about the B-sides...I really enjoyed Postcards from Paradise, and Catch Me Now I'm Falling is decent, I guess. Rough Boys, I veer wildly from thinking Robby must have had so much fun singing this, to thinking that it's like some terrible parody. I don't seem to have found any middle ground with it yet... And wow, it's better than GF? :-X I think, for me, GF has some very weak songs, but it also has several of my FAVES - Big Machine, Sympathy, Think About Me, Tucked Away, What A Scene, which brings the whole album up in my judgement.... whereas this album is more consistent I guess, but it's consistently not as good, IMO. :P Oh I don't know. It's still growing on me. Jeez, I should stop even commenting until I've listened to it for a month and heard the songs live in November (wooo!!). Rating albums! Ohhh, thats hard. The first five are so INCREMENTALLY in order, they change depending on my mood! 1. SSCW 2. ABNG 3. DUTG 4. GF 5. HMU 6. SFTROU 7. LLI 8. JED |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Lamb_Chop on Sep 4th, 2010, 1:02pm on 09/04/10 at 06:49:19, Saz_Goo wrote:
Yeah, I know I'm one of the few on this site that's not crazy about Gutterflower. I don't know what it is... I've just never been a big fan of it. I like Big Machine, Sympathy, It's Over, and Think About Me, but other than those I'm not fond of any of the songs. I made my ex (we were still together at the time) a CD with different Goo Goo Dolls songs and honestly I filled up the CD by the time I was done with Superstar Car Wash (I put a few Hold Me Up songs on there too). I LOVE SSCW. If the Goos ever made a CD as good as SSCW, I would dance with joy. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 5th, 2010, 1:55am Bad news, guys. I wrote a review and it is too long to put in one post. >:( |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Nicole on Sep 5th, 2010, 8:14am put it in two posts, or three, or four |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 5th, 2010, 2:04pm WALL OF TEXT. The only GGD album I have ever written a review for was Let Love In and I wrote that after a first listen at like 3 am. I tore apart the whole album and never looked back. I felt very strongly about it then and I continue to hate it now, so I don�t think my review of LLI was too fast or cruel. On the other hand, I hesitate to write any sort of review for Something For the Rest of Us nine days and at least as many listens later. I feel like most of these songs need to withstand the test of time before I can have a solid opinion on them. While I loved Gutterflower, it was the first new material that I had to compare to the rest of the GGD�s catalog, which was all mostly the same age for me. I found it difficult to place Gutterflower into the GGD catalog for a couple years so I am pretty certain nine days with SFTROU is not enough. Acknowledging that my opinions may change, this is what I currently think. First, this is not a rock album. The GGDs are no longer making rock music. And that is something I just have to move on from. If I was to judge SFTROU as a rock album, I would tear it to pieces. But if I look at this as a pop album or an AC album, I can be way more forgiving of the rock aspects this album lacks. Second, my opinions on the first half and second halves of the album are hugely different. I significantly favor the back half to the front half so I do not think I am currently giving some of the songs a fair chance because I am mostly going, �Come onnnn, track seven!�. Third, the track by track reviews. This is a warning that this is going to be long. This album took four and a half years to release; I cannot share my feelings on the songs in the length of a Twitter response. Sweetest Lie I like this song. The first time I heard it, live from the Improv Ice videos, it made me so happy because it had the same effect on me as Big Machine did when I first heard it. It�s not as �heavy� as I am used to the opening song on a GGD album being, but it is definitely upbeat. It is one of the two songs that I think could be a decent single on the album and I was disappointed they didn�t use it as the lead single. My one real issue with the song is that it doesn�t fit with the rest of the album. If Can�t Let It Go is about �love, sex, and bad behavior�, I�m pretty sure this song is just �sex and bad behavior�. It�s a fun song, it�s not a deep words of wisdom song, you�re not supposed to think too hard about it. It just seems out of place, which is why it probably didn�t become a single. As I Am I like this song. For how slow it is, I think it�s placed in the wrong place on the album. I am also a little disappointed in the instrumental in the middle, I wish it was stronger. Live, the instrumental just about caves the roof in, but the studio version isn�t so powerful. I know that even the GGDs have acknowledged that they can�t quite get their live sound onto a studio recording and this is definitely proof of that. Lyrically, I love this song. Some people may call it a little sappy, but I think if you�ve ever had someone in your life who just let you be who you are and loved you without wanting anything from you and stuck it out with you while you went through a really bad experience, this song kind of hits home. Home I have the same issue with Home as I do with As I Am. It�s so much better live. The studio version is growing on me because I have not listened to it obsessively and I do not hear it on the radio much so I am not sick of it. I�m not sure I will ever love it, but I don�t hate it. I think it has some really great lyrics in it. I find it easier to connect with a song when I have a pretty clear idea what it is about. In this case, no one will ever convince me this isn�t a �touring blows, I just want to be at home in my own bed� song and I get that. I also think John is better at writing lyrics about specific events than generalized concepts. Strangely enough, while I feel this is one of John�s most personal songs on the album, Home is one of two songs on the album where John shares songwriting credits with Andy Stochansky. The other one is even more of a mindfuck to me. Notbroken I don�t have a lot of feelings on this song (or One Night or Nothing is Real). I know that it was written as a love letter from a woman who wanted her injured husband to come back home and that her love is about more than his body being whole and I think that is beautiful. I think John�s voice sounds warm and fuzzy and beautiful in this song and I think this song is sonically beautiful. There is enough �space� in the song to hear the percussion and there are delicate layers to the song and in those ways, it is everything LLI was not. And for all that beauty, I just cannot connect with this song. Also, on the title front, I do not hate the play on words as much as I expect me to. One Night I want to like One Night. The first thirty seconds are hugely promising. Then the first verse kicks in and it�s kind of sexy (I hate myself for admitting that) and it seems like it�s going to go down the Sweetest Lie path. And then it all falls apart. The chorus comes in and it�s like a whole new topic of a whole new song. I hear the lyrics and it becomes some sort of song about the prom or a high school team winning the football championship or some teen superheroes about to save the world in a movie. One night to do what exactly? And then someone claimed it was a blatant Christian song about God. And I read through it and could totally see where they were coming from. I don�t think it is about God, but it really just adds to my confusion. So this song is playing and I am sitting there trying to figure out what it all means and it just jumps from verse to chorus to verse so quickly that I cannot process anything. It�s this five minute (too long) constant flow of �WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?� and it�s incredibly frustrating. I�m frustrated just thinking about it. Nothing is Real Okay. Good things first. I get this song stuck in my head all the time so it�s obviously catchy. Lyrically, I like the verses. It has a sleepy dreamy feel to it and it�s pretty. But then there�s the chorus. John Rzeznik, I fundamentally disagree with you that �nothing is real/ it�s all you believe/ something you dream inside your head�. Bills are real, cancer is real, losing your job is real. And then �because it�s just you and me/ something I need to call my own�. If you stand by the statement that, indeed, nothing is real, that relationship is not real, it is not your own. I�m a very literal person. I just cannot jump aboard the �pick phrases out of a hat� train. It ruins everything. If the song didn�t make sense but it was astoundingly good, maybe I could get past that. But it�s not that good. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 5th, 2010, 2:04pm Now I Hear Good news, everybody! Robby and the second half of the album are here! My blood pressure goes back to normal! I love this song. I loved it from the first time I heard it live and the studio version does the live version justice. It�s fun to sing, it�s upbeat. It�s smoother than the Robby I am familiar with, but it works with the rest of the album. It also has a nice pretty guitar solo in it. This song starts with a lyric ripped right from �Road to Salinas� and it reminds me of SSCW Robby. I hate LLI Robby songs to the point that I do not know the words to them so Now I Hear is like my first new Robby song in eight and a half years and it is perfect. Still Your Song Dear John Rzeznik, I know you now repeatedly write big ballads in hopes of finding the success you had with Iris. Iris was a fluke. Iris�s components all lined up in a way that will never ever ever happen again. It�s okay. Let it go. Move on. Want to know what you�re really really really good at? Writing simple songs with hooky choruses that are painfully honest lyrically. Slide is pop perfection. Here is Gone is perfect. Still Your Song is perfect. There should not be just one Still Your Song for every 4 attempts at Iris on an album. We heard nothing about Still Your Song before the track list came out. We saw no clips of it being recorded. You refuse to talk about it in interviews. You stick it in the worst spot on the album when it should be in the place of As I Am. I suspect it will never be played live. I suspect it�ll never be a single though it is the only other song aside from Sweetest Lie that I think could do anything for you. The lyrics are meaningful. The song rolls along effortlessly. One of the problems with LLI (and parts of this album) is that the songs sound like they are reworked to death and filled with sounds that are not from real instruments. This song is the exact opposite of every single problem with LLI. Love, Nicole Here�s the real mindfuck. For the obviously personal nature of this song, once again John shares lyric credits with Andy Stochansky. Someone please find Andy and lock him in a bomb shelter. I will never understand why John brought in co-writers starting with LLI when he was just fine writing wonderful songs alone, but if it takes Andy Stochansky to make meaningful lyrics in current times, then someone keep him alive and happy. (Also, buy Andy Stochansky�s 100 and 5 Star Motel. They�re both great.) Something For the Rest of Us I loved this song a lot from the live version we were given on the IM. The only issues with it were these. 1. The harmonizing was pretty rough and that matters a lot for a song like this. 2. It sounds nothing like the Goo Goo Dolls. Fortunately, the first issue is resolved with the studio version. The harmonizing is obviously perfect. The second issue? Well, it doesn�t really get resolved. But that�s what�s so amazing about it. This song is probably the most experimental song the GGDs have recorded in their �real� career (mostly meaning Em Elbmuh doesn�t count). It has a gospelly, bluesy alt-country soul thing going on which I can safely say they have never done before. It had potential to be a giant train wreck and somehow it got steered down the right path. When the GGDs were promoting Dizzy Up the Girl, one of the things John spoke of was how that album was about not being afraid of the space between the notes. I never really agreed with him because DUTG is full of jangly noises. This song is the first time I have believed that one of their songs was actually allowed to have meaningful space between the notes and it is beautiful. It also has a glorious guitar solo that is perfectly calculated, I am sure, but for a split second it almost feels like it is out of control. By this point, I know I cannot expect the band to get back their �I don�t give a fuck, wild and crazy, who cares if every single note does not line up in Pro-Tools?� attitude so little things like this are huge to me. I am not in love with significant portions of the lyrics, but this one of those rare instances where I am willing to overlook that. My final point of discussion about this song is that it is the title track, which confuses the hell out of me. I shall continue in list form. 1. If there is a title track, I always expect it to be very in your face and prominently featured. This is most certainly the most mellow track on the album and it is buried in the track list. 2. This is very �chicken or the egg?� We knew the album was called Something For the Rest of Us before we knew this song was called Something For the Rest of Us. In the first clip of this song, John called it Nightmares and Dreams when we already knew the album title. And this song does not have lyrics in it that would make it be called Something For the Rest of Us. So� did the song name the album or did the album name the song? And for the record, I like the title Something For the Rest of Us about a billion times more than Nightmares and Dreams. Say You�re Free I do not feel as strongly about Say You�re Free as I do about Now I Hear but I like it a lot. Again, it is a huge improvement over Robby�s LLI songs. It has an amazing intro. I think Say You�re Free is probably the most bitter and unhappy song on the album. That�s usually reserved for one of John�s songs so it�s an interesting switch. Hey Ya Oh, John Rzeznik. You�ve done such a disservice to this song by giving it such an unfortunate name. It is ridiculous. I do not want to like this song based on just its name and that is so unfair to this song. And yet I adore this song. This song is a miracle. I do not care what anyone else thinks, this song is a miracle. There is no way this song should not be awful and somehow it pulls through. First, it is 80% �hey ya�. How can a song be filled with so much �hey ya� and manage to stay afloat? Second, it was probably the most overworked song on the album. It is credited to two big name producers and it is the song we saw being worked on the most in studio clips. And yet, it has such simplicity to it. Okay, maybe it is not a miracle, maybe it is just a lot of work by really good producers. I am not sure I can put into words the exact reason this song works. It has two things going for it. The verses have a way of reversing themselves in a very interesting way. Turning the song around from a significant other being denied certain things to that same person denying their mate the same things is so reminiscent of Two Days in February that it�s enormously familiar to me (�I�m sorry I ain�t there with you, but you ain�t here with me�). The chorus is just so exuberant that I cannot hate it for its �hey yas�. It just gives that feeling of when you�re so happy you just want to scream to the world about your happiness and you don�t even care if it is intelligible words. And the few intelligible words are so straightforward and meaningful that it�s not necessary to say anything more. You don�t need to speak in metaphors, you don�t need to say �Your love�s a gathered storm I chased across the sky�. You just need to flat out plain and simply say �you�re the only one I want�. I do have a couple reservations about this song. I don�t think this could ever be pulled off live and I am not sure I want it to be attempted. Also, this is one of those songs I am not sure will stand the test of time so I am limiting how frequently I listen to it because if it starts going bad, it has potential to grate terribly. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 5th, 2010, 2:05pm Soldier The clip we were given in the rehearsal videos was by far my favorite clip we were given of the new material. I expected a less polished and nastier song than what we ended up with so I can�t say it�s not a little bit of a disappointment. I expect to hear this song live though and I expect I will favor the live version. But I do like the studio version of this song. The second verse of this song is easily one of my favorite GGD lyrics ever. And there is something disturbingly soothing about the chorus. The GGDs have had a history of closing out their albums with songs that take a little bit of a detour and Soldier is no exception. The instrumental gets a little bizarre but not so much that it is off-putting. It is way more fun to listen to with headphones to hear the balloon deflating/ dentist drill noises and the creepy part where some mystery instrument mimics John�s voice. I love the last half of this album. It�s filled with the songs that are never going to be considered for singles and I think that says a lot about their mentality of trying to write a song to be a single. My biggest problem with the album is that stretch from �Home� to �Nothing is Real�. And unfortunately, these are the songs that are going to be (or are) the singles. I truly believe that John wants a song to overshadow Iris so badly that he continually writes big anthemic ballads hoping that one of them will do it. I�m not sure it�s for money or relevancy, it may just be John wanting to leave something more behind. Those four songs, all stacked together, make this album feel so dense and over worked. I feel like I�m being smothered in overblown emotions and it�s just too much. Is this album better than Let Love In? Yes, by a lot. Is this the exact album of my dreams? No. But if it happens that this is the last album we are given, I think I�m content with it. Just for fun Postcards From Paradise: I have loved this song for years. I was terrified that I would hate what the GGDs would do to it, but they did a pretty good job. If this song does not make you want to go skip down the road, screaming it at the top of your lungs, you are broken. Rough Boys: Just no. No. Love you Robby, but no. Catch Me Now I�m Falling: Praise Jesus, this is not 6 minutes long like the original! I like the cover and I think John�s voice is lovely on it, but this song sounds dated no matter what you do with it. Home acoustic: I think I�ve listened to it once. Yeah. Next. SFTROU acoustic: I love this as much as the studio version. I hold my breath every time I listen to it in a �Please hit this note� way, which is dumb because it is not live and I already know he�ll hit the notes every single time. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sftrOu on Sep 5th, 2010, 2:05pm Yessssss. Three posts AND it's split onto two pages. Win! |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by partygoober on Sep 5th, 2010, 6:51pm Ok after some hesitation and a lot of listening i've decided that i am going to post a short and sweet review of my opinion of the album..and then i'm going to make a grilled cheese and "attempt" to do homework Sweetest Lie- I've always liked this song..the pep songs i always like..i've had a connection with it for awhile...takes me back...WAY BACK (the connection that is) As I am- I like this song. Anything that can really sink into my stomach really gets to me...and this is one of those Home- I wasn't too thrilled with this one at first, but it's grown on me... i don't think i would have used it for a single though...Apparently the quiz on Facebook says this song is me...HA Notbroken- Um...so i think I'm the only one that doesn't care for this song...i don't know what it is...i just am not like blown away by it. One Night- I really like this song...it's a little edgy and the lyrics just flow into one another...and i just...i don't know...i think i kinda love it...not sure Nothing Is Real- I like it but I don't like it....there is something about the verses musically that irks me i don't know..like a little bit of john cougar mellancamp or something..like it sounds country...but when it hits the chorus i'm loving it...i don't get it Now I Hear- I always love Robby's songs....they could be depressing and i would never know it....just bobbing my head in my car Still Your Song- I don't have opinions on Ex-Girlfriends unless I know the bitch Something For The Rest of Us- I LOVE this song...i don't care if it was suppose to have another name or whatever ...i just....LOVE IT...i really do....this may be my fav actually toss up Say You're Free- I get a little scared with the fast paced robby songs...they aren't my favs...just like extra pale...thats what the begining of this reminds me of...but i always love robby Hey Ya- this is the other one i LOVE...this is where the toss up is...i don't know what it is about this one is either...i get goosebumps with this one any the other one...i guess i can just really put myself in these songs....i really love them Soldier- I do like this song too...but it's not up there.... like some of the others I was very impressed with this album...i never skip over any songs i can't rank goo albums it's just too hard...but so far i am really loving this album and cannot turn it off! |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by Lamb_Chop on Sep 5th, 2010, 7:00pm All right, after listening to the album a few more times I have better opinions on all of the songs now. I won't go into detail about all of them but my favorites are (in no particular order): Sweetest Lie, As I Am, Nothing is Real, Still Your Song, and Soldier. Middle of the road songs: Notbroken, One Night, Now I Hear, Hey Ya Not so favorites: Home (just sick of it already), Something For the Rest Of Us, and Say You're Free The not so favorites aren't BAD by any means, they just didn't stand out to me. |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by DWG on Sep 5th, 2010, 9:51pm on 09/05/10 at 18:51:39, partygoober wrote:
...and this is why pg cracks me up. Now go have your grilled cheese. (Is that all you ever eat, girl?) |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Sep 6th, 2010, 2:09pm I think someone said it, either everyone loves a song or hates it, haha. I am going to rank the albums, excluding ones I just don't like. GutterFlower DUTG ABNG Something For the Rest of Us SSCW LLI HMU |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by partygoober on Sep 6th, 2010, 3:43pm on 09/05/10 at 21:51:18, DWG wrote:
ummmmmm i hadn't had a grilled cheese in the longest time actually...i think it was honor of this post! ;) |
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Title: Re: My Review of SFTROU Post by sympathy_0 on Sep 6th, 2010, 9:02pm Grilled Cheese is amazing! It's the meal of choice for starving students, like myself. |
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