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Vancouver Megathread

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I just remembered that The Audio Of Being didn't come with lyrics either (no "musical redundancy beam") so there is really no correlation at at all between the packaging the CD comes in and whether or not it contains lyrics lol.

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The first so many hundreds of copies of AOB came with a lyrics booklet for all of MGB's career up to that point, so techinically, SOME came with a lyrics book ;)

 

I think its isn't THAT rare. I've got the booklet version too. I bought the CD around the time it came out. What seems most logical that happened was that if you bought it near the time it came out during the first period of print runs of the CD u got the booklet, and maybe after the CD had been out awhile they just changed to the current version to save money.

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Am I the only one who sometimes hears Matt say "and the lady says..." just before the second time the lady says "Ah! It's like a breath of fresh air" in Fought To Fight It?

 

I actually liked this, wish he had stuck with that version. Minor nitpick though. Awesome song either way.

 

I guess I'll do my song by song review. I'll echo a lot of what others have said, no doubt, including the fact that it is very Avalanche-y (Avalanche-esque?). This isn't bad though, it's definitely different enough to have it's own distinct sound. The opening track is a good example of the Avalanche-ness.

 

1) Last Parade. Musically somewhat similar to Pledge of Allegiance (especially the way POA was played live). Love the lyric "Like we're taking pictures of a tidal wave / on the shore grinning a hundred feet away". Great song. 9/10

 

2)The Boy Who Could Explode. Blends very nicely with Last Parade and Great Whales Of The Sea. Love the slow build up to "Go explode..." Beautiful track. 9/10

 

3) Great Whales Of The Sea. As I believe someone else mentioned, somewhat similar to A Single Explosion (quiet beginning, silence, then the band kicks in loudly). Love the vocal delivery, especially towards the end. Great. 9/10

 

4) Us Remains Impossible. In my opinion, probably the weakest track here. However, that doesn't mean it's a weak track. Just not as good as the others. 8/10

 

5) On Nights Like Tonight. Fantastic. Although Avalanche (the song) is one of my favourites, and I love this song, I don't really get how they're especially similar as some people have said. Vaguely similar, I guess. Love the lyric "I don't know who's at the helm / but just sit tight / I'll make my way to you". 10/10

 

6) Volcanoes. Gorgeous song. I love the middle part "gonna find me a volcano..." and the note Matt holds on the last "born to dive". 10/10

 

7) A Silent Army In The Trees. Lyrically brilliant, and in terms of lyrical content very reminiscent of The Boy Come Home and Black Helicopter. Love the vocals in the "I'm on fire.." part. 9.5/10

 

8) Fought To Fight It. Sounds kinda like it could have been on The Audio Of Being, in that it's a rock song with a strong bass intro. Different from most of the rest of the album, "a breath of fresh air". Love the "miles away.." lyric, which may or may not be a reference to Life Beyond The Minimum Safe Distance. Great song. 9.5/10

 

9) The Vancouver National Anthem. Another one I feel is lyrically brilliant, as well as musically compelling. The "we all live downtown..." part is especially powerful. 10/10

 

10) Empty's Theme Park. The epic album closer. This is definitely among Matt Good's strongest songs. Gorgeous, and I love the chorus. "Tell me will I love / tell me will it be enough" may or may not be a reference to The Rat Who Would Be King. 11/10 <---yes I know that's a ridiculous rating, but this is a ridiculously awesome song.

 

So I guess that's an average of 9.5, though I think it's closer to being a 10. Fantastic album from start to finish. Matt Good said (this may not be the exact wording, so paraphrased) he wanted to make an album that made a grandiose statement, but was also contained, and I think he achieved that. Minor things (IMHO) like the way the drum sounds (which I really like in some songs like Fought To Fight It and Empty's Theme Park) don't really detract from the album's quality. Besides, who listens to a Matt Good record to hear especially impressive drumming anyway (although I maintain Pat Steward is awesome live)?

 

So yeah, two thumbs way up.

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I agree with your review 99.9% Devil, only thing I would change is I would give Last Parade, 100/10!!!

 

It's just an amazing song, and imagine it cranked while doing 100 in a badassed sports car... This easily my favorite track on the disc...and that says a lot, because the whole fucking thing rocks ass!!!

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I agree mostly, except I don't enjoy On Nights Like Tonight as much. It doesn't have as much "punch" as the others. I really, really like Volcanoes from about 1:58 onward. But I don't like the beginning or the encore to it.

 

I agree the most on Empty's Theme Park. Easily the best on the album!

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'On Nights Like Tonight' has really grown on me, though I don't care for the opening. I also don't care for the opening of Volcanoes, and the encore I would be fine with if it wasn't an encore, but rather the end of the song with no pause between. I think Silent Army is one of the strongest songs on the record, but it sounds like it belongs on Hospital Music. Sticks out as odd in the context of the rest of the album. Same with Us Remains Impossible to a lesser degree, come to think of it.

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Matt is so good at the epic 7+ minute song. Empty's Theme Park just flows so well from the haunting strings building into that incredibly catch drum beat/guitar. 5:20ish into the song is exactly the kind of transition that makes his longer tracks so good.

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Matt is so good at the epic 7+ minute song. Empty's Theme Park just flows so well from the haunting strings building into that incredibly catch drum beat/guitar. 5:20ish into the song is exactly the kind of transition that makes his longer tracks so good.

 

Exactly. If you don't already have goosebumps from this song, that is the point in the song that makes sure you do.

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A thing that sort of ruins empty's theme park for me is the terrible drum track that essentially repeats throughout. It's boring and contrived and takes away from what would have been a great song.

 

I agree, but at the same time the drum track is something that adds a really cool dimension to the song. Unfortunately, if you listen closely to it you can tell how repetitive and droning it is, but if you're not completely focused with them it creates the illusion of a cool tunneling effect with lots of reverb and delay added into the mix.

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I agree, but at the same time the drum track is something that adds a really cool dimension to the song. Unfortunately, if you listen closely to it you can tell how repetitive and droning it is, but if you're not completely focused with them it creates the illusion of a cool tunneling effect with lots of reverb and delay added into the mix.

Seconded.

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A thing that sort of ruins empty's theme park for me is the terrible drum track that essentially repeats throughout. It's boring and contrived and takes away from what would have been a great song.

 

I completely disagree. Despite the fact that the same beat loops throughout the entire song, I feel it actually adds to the song considering all the layers it has. The strings, the guitar, the multi layered vocals, the tambourine, etc. I find the drum beat almost hypnotizing and I think it works very well. The one thing the song aches for is that Matt vocal moment. You know the one. The chorus in Avalanche, "I'm just a boat on the ocean, I'm just a ship lost at sea" in WWWHR, "Hallelujahs..." in Champions, etc. I love Empty's and it's another great example of MG's mastery of the longer track, I just kind of find myself waiting for that "wow" Matt Good vocal moment we've become accustomed to in his 7+ minute songs.

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The one thing the song aches for is that Matt vocal moment. I just kind of find myself waiting for that "wow" Matt Good vocal moment we've become accustomed to in his 7+ minute songs.

 

I thought that moment was 'Hold me like you'll never let me go' on Empty's. But I know whatchoo mean, even my less-emphatic friends have mentioned looking for that on the album as well, we're not alone it seems. But I am totally okay with that, and pretty content with the album on the whole. Still discovering it.

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