White Light Rock & Roll Review

[juanpe]

don't know either

[Dan #1]

Finally i have heard White Light Rock & Roll Review the whole way through :angry:

Out of all Matt's Cds I enjoy three the most: Beautiful Midnight, Avalanche, and WLR&RR.

As of now, I would say that WLR&RR is the best of them all because i did not find a song that i didnt like. Beautiful Midnight had some spectacular songs on it, but was not uniform throughout the entire CD. Avalanche was awesome, this cd is probably just as good as WLR&RR but for right now the hype of the NEW CD makes me like it more ;)

**So far i havent heard anybody talk about Poor Man's Grey**

I would have to say that this song is underated then :angry:

The beat of PMG is a nice addition to WLR&RR.

On the last note, I will say that i thought WLR&RR is better than i thought it would be and i am pleasantly surprised :angry:

[TheTsordiLine]

I think Little Terror refers to the Mujahideen the U.S. trained during the Soviet/Afghanistan deal back in the 70s. Some of those people are now using that training, not against the Ruskies, but the U.S. -- hence the mother-and-son references. I'm guessing and could be completely wrong.

 

I'm not sure what I think of the record yet. It's too early to tell but so far it sounds like everything I didn't like about Underdogs. I commend Matt for writing and recording this album so quickly, but it really shows -- the lyrics aren't nearly as strong as I've come to expect from him, and the quality of the music is uneven. He's recycled a lot of ideas from past records. Buffalo Seven = 21st Century Living = Load Me Up. I know this is his sixth full-length but there's really no excuse for repeating yourself.

 

I can't complain about a return to a rock-ier sound, but then again . . . I can. This is Matt's sixth full-length. It shouldn't sound like it naturally precedes his second.

 

That said, I've only listened to it a few times and I'm sure it'll grow on me. And I must say the songs are a lot of fun live.

[Mouko]

I actually really like the country influence. It sounds a little more like the demos, compared to the rest of Matt's stuff, which is equally awesome anyway.

[juanpe]

the thing is that the whole album sounds very rock-like and suddenly u find two songs which are very countryish... they don't fit there very much...

[Dan #1]

Im going to stick with the "Rockabilly" idea on his new cd.

Its got a bit of both worlds... pretty cool.

The country songs ARE a change, and a good change at that. Matt's voice is totally capable of pulling songs off like "empty road" and "hopeless". In fact... i hope he pulls off more songs like that in the future ;)

But thats just my opinion.

Can someone even tell me what is wrong with matt doing country like songs? HE DID ABSOLUTLY NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. Its not like he was singing about how he ran over his dog, or his girlfriend left him, and he has to pay off a loan or something... he has the usual meaningful messages.

Seems to me people complain a bit too much about either him copying old songs or trashing his new style songs. I just hope we can all agree on one thing, Matt tries and it sounds GOOD!

[Mouko]

It's the usual Matt messages, just with a different style of music. It works extremely well for me.

[newchrists]

Believe it or not, "Little Terror" is essentially about one of his puppies. Swear to God. It morphed into things larger than that, but according to his wife, it's about her dog -- not Pete, but the other one.

[Dan #1]

haha, that would be funny if it was one of his dogs... anybody you why it would be the dog though?

 

I'm not sure what I think of the record yet. It's too early to tell but so far it sounds like everything I didn't like about Underdogs. I commend Matt for writing and recording this album so quickly, but it really shows -- the lyrics aren't nearly as strong as I've come to expect from him, and the quality of the music is uneven. He's recycled a lot of ideas from past records. Buffalo Seven = 21st Century Living = Load Me Up. I know this is his sixth full-length but there's really no excuse for repeating yourself.

 

Personally i cant see the how similar those three songs are, to me they are all completely different. Mind saying why you think they are the same?

Edited June 21, 2004 by danimal

[Crusader]

wow, how'd you get this information?

[newchrists]

Was lucky enough to hang out with Matt, his wife, band and crew for a bit while they were in Toronto (specifically before, during and after the Sunday contest winners show at Mod Club). Suffice it to say he and everyone involved are as cool and thoughtful as they come.

[Crusader]

Wow cool, you really got to hang out with them eh? Did you learn anything new about Matt, his wife, and the band?

[newchrists]

Hmmm, not knowing how much you know already I'll just say the following. All members except for Rich are married. Pat is technically not married but has been with the same girlfriend for years, so "common law marriage." Pat is funny and brings a very fresh breath to the group dynamic, and I also think he's an excellent drummer. Christian was more quiet and reclusive, as he appears on stage. Rich has a great sense of humor as well, and is the biggest hockey fan in the group. Matt's wife, Jen, is mega-beautiful and equally nice. Takes the piss out of Matt, in an admittedly needed way, so says Matt. She was a huge MGB fan long before she met Matt -- they were set up by a mutual friend. They clearly love each other a lot. As you know from Matt's posts, etc., Matt is a sponge of information. He seeks and gathers so much information that it is hard to believe his mind does not overload. They hope to have children, other than their dogs, in the not too distant future (would like to cruise around Europe first). Matt will do anything for you if you're his friend, so I gather. There's a lot more, but just know that he cares so much about doing "good", to the best of his abilities and typically by his terms.

[TheTsordiLine]

Buffalo Seven = 21st Century Living = Load Me Up. I know this is his sixth full-length but there's really no excuse for repeating yourself.

 

Personally i cant see the how similar those three songs are, to me they are all completely different. Mind saying why you think they are the same?

There are of course many differences, but also some seriously similar riffage. Just listen to the first few seconds of Load Me Up, then the first guitar part in 21st Century Living. Exactly the same. Buffalo Seven is less similar, but it's so close I even picked up on it when I heard the song played live (having never heard it before). It's also in Running For Home, but that's with piano and I'm not going to get too anal retentive about it. But if I was going to get anal retentive I'd also point out Matt's self-copped the Apparitions rhythm on every album since Underdogs. It's not that big a deal but when he uses the same music in three songs (four if you count Running For Home), it gets me thinking that maybe he's running out of ideas.

[Crusader]

well at least it's not techno eh?

[KatOuz]

I liked WLR&RR waaaaaaaay more than I thought I would. I mean I *cough*didn'tlikeavalancheverymuchapartfromafewsongs*cough*, and after that MG(with or without the B ) got demoted from my Number One Favorite Artist to being merely in the Top 5.

 

But the new CD brought all the love back! I even really fucking love the country tinges, which a lot of people seem to dislike. It's catchy, thought provoking, and emotional.

 

And I must say, it in WLR&RR, Matt's song stylings are really reminding me of one of my other favorite artists: Ryan (NOT BRYAN) Adams, the alt-country singer/songwriter. Esp. Empty Road, It's Been Awhile Since I was Your Man, Blue Skies Over Band Lands, and Hopeless.

Edited June 22, 2004 by KatOuz

[Don't Be So Digital]

I think it's best work he's ever done. I love the production, I love the 50's and 60's vibe to it. and I think his writing continually gets better on each album and has made way more progress musically and creativly in his last two albums than he ever did with the MGB.

 

So, needless to say, this is my favorite album by him and is turning out to be a personal favorite for me.

[Dan #1]

You could say he repeats some of his work, but he has proved to me that he is trying to do things differently.

Remember that it is hard to be an artist and that he threw together this CD fairly quickly. Saying that i applaude him on his efforts and quite frankly i enjoy his new songs very much.

[juanpe]

well, i dont see the point of finding similarities between songs (and i dont see why this should be something negative)... all songs from the same band always have a link among them... that's why they make themselves unique for a band... anytime you listen to any band you find something typical of that band, something which is like the characteristic that identifies that band...

 

it happens with all singers and bands and that's the good thing about someone's music, something must be common between songs (kind of lyrics, some tunes, etc.) because if not it would be as if different people were composing songs for a band, let's say in this case, called Matthew Good...

 

(sorry, i think i got a bit messed up and didnt explain myself clearly...)

[Mr. Chips]

I have the album sitting on my living room table still in its rapper, it's killing me. I bought it as a birthday gift for myself cuase my parents didn't know what to get me. only a few more days, only a few more days (rocks in his chair, eyes glased over).

[viggy]

Buffalo Seven = 21st Century Living = Load Me Up. I know this is his sixth full-length but there's really no excuse for repeating yourself.

 

Personally i cant see the how similar those three songs are, to me they are all completely different. Mind saying why you think they are the same?

There are of course many differences, but also some seriously similar riffage. Just listen to the first few seconds of Load Me Up, then the first guitar part in 21st Century Living. Exactly the same. Buffalo Seven is less similar, but it's so close I even picked up on it when I heard the song played live (having never heard it before). It's also in Running For Home, but that's with piano and I'm not going to get too anal retentive about it. But if I was going to get anal retentive I'd also point out Matt's self-copped the Apparitions rhythm on every album since Underdogs. It's not that big a deal but when he uses the same music in three songs (four if you count Running For Home), it gets me thinking that maybe he's running out of ideas.

i don't see the similarities except for it being an ascending line.

 

in load me up, the first chord repeats thrice followed by a half step up and then the chord again.

in 21st century living, it's a rhythm line to a vocal melody.

in buffalo seven, it's a chord picked as single notes, and the root note is two steps higher every other time it's played.

 

if you're going to nitpick that, you might as well claim every artist does this, especially with the one and a half step and two step descending/ascending lines.

 

i moreso see the verse chorus mini-bridge verse chorus structure repeated in 21st century living and north american for life, but even then almost every song you've ever heard is verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus, so there's no need for this, unless it's an exact repetition.

[fakelightning]

i really thought that WLRRR was good.

it was much better than i was expecting, too. also, a lot different.

with Avalanche as the previous release (i really am a fan of Avalanche, dispite what a lot of other people say about it), i wasn't expecting such a hard-hitting rock album, for the most part.

 

when i heard Alert Status Red, it definitely took some time to grow on me, mostly because it was so different to anything on Avalanche.

so, when i got WLRRR, i was almost nervous to listen to it.

but i am really, really happy with it. it's like Avalanche's 'alter ego', and i think it's a really fun album.

[juanpe]

ok, so after some days having listened to the album non-stop - i haven't heard anything else in more than a week ;) - now I can vote in the poll and say that it is exactly how i expected it to be... it is givin me the same feelings that all previous albums have given me all these years

[Lorien]

yeah, we did talk about this, the only thing that separated wlrrr and avalanche was the heaviness and the orchestra not being in wlrrrrrrr

 

i only dont listen to wlrrrrrrrrr when im too lazy to swich the cd back to number 2 in the changer... then its teaparty or tool. but yeah, dont listen to anything other than wlrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[juanpe]

u know what? it's time for me to listen to something else ;) tonite i'm gonna go to sleep listening to AOB... i wanna hear my wonderful favorite "The rat who would be king"