Comments on The Longest CD Review in Stranger History

It's actually about a 250-word "assessment," with 1,350 words or so of career rehash and autobiography

is anyone else sick of the Frizzelle-Nelson-Schmader-Madoodoo tongue in cheek, snobby, out of touch, self centered, high brow, psuedo, bloated sense of self? I know I am. Hey fellas, we don't give a shit about your lazy half assed writing.

I second the sick of it-ness. You music writers at the Stranger are dullsville. I'm entertained by Line Out though. It's wonderful to be able to comment on say, something "written" by Charles Mudede and tell him what an ass he is. So much more interactive than just tossing The Stranger in the can.

By the way, I'm sick of hearing about fucking 33 1/3...I'm not sure why anyone is supposed to care about various music writers thoughts on Joni Mitchell or anyone else. I mean, wouldn't I first have to be interested in Sean Nelson first? I'm not.

Seriously. 2 stars?

Don'tcha think he's doing that just to be "edgy"?

EVERYONE loves this album, but The Stranger (the same publication that has chicks who hate dessert reviewing dessert lounges and hipsters who hate theater reviewing theater) has to find some reason to dispute and some writer who's pre-disposed to not liking it to complete this assignment.

That's their little recipe. I can't even count the times I've heard something being Stranger reviewed and it ended up being more about the reviewer and their personal tastes and philosophies than it was about the subject in question.

I realize the hypocracy of the fact that I'm spending time reading and commenting on The Stranger blog while I'm trashing it. I don't hate the Stranger. It's a one-stop shop for things I usually want to know about and I read Line Out on a daily basis. And the majority of the time, I enjoy it.

...which is why I care.

But this review --- it's a lame-ass argument.

He's saying because there are other Shins albums that are "great all the way through", this one sucks.
But it's so weird to me that he would like Inverted and Chutes all the way through and not this one.

To me, yes, there are some differences with this one, but - honestly - I feel like it's just as strong as those other two albums and just as satisfying as an all-the-way-through listen.

Perhaps Mr. Frizzelle has just become numb to the wiles of The Shins?

Dude, there was no mention of the two songs that I feel are the strongest on this album: Red Rabbits and Turn on Me. These are fantastic songs worth a mention, I think. But in this "longest-ever-album-review" it's hard for me to believe that 5 out of the 12 tracks on the album weren't even mentioned! What kind of review is that?

Lastly - a word on Mercer's lyrics. I'm glad Frizzelle mentions this because to me it's what makes this band so strong. I'm glad he posted the lyrics to Weird Divide and snippets from other albums, but there are some seriously amazing lyrics in this new album as well. If you appreciate those other lyrics, this album does not disappoint.

That said, here are the lyrics to "A Comet Appears":

One hand on this wily comet,
Take a drink just to give me some weight,
Some uber-man I'd make,
I'm barely a vapor

They shone a chlorine light on,
A host of individual sins,
Let's carve my aging face off,
Fetch us a knife,
Start with my eyes,
Down so the lines,
Form a grimacing smile

Close your eyes to corral a virtue,
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard
To cement a failure

We can blow on our thumbs and posture
But the lonely are such delicate things
The wind from a wasp could blow them
Into the sea,
With stones on their feet,
Lost to the light and the loving we need

Still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing

With burnt sage and a forest of bygones
I click my heels
Get the devils in line
A list of things I could lay the blame on
Might give me a way out

But with each turn
It stays front and center
Like a dart stuck square in your eye
Every post you can hitch your faith on
Is a pie in the sky,
Chock full of lies,
A tool we devise
To make sinking stones fly

And still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing.

The Shins aren't irrelevant, annoyingly ordinary, or sources of unintentionally funny lyrics, Christoper, because everyone loves them.

Full stars.

It's the law.

Smooge, you're right. Some of those lyrics are really good. I'm probably out of touch with the CD ranking system, as I rarely review them, as I rarely have much to say about new CDs. Probably it shoulda gotten 2 1/2 stars.

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