dissapointed

heliocentrist
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:49 am

Post by heliocentrist »

indeed they are, still a great rock and roll band

saratoga jaythe first

Post by saratoga jaythe first »

Yeah, I saw them downtown a couple time at Dwyer's. They're pretty good, but I don't know much about what they've been doing lately. Are they still together?

heliocentrist
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:49 am

Post by heliocentrist »

cool, I did, though I'm not proud. You know the figgs?

saratoga jaythe first

Post by saratoga jaythe first »

I grew up here, then moved to Va and went to Va Tech, then worked and lived in South Jersey and Philly but I moved back here 9 years ago. To answer your question I guess I'm neither but I would be closer to a townie. I never attended Skidmore.

heliocentrist
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:49 am

Post by heliocentrist »

good stuff there

so are you a townie or a skiddie?

saratoga jaythe first

Post by saratoga jaythe first »

In reference to what some might take as unnecessary tracks (all the II's and Space Junk), I think that they add to and not take away from the flow of the cd. The first time I listened to TB it caught me off guard. I think the first time you listen to anything Jay has done, especially recently, you don't get the full effect and quality because you are so consumed trying to hear all of it at once (lyrics, instruments,flow, breaks and meaning). But with each additional listen you can put more of his outstanding lyrics together and hear how brilliant of a songwriter/storyteller/philosopher Jay is. And the production is equally outstanding, but the key thing is the power in Jay's subtlety. In my opinion, he is writing about life, death, parenthood, self-guilt, self-doubt, growing up in our somewhat messed-up society, and Jay's songs on this cd make me think about our world, the future and my own life and family. It also makes the listener think about how each of us should deal with who we are, where we came from and where we're going from here. And by the way, Jay is doing a better job at making powerful, thought-provoking music than anyone else in the industry today.

But I feel Space Junk breaks up the cd properly, like how each of us mentally and spiritually grow and learn about the world in different stages through our own trials and tribulations. Space Junk to me sets the stage for teach section of songs, but it took a few spins for it to come out. It seems to come from a place other than here, like when we are dreaming, or coming into the world at birth, or even entering the afterlife upon our death. They are all different, they are all deep, but they do mean something and it adds to the disc as a whole (for me anyway).

As far as the II's, I do not feel they were put on TB to take up space, but to reflect on Jay's new life, after the passing of his father (they follow Dent County), and the life he now has with two children of his own. The tables have turned in Jay's life. He must now take on the role with his kids that his father had with Jay and his siblings when they were growing up. The songs may have the same lyrics, but the feel of the songs are different. They seem more positive, more accepting and more of an indication that Jay has really grown up in his life and he is determined to do the best job he can as the leader of his own family. Jay knows where he came, but like the rest of us he doesn't know where the world is going. Listening to Terroir Blues makes me realize this and I feel a liitle bit better about things with each and every listen.

Terroir Blues is a masterpiece!!!

heliocentrist
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:49 am

Post by heliocentrist »

I think that's the general consensus ... I posted this in another post, but maybe should have put it here: I'm gonna make a mix cd of The Slaughter Rule and Terrior Blues stuff on one cd, I bet the instrumentals will work much better to link the songs than either Space Junk or Spack Junk does

Bigb

Post by Bigb »

I agree with Tracer. I think it's a great cd. Just not sure why we need to get past all the noise. I think Jay needs an editor or something. I'll never want to listen to the noise!

tracer
Posts: 150
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 11:13 am
Location: kansas city

Post by tracer »

i think it gets better with every listen. "hard is the fall", "heart on the ground", "no rolling back", "all of your might", "hanging on to you", they're all terrific songs. it took me a while to get past all the noise (space junks), but i really, really like this record. it's as personal a record as jay's ever made i think.

Tom
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 2:52 pm

Post by Tom »

I listened to TB constantly for bout a week then put it away. Stuck it in today and am glad I did. I give it a B+. We all know he's got better work in him. But what we should also realize is that Jay's a free artist and can do what he wants. Think for a moment how taxing it would be on anyone to even attempt to create another Trace. He doesn't need that. Let his complete body of work do the talking. "Perfect" albums only come once in a lifetime, twice if your extremely lucky. Terroir Blues has it's share of brilliant moments. That's good enough for me. Y'all let Jay enjoy where he's at for now...

fraggle

Re:

Post by fraggle »

Actually, I think most of the II's on TB are better than the I's. For what it's worth...

Revjdevans
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 11:30 pm
Location: Linden, Texas

Post by Revjdevans »

You know, since listening to TB so much over the last week, I really think it's grown on me considerably, much the same way "Sebastapol" did, and even "Straightaways".

I think the only real problem is there are too many tracks: there's no real reason to do the "II" songs, as the only one that really sounds much different is "Hard Is The Fall", and while I like the experiment/collage stuff he's done on WST and "Sebastapol", there seems to be too much of it on TB: if he'd only done two or three "Space Junks", I think the overall flow of the album would have worked better, and the noisy interludes wouldnt have seemed so distracting and jarring. If you cut TB down to the 12 original tunes and maybe 3 "Space Junks", the album not only runs together more smoothly, but it sounds less repetitive, a problem that's bound to crop up if you're including 2 versions of several songs, especially when neither version sounds much different from the other.

ericdb_1
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 1:29 pm
Contact:

Re: losing it...

Post by ericdb_1 »

Scalzunfield wrote:Jay just needs to stop messing around with this experimentation (it's not working...) and go back to what works. If that means more Whiskey Bottle-type tunes, then go for it. It couldn't hurt. I am severely disappointed in this album.
Due respect, but that I think that's a pretty harsh life sentence your prescribing to him. How happy could he (or anyone else) possibly be writing the same song, working the same style, playing the same thing over & over? It's too bad this stuff doesn't work for you (jury's still out for me as I've just gotten my copy). But, I would hope you'd cut Jay some slack & allow him to find his way & create what he needs to create & not box him already. Let's face it. He's still young. I'm confindent he has a lot more music left in him.

badmofaux

Post by badmofaux »

I'm always surprised to hear people say that they thought Son Volt was a waning affair. To me, everything they did was close to perfect... including WST. Maybe WST especially. That album has a flow to it that never lets up, from start to finish. Anyway, Sebastopol bummed me out, big time. I missed the live rock feel, first and foremost... because to me, one of the great strengths of Son Volt was that they were just a solid, straight-up rock band. No frills. If I'm not mistaken, the albums were recorded live as well... right? So when Sebastopol came along, I was like "nooooooo!" It always bums me out to see bands/artists start singing this "it's time to develop, time to grow, time to try out some new things" kind of mantra because let's face it: 90% of the time this is just code language for "I'm out of ideas". What was especially frustrating about Sebastopol, though, is that it was more than evident that Jay had anything but run out of ideas. The songs were there, the hooks were there... but it felt too claustrophobic and studio-project for my tastes. All the energy and spark was gone. If they had been Son Volt tunes, they would've been great. As it stands, I'll never be able to enjoy that album because to me it just sounds like a series of demo recordings. Like a blueprint for what could have been. Okay, so where I'm going with all of this is that Terroir Blues seems to have adressed this issue. I was kind of bummed out at first, because these songs are not "rock" in the standard interpretation of the word but they are organic in the way that all good rock should be. The songs have that open kind of ensemble feel to them, which is exactly what I was hoping to hear. In summation: I miss the fucking beat, I miss the energy, I miss that electrified Gibson snarl... but if this is where Jay wants to be, it's starting to make more sense. To me, anyway.

sore eyes
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 11:46 pm
Location: west midlands, uk
Contact:

Dissapointed

Post by sore eyes »

at first listen i thought TB was an extension to sebastapol, ie trace to straightaways, but after many plays it has really crawled under my skin. the inclusion of the pedal and lap steel on this record is the difference, if sebastapol had more of the traditional farrar instrumentation it would of been a better record, not that i dislike sebasapol but the voice and the steel sound like an old friend. as for being an acoustic record, so what, turn it up and it still rock's but in a different way. TB is not a good record but a great one.

Post Reply