The Queen, Beach Boys, Genesis, Beatles, Bee Gees, and other 60s and 70s pop/rock influence seem very strong. I can understand why this didn’t get any traction in 1993 but has a more cult following now. This sounds like music of my early childhood, so as teens in the 90s we wanted nothing to do with it. The boomers probably would have liked it if they ever had a chance to hear it. I liked the heavy ending of ‘All is Forgiven’ and the transition into the sparser ‘Russian Hill’, which was probably my favorite. There is a Russian Hill in San Francisco…not sure where this one is. ‘The Glutton of Sympathy’ had a dope flow. Got a few more songs left, but got to break to make dinner.
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Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz were both more indebted to the Classic Rock sound which is more hard rock than pop-rock. It’s kind of a fine line I guess because they both had super pop-y songs but also had enough to appeal to that classic rock crowd.
Ever listen to Urge Overkill? They’re another 90’s band in somewhat the same vein (i.e. their sound didn’t really fit in with what was popular at the time so they never achieved the level of success that they were capable of and probably deserved).
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This seems way more camp (for lack of a better word) than Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz. I’m not a fan of those artists either, but I imagine their retro popularity at the time was some kind of a grasp at ‘rock used to be better’, and meanwhile Freddie Mercury had recently died. I think prog fans were probably too busy pummelling Queen’s hits into the ground, makes it difficult to imagine a new big prog act to swoop in there either.
I got that sense too that maybe older people would enjoy this, but then the older you get, the less into discovering new music you become as well.
All that is total speculation, but this thing is certainly an anomaly. Really cool.
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Dude, yeah. Retro. That’s the word I’m looking for. I should probably finish listening to the album before I go too deep, but from what I’ve heard so far you can clearly hear the influences but they’re trying to build something on the groundwork laid by what came before, not trying to simply return to the glories of the past. That’s always gonna be a harder sell because it requires actual thought and effort to engage with, lol.
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‘Brighter Day’ is interesting
I liked how it ended with ‘Brighter Day’
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Yeah the ending caught me off-guard a bit. Should feel better next time now that I have my ear in for their pace a bit more.
The first album is worth a spin too. Its understandably a bit more understated, which works nicely I think.
By the way, the next selector will be notified soon. Reminder @Doompunk @RattleRattleRattle @MikeBoogie @Pyrrhonius @InblEric to make sure you listen and participate this week to stay in contention!
Same goes for anyone reading this, its never too late to join and get involved,
Cool pick! Roommate had this CD in college so I’m excited to go back after not having heard this album for 20+ years. I’ll post some notes tomorrow.
(For anyone interested, one of the main writers/performers of Jellyfish was also involved in a duo called Moog Cookbook. They did two albums: classic rock covers and grunge/90s covers, synthed-out to the max, of course.)
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It was interesting to revisit Spilt Milk. As I mentioned earlier ITT, a friend/roommate had this on CD and played it frequently. That would have been around '98-'00. I’m honestly having a hard time separating the music from my memories of that less-than-pleasant time and person. With that said, I have massive respect for the playing and arrangements. This is some power pop that really goes for it and succeeds. The Cheap Trick comparison is on the money.
(Oh, and the crazy jump-cut in “All is Forgiven” (unless that was a Spotify glitch) reminds me of Steve Hackett’s “A Tower Struck Down,” but maybe that’s because I just listened to Voyage of the Acolyte this week.)
Awesome pick @phreakbrain.
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“the older you get, the less into discovering new music you become as well.”
This album was really fun. Very neat weird parts of it haha. Kind of reminded me of a couple other groups as well although i struggle to think of what kinda mashup it is.
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Every time I re-listen I think of more that the vocals remind me of, I don’t know if its maybe the recording/production/era but variably I think of Ben Folds, Mark Oliver Everett (Eels), even Weird Al
One of my suggestions was chosen for this week’s album review. I’m going to be tied up for much of tomorrow, so getting this out tonight:
Together We’re Heavy by The Polyphonic Spree (2004)
If you don’t want any background on my choice and just want to dive in, here you go…and yes it starts at Section 11 as their debut album before this has Sections 1-10:
I feel a little bad about the length here (double album). I added 3 albums to the Google sheet, with the other 2 being very different female driven projects, and much shorter. I only added The Polyphonic Spree to the list recently after listening to Jellyfish, as many of the same pop/rock influences are present, and I thought it would be an interesting juxtaposition of bands with similar influences. I didn’t think that juxtaposition would be immediate, but we’re here so let’s just go with it.
What I think makes The Polyphonic Spree unique are the choral rock and psychedelic pop aspects as Together We’re Heavy is described as pop, psychedelic pop, and symphonic rock in Wikipedia, and the band is classified as choral rock, which will make a lot more sense once you hear them.
Polyphonic Spree gradually became one of my favorite bands of the last 30 years, and I’ve only seen them a few times live. If you have been lucky enough to see them live with a few dozen musicians packed in stage and blasting out these tunes, then you probably know what I mean. They can’t really make a profit touring anymore (if ever), so they haven’t done it much, especially after the first few albums. If you live in Northern Texas and have been into the psychedelic music scene the last 20+ years, you may have seen them a lot you lucky bastards. I’m by no means an expert, but they do hold a special place in my heart, especially the first 3 albums and of course their live shows.
Here is some background taken directly from Wikipedia:
“Tim DeLaughter’s previous group, Tripping Daisy, came to an abrupt end in 1999 when guitarist Wes Berggren died of a drug overdose. The Polyphonic Spree was formed, in part, in reaction to Berggren’s death.
In 2000, DeLaughter collaborated with 12 other musicians to put together a sound that reflected the music he grew up with. He wanted to explore the orchestral palette and pop sensibility of The Beatles, The Association, The 5th Dimension, Wings, Electric Light Orchestra and The Beach Boys and the vocal style of Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath. Within two weeks, The Polyphonic Spree created a 30-minute set, donned their signature white choir robes and performed with Grandaddy and Bright Eyes.
Shortly after their first show, 12 more musicians joined the band, and they recorded The Beginning Stages of … The Polyphonic Spree, which contained all nine songs (sections) written for their first show plus a tenth track (“Section 10 – Long Day”) and released in 2002. In 2004, Hollywood Records released the Spree’s second album, Together We’re Heavy.”
Some people’s first and only experience with Polyphonic Spree is ‘Light and Day’ from their debut album on Scrubs:
I first heard about them after their 2003 Bonnaroo performance made some waves.
Polyphonic Spree’s 2002 The Beginning Stages… debut album was probably their critical and popular peak, and I had considered recommending that one first, but Together We’re Heavy is my favorite and more psychedelic imo. Also, The Beginning Stages…. debut has a 36-minute experimental closing track that is tough to get through and I personally don’t think it fits in with the album and overall sound of the group. I didn’t want to suggest that album but then recommend you skip the last song. Please don’t skip the last song on Together We’re Heavy as it’s one of the best.
Given the size of this band and density of the album sound, its surprising that they can play all these songs live and don’t just sound like a messy wall of noise, but the live performance was a priority from the start. There isn’t a lot of great sounding live performances available to watch, especially with songs from this album as they received more coverage for their debut album. But, they did play one of the greatest sets of Austin City Limits perhaps ever just after Together We’re Heavy debuted in 2004. It’s up there with Sufjan’s performance on the show 2-years later as my favorites. Unfortunately, only a portion is available on YouTube these days, but all of it is on audio on Spotify and elsewhere and is worth a listen if you like the studio albums:
Hanging Around the Day Parts 1 and 2 > Two Thousand Places:
Full live audio for Austin City Limits 2004:
They are also a damn good cover band. Here are a couple interesting ones:
Interesting trivia: Annie Clark (St. Vincent) was part of Polyphonic Spree touring group for a while before joining Sufjan Stevens touring group for a period as well.
Finally, here is a cool clip from a show I’m pretty sure I attended back in 2012 (Together We’re Heavy, Light & Day / Reach For The Sun, We Sound Amazed):
Just finished the first track, it was awesome
didn’t vibe with the vocals that much at first but they grew a lot on me by the end of the song. Even though it was 8 minutes it remained engaging the whole way through, I’m really excited to listen to the rest of this
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Just finished the whole thing! it was a very nice experience. I’m not the biggest fan of epic symphonic rock albums but I enjoyed this a lot, though i’m sure it’ll grow on me even more if I listen to it a few more times
Oh cool. I’ve heard of this band over the years but never made time to listen. Excited to change that. Thanks for the notes, too. Cool stuff about Annie Clark.
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Sorry I wasn’t able to listen to last weeks pick! Bar study and then taking it earlier this week completely ate-up my time. Just listened to this weeks for the first time and first-impression thoughts are below. Super excited to let this one sit for a few days and then listen again!
Section 11
Super pop-punky vocals! Not typically my jam, but had to share with a friend who is big into that genre.
Beautiful piano/harp, really love the instrumentation so far
4-ish minutes in, back and forth/call and response between the vocals and the instruments is so fun!
Gives me a very “Day in the Life” vibes from Sgt. Peppers
Section 12
Flute and drums stand out super heavy early on
Really nice chorus, I’m liking this one better than Section 11
Again, VERY pop-punk vocals from the main singer
Love the horns and bells! Great cacophony to end this song, I love when a build-up feels like a controlled demolition, it’s a beautiful, controlled chaos
Section 13
Very trippy/whimsical feelings here
The background vocals really are starting to stand out as I get used to the main singer, I dig it!
Love the drums/horns at 3:10ish
Section 14
Very high, soaring start to this track!
Hard stop into the vocals is SUPER satisfying
Woo detected at 4:47!!!
Pretty song with a nice message, I really like this one
Section 15
Growling/gurgling/distortion at the start?
Very relaxing after the last song’s highs
Felt like I was walking through the renaissance festival
Section 16
Didn’t realize until about 2:30 in that the song had changed, whoops!
Love the harp/horns/violin(?) here
Aggressive drumming and piano at 3:30ish then calm is an interesting shift, reminds me of Section 14
Section 17
Old school, country guitar twang in this one
Not a fan of this one as much at the start, don’t enjoy the ‘ooooooh’-ing
Liking the occasional horns that find their way in!
Get better at 3:30ish and even better at 6:00ish, strong ending!!
Section 18
SUPER short track in comparison to the others
Like the vibe, very happy feeling, like it coming off of Section 17
Simple, fun, short, cute, like it!
Section 19
Interesting opening, wasn’t sure where it was going to go
Like the drumming on this one, stands out in the mix
‘Crucifix’ is a very satisfying word here, it just stands out really well!
Chorus at 2:45ish is really interesting, feels distinct from other chorus work in earlier sections
Ascending guitar following the chorus is great!
The coolest is to find your way!
Circus barker/megaphone at 5:45ish is a really interesting shift in the vocals! Love it!
Distortion as it rises at 7ish is super trippy
Really good tension and release on this track, highlights their skills at that element of music
Section 20
I feel like I’m on the last leg of a very long journey on this one
Wistful, sad, feeling of something ending or that something has been lost
I like the bells and whispering in the background!
Drums and horns are marching along, I love the way these two sections work together
Slowdoooooown at 5ish into quiet, just echoes of where we were
I feel like I’ve arrived late to midnight mass on Christmas and am standing outside in the snow, listening at the door
Overall thoughts
Super fun album! I’m not normally into the pop-punk vocals, but they quickly fall to the side as you get used to them and start paying attention to the rest of the songs. One thing I think they do incredibly well is tension and release. Almost every track has a great example of tension building and releasing that tension in different ways. The instrumentation all works really well together and I love the chorus vocals. I think Section 20 stands out as particularly interesting because its so different from the rest of the album. I’m definitely going to be listening again soon and will be checking out other stuff by them in the future, thank you for sharing!!!
Only part way through song 1 so far, but immediately getting a sense of how grand this might get, I like the theme that is forming with over the top production haha.
If you’re going to go go for a huge rock opera sound, I think doing it with a big band makes a lot of sense.
Similarly with Annie Clark, she participate din the studio sessions for Swans - To Be Kind, which always blows my mind. I guess she has a penchant for large proggy arrangements despite her solo music.
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There’s a unique sense of wonder that permeated the early 2000s that I love, and it permeates this entirely. I can very much hear the Sufjan Stevens connection in that way.
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