So everyone (except BV) hates the new Fiery Furnaces album, and for good reason. It's pretty far out there. I wouldn't quite call it unlistenable, because I listened through it once. Unlistenable is music that I need to turn off because it makes me physically ill. The last band I can think of that I couldn't listen to was Dillinger Escape Plan. They literally made me feel sick. So, on a positive note, Rehearsing My Choir didn't make me throw up. On a negative note, it's really awful. I actually started off thinking it wasn't that bad. But after the 4th of 5th track it really dissolves into a mess. Sorry.
Lets play the Pitchfork guessing game with this one! They're previous album's scores are an astounding 8.4, 9.6 and 8.9. I honestly don't think this one will crack 1.0. I actually predict they'll just give it a 0.0, which almost seems to excuse it. As if it didn't exist, or something.
So all that being said, The FF are one of the best live bands I've ever seen. I've heard that Eleanor sings the Grandma parts and it doesn't sound as bad. And that they play other stuff as well, not just the new album. Thank God. I have two extra tickets in the front of the balcony also. If anyone is interested, lemme know.
I'll say: 1.3
I've only heard the first track, which I didn't mind, but I doubt I could stand anything like that for longer than 4 minutes. Def not a whole album.
Posted by: jerry | October 14, 2005 at 12:03 PM
wow, people really just love to knock a band down who have done great things and keep trying to push boundaries. the album is not unlistenable. Slavin' Away is gorgeous, melodic, and we wrote letters everyday is touching slice of vaudeville meets the who.
don't clog your ears with ire til you've heard the thing.
Posted by: helen | October 14, 2005 at 12:37 PM
"The FF are one of the best live bands" Come on dude. They have a fun live preformace but the best live band you have ever seen? They barely got the crowd moving the last time they played NYC(Webster Hall). Again I am not saying their live performance is bad but it is not the best and I have seen them 5 time now.
Posted by: danfun | October 14, 2005 at 02:19 PM
Oh, most definitely. They may not get the masses moving, but what they do with their songs, splicing and rearanging them while blending it all into one big medley is amazing. They offer something you simply can't get listening to the CD. One of the very few bands I can honestly say that about.
Posted by: Jeff | October 14, 2005 at 02:35 PM
I agree the medley is cool but it isn't like they are improvising the order. They do the same medley each show minus one or two songs. I am not say you have to improvise to be good concert, I just feel like the key to a good show is energy and FF are thinking too much while they are on stage. Eleanor needs to start playing the guitar again or another instrument IMO. Currently she looks lost up there on stage.
Posted by: danfun | October 14, 2005 at 03:39 PM
Oh and I am not trying to change your mind about the way you feel abou the FF's live performance. It just that I have read your blog for a while and I just feel that some of the other bands you have written about are better live. Again this is just my opinion.
Posted by: danfun | October 14, 2005 at 03:42 PM
It sounds like pure Laurie Anderson to me. It drops the quasi-ironic dispassionate pose that hovered over all of their other records to date. That seems to be the primary difference. I don't personally like either incarnation of FF, but it seems that what irks most people is that they dropped the guise of cool distance on this one. It's certainly not a radical change or a particularly unique creation given the music they're into. There are no irate crowds out there complaining about Laurie Anderson being unlistenable...I guess because the people who she does NOT make her music for aren't listening in the first place, expecting her to give them their goodtime rock. I figure if FF decided to drop the rock pose and do something else that isn't pop, why bother assessing it as a pop creation. It's not.
Posted by: william fields | October 14, 2005 at 03:54 PM
i actually kinda like the new furnaces record. the first couple listens threw me off, but it's grown on me considerably. not the kind of thing i'll spin over and over again, but i've gone back to it more than i expected. lots of little hooks buried in the songs...
Posted by: rajeev | October 14, 2005 at 05:13 PM
cool stuff.
Posted by: HumanityCritic | October 15, 2005 at 06:18 PM
cool stuff.
Posted by: HumanityCritic | October 15, 2005 at 06:19 PM
What are you, nuts? This is hands down the most innovative pop album of the decade. I've got my review up here.
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