I think I love you. That song reminds me of Sonic Youth doing David Bowie doing Bob Dylan on 'Hunky Dory'. The Lou Reed reference is totally there, since it has a feel to it that at times makes me thing of 'Queen Bitch', which is Bowie sucking off Reed's knob on that album. Glam rock Sonic Youth-style. I love this record so much.

i wonder what daycare nation thinks of the new album?

I've been listening to the BEGN stream 3-4 times in a row today and the album is really growing on me.

I have even started to somewhat enjoy the songs that I thought were really crap after one listen (Thunderclap, No Way, Calming The Snake...).

The songs I like so far: Anti-Orgasm, Leaky Lifeboat, Antenna, What We Know, Malibu Gas Station, Walkin Blue and Massage The History.

i have been so busy the last few days, i have only had time to listen to the stream twice

i should correct that this evening

I just completed my 3rd listen and it's growing on me as well. I was pretty disappointed at first ... mainly in the second half of the album but I'm thinking now that it was just the inevitable post "Anti-Orgasm" + "What We Know" letdown. But now, after a couple of more listens, I don't dislike any of the tracks.

The only quibble I have with any of it has been mentioned by a previous poster. I'm also not very fond of the vocal mix at all.

Just listened for the first time, it's fucking amazing! I cant believe SY went from making RR to a great album such as the Eternal!!! Awesome, awesome album.

and if you just search for "malibu gas station" there's an incident with Sienna Miller abd paparrazzi at a Malibu Gas Station... those stations seem to be so fashionable...

i was going more w/ the 'oops no underwear' line to point to britney (first google hit: "Last night Britney Spears pumped gas sans her panties again at a Malibu gas station.") but maybe its a combination of everyone who's ever had an experience at a malibu gas station!

French kiss, french kiss.

Ok, I'm doing this on page 9 of 19, so there's bound to be a lot of things I would've responded to that I haven't read yet (either in agreement or disagreement), but so far what I've been able to boil it down to in my head is this: some people place more importance on the "sounds" (tone, volume, "skronk," weirdo things, etc.), and some people place more on the chord patterns/structure. I can see it both ways, but if I had to choose one, I would fall in the latter category. Which is why, as of right now (which is very early, so I'm in no place to be an impartial judge), I thought RR was a better album (though I have yet to give this the "weed test," but I think by now I'm a pretty accurate judge as to what I'd like high). This is not to say that either side is right or wrong--some of the noise and the chiming sounds I hear on this album were sorely missed from their last, and it feels so good to hear them again. The problem (minor as it may be) is that they're occuring over largely simplistic chord patterns--namely the 1-2-1-2 Thurston seems to be so fond of (or the reverse of that: the 2-1-2-1 (as in the "Empty Page" (which is still a fine song; it's just that I don't personally find that a particularly exciting direction (and I only mention because I remember being uneasily dismayed when I first put that album in)))). Even "Massage" (which is still a spectacular song) incorporates it at the beginning, it just throws in the twist of them being minor or diminished or whatever chords (hey, I'm familiar with the basics; I don't aspire to be be a music theorist). At least to me, there's a finite amount of noise or noodling you can throw over that sort of thing and make it sound original (and just to acknowledge the potential for me sounding hypocritical, at least Imperial Teen (who I'm not really a fan of, anyway) and the Breeders (who I am a HUGE fan of) (and the Magik Markers on "Risperdal" (which I still can't get enough of)) and tons of other bands who keep things simple for the majority of the time overuse the 1-4- or 1-5- thing, which at least sounds aesthetically complete, as opposed to sounding like it's on its way to somewhere grander, but then just turns around and settles for repetition. But hey, you know what? Maybe that does it for SY (and for other people). And if so, who am I to judge? That being said, I really enjoy Antenae (perhaps because the chord pattern during the verses (ie: just one chord) is so simple, it allows the vocal melody to be the thing I pay attention to (plus I <3 the chiming sounds!). Also, I love Malibu, as not only is it *not* a simple chord pattern, but the noisy fireball towards the end seems representative of a deeper meaning, like the "subject" could be on a fast track to explosion/implosion, and then just as I was thinking how dire a prediction it was, they brought back the melody as if to say "ok, we've given you a glimpse of what *could* happen; you still have a shot at saving yourself, lady".

Ok, I'm kind of exhausted, and I don't want to make this a tedious read (which it probably already is (I've been drinking Natty Lights steadily for 2 hours)), but I did want to say (while drunk, apparently) something to 2 people: Summer: until I heard the album I thought you were really annoying, but I agree with a lot of what you say now. And Atsonicpark: I'm sorry about what I said last summer (hey, that's weird!); I was very depressed, and the Free Kitten album was part of what helped me get through my partner's passing. Music is subjective by nature, and that's what irked me about being made to feel like my experiences were inferior. But I didn't stay away from the board [not that I post that much, anyway] because I was annoyed, but because I was ashamed for being such an asshole--that's really not me [and as an aside: I had heard such glowing things about Melt Banana, so I finally gave them a listen the other day; and I thought it was terrible. But obviously a lot of people love it and truly "get" it, so I just realize that I'm one of the ones who don't. Hey--you can't "get" everything (otherwise you'd be god)].

~fin~

Ok, nope [Nope--totally wrong!. TOTALLY passes the test
(OK, I KNEW there was a reason

That was, like, the beginning of three different primary tangents (some of which went off to have secondary ones), one of which (I don't know *of* which, though ["Ooh! That makes two!!"]) was

Eek! Do-over:
*All I've listened to was "Leaky Lifeboat" so far (and only after reading "[The first seven seconds of "Leaky Lifeboat" is a sound I haven't heard them touch since "Shadow of a Doubt" (plus a cool playground swing thing going on, I want more of that)]" in a [fuck, I also like the punctuation [ooh! the "skipping past"--going one step beyond, but making the mistake of then turning around and going [I was about to write about feeling like I was forgetting something, but then realizing *** sense that I only remembered the left ear weird sound at the beginning. But yeah--there's a lot of sounds on this one!

"Ouch, I just "triple starred" myself--you KNOW that must be bad!" But it was honing in on the divide, which brought me back to one of my original points, that maybe the 1-2-1-2- is the sound of being totally willing to rely on the other sounds to provide interest (as a product of being further upstream the spiral); and as per me and my awkward self, making that sound negative and uncomfortable, and *that* being the sound of ["me usinig a ["parentheses when a semicolon would do"]" (and in the process of figuring out [a lot of stuff], instinctively trying to upgrade it to "using a parentheses when a semicolon would do")]

And see? I found so many mistakes to correct as I proofread, but then I got to the parts where I referenced earlier mistakes to paint a larger (and more chronologically sound (and mentally stable (jk)) picture), and then some I just plum forgot about [see above]. [Edit for minor punctuation]

Hmm, in case I was unclear in my second post, I retract my initial opinion, and now deem this to be an excellent album. As far as the "finite amount of noise or noodling"--once that's been reached, and you can acknowledge that, it allows you to zoom in a level, forget about the "structure" and pay attention to the individual things. And when you do that (and by "you," I mean me), you realize all the fantastic and subtle and complicated things going on, some of which are totally new to my ears.

A few of the many spectacular things:
-The loose, off-kilter, about to spiral out of control-sounding part of Leaky Lifeboat (starting around 2:45)--it's almost funny in really, really wonderful way that I can't yet describe. But it makes any corniness the song may have been guilty of seem not only acceptable, but terribly welcome.

-The noise portion of What We Know, which originally made me kind of agree with the sentiment (I think it was Summer's) that it sounded kind of formulaically forced. But then the headphones brought out that whole descending guitar "bwaaaaaah" that was completely new and unexpected, and adds greatly to the meaning/feeling of the song.

-Speaking of headphones, Calming the Snake takes on a whole new life through them. The guitar in the left ear that comes in after the lone bass line is actually playing notes (albeit noisy, disguised ones)--and awesome ones at that. And the way they introduce one guitar in the right ear, then the one in the middle, then the one in the left (and I LOVE that "bum-buuum bum-buuum- buuuuuum" thing) allows you to hear the individual and seemingly disparate things going on, which makes the fact that they all work together that much more exciting. Noise here is not a substitution for structure--it is the foundation for it (not completely unlike Blonde Redhead's "Symphony of Treble")

-There's tons more (like the one note in the right ear of Antenae that's tuned sharp--barely discernable, but gives the singular chord so much more depth), but I've rambled enough for now. Final thought: sure, there's no Jams Run Free, no Catholic Block, no Sympathy for the Strawberry, no Brave Men Run; but we already have those songs. This really is a new direction, and they kind of nailed it--you just have to understand that and accept it, and then your brain will welcome it.

Uhh.

I'm not sure if that "uhh" was directed at me, and if so, if it was in agreement or complete bafflement. But if it was the latter, I find that surprising given your signature (the quote from John Cage, which I had never heard before, but totally LOVE)--if it didn't make sense the first time, try rereading it before assuming the fault lies with me (except on my second post--I was high as a kite, and kind of lost track as to who my "audience" was (so any confusion there is completely warranted)).

As another aside unrelated to this album, I hear a lot of criticism over Thurston's lyrics in Pink Steam. While not exactly brilliant poetry, does no one else appreciate the darkness? Maybe it's just me, but the imagery of all that fresh pinkness, and lines like "I'm the one who loves your mother" suggest a (step?) father who lusts after his wife's nubile young daughter. I was initially turned off by the lyrics, but once I realized the "plot" (at least my interpretation), it made the cheese a whole lot easier to stomach.

I only noticed that (the guitar in the left ear) on the third time of listening to it. I guess that's why I'm reserving my judgement until it's released on CD.

My initial thoughts were: a strong album, with lots of individually good songs (and some great ones, i.e., Anti-Orgasm being my favourite) - my only reservation being that it doesn't seem like a unified body of songs like previous albums: the early albums (particularly Bad Moon Rising) and the Jim Or Rourke three are obviously unified because they have a loose concept, use fragments of sound to progress from one song to another; and even the songs on Dirty and Rather Ripped are unified to an extent because the albums have a distinctive guitar-tone – this seems to be lacking from The Eternal (though now I’m more familiar with the songs, I’m not sure if it’s a problem for me).

ok here is a disagreeing post with most in this lovefest.

the guitars are awesome, the singing gets on my nerves. i don't mean to sound like a hater but i wish thurston would quit singing and they played the fuck out of those guitars more.

sort of like pelican. but in their own way. shut your mouth and play. which is why i always love their live shows. they shut up and play wildly and holy fuck it is magnificent.

if i could buy the multitrack audio files instead of an lp/cd i'd do that & mute all vocals (except kim's) and i would turn up the volume 1,000,000 times. fuck and blast "songs"!

the other option is i'll get the cd, rip it, cut up all instrumental parts and string them together in one long single wonderful track of pure joy.

yes. i love them but i have to be honest. i've cringed.

end of transmission.

huh, you're over reacting.

too bad for you, !@#$%!, that it's not 1964 and they don't have that fake stereo stuff with the vocals in one speaker and all the other stuff in another...

Call me crazy, but I have always loved Thurston's singing, and I think it is vastly underrated. He's not Pavoratti, obviously. But like Dylan, his voice perfectly suits/compliments the songs that he sings.