Album of the Year

The Good Life | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Saddle Creek
• ASIN: B0002IQMB6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,642 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely stunning album, October 8, 2006

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Album of the Year (Audio CD)

I first knew Tim Kasher's work through his first and other band, Cursive, which is not only still active but just released a new and very fine album, a searing and impassioned dissecting of George Bush and Pat Robertson's Christian America (I'm a Christian myself, but one who finds Bush and Robertson as horrid as does Kasher) entitled HAPPY HOLLOW. While I enjoy Cursive, especially the new album and the earlier DOMESTICA, it is not a band that is in any sense one of my favorites. The band has a very hard edge and while this is something I normally enjoy, I find the music a bit repetitious and somewhat lacking in musical originality. But Lo! and Behold! Kasher undertook a few years ago a second project, one that puts on display Kasher's softer side, instead of hard punk, light pop. I like most of the Good Life's work, but this album is in a class by itself.

If there is one genre of album that has been done to death it is the break up album, in which the songwriter in excruciating detail rehearses the bitterest moments in the break up. This album breathes fresh life into that tired theme. These are among the best break up songs I've ever heard, each song driven not merely by exquisite melodies and a wealth of musical ideas, but marvelous lyrics. All of the songs on the album are lovely but all also possess a bit of a bite. The loveliness masks a great deal of pain. I don't know if the songs are based on an actual break up, but if they are, it was not an easy one.

The album is also a remarkable bargain because you get not one but two discs. The first one is what resulted from the band going into the studio with a full production crew. The second disc consists of Kasher's original acoustic demos and shows how completely the album was conceived before the band went into the studio. Musically, there is no doubt the band disc is the more appealing one. The production is exceedingly fine and the sound excellent throughout. The guest vocal by Jiha Lee on "Inmates," one of the albums finest songs, is also a wonderful touch. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoy listening to the demos. They throw most of the emphasis onto the lyrics, and they can more than sustain attention to them. Both discs are enormously enjoyable.

Though some songs on the album are better than others, there are no truly weak cuts on the disc. It is strong from first to last. The title track is one of the very best. Equally good is the really sad "You're Not You," where the singer finds his ex changed so much since their break up that he wonders if she is being someone she is not, oblivious to the possibility that when she was with him she was not who she wanted to be. The poignantly cynical "Lovers Need Lawyers" actually appeared on a previous Good Life EP by the same name but if anything has improved with familiarity. Contextually it fits the album perfectly. But really, it's all good. What I especially love is the incredible specificity of the songs. I know no details of Kasher's love life, but each song truly does sound as if they are musical descriptions of very definite or at least idealized memories of actual encounters, real conversations. And they do a great job of communicating the brokenness and regret that accompanies the end of a major relationship.

This album is simply a gem. And anyone who primarily knows Kasher's work from his somewhat better known band Cursive should really explore this one. Most side projects sometimes get stuff with a songwriter's weaker material. That is most certainly not the case here. This isn't Kasher's "B" material, just a different set of "A" work.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars breathtaking, September 20, 2004

By 

Taylor (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Album of the Year (Audio CD)

First of all, this album is called "album of the year" not because it claims to be (even though it just might have the right to) but is explained in the first song when the singer tells his girlfriend, "for you, I would write the album of the year." What we're listening to is what he wrote about that relationship, which ironically takes place within one year.

This is probably the most depressing album i've ever heard. the majority of the songs are slow acoustic ballads that take apart piece by piece the intricacies of the relationship that ends in a tearing divorce. The most poignant song in the album is "Inmates" which explains in great detail why the relationship had to end, from the woman's perspective. There are two songs that are welcome breaks to the slow quality of the rest of the album, Lovers need Lawyers & Notes in His Pockets, both describing the franticness of what adulterous behavior or the suspicion of such can do to a relationship.

Its good to note that this is a true story of Tim Kasher's real divorce, and it must be incredibly hard to put something like this onto an album, that so many people can hear. This is very honest in telling what mistakes were made in the relationship that caused its downfall and thus very emotionally draining. Many of the songs in the album are like many epics that start off slow and come to a big climax, and its easy to get lost especially if you don't listen to the album as a whole. The incredible instrumentation on the songs and the change in tempo that fits the mood of the song keep you into the music, though. If are ready for a deep and emotional ride or are a fan of any of saddle creek records then you will undoubtedly find what your looking for in this album

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good at a glance, AMAZING on further inspection, March 26, 2006

By 

Shawn "Amatuer Professional" (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Album of the Year (Audio CD)

My sister gave me this cd a while ago and I never made it past the first few tracks. Not because they bored me, but because I would keep going back to "Album of the Year". When I finally ventured on to the rest of the album, I was blown away by the entire thing. It is one of the few albums that is not a mere collection of songs but a true album that begs to be listened to from start to finish. "Album" "Notes" "Inmates" and "Needy" shocked me with just how good the song writing was and how much emotion could be poured into a song. I've never had a feeling like that except with any other album.