Customer Reviews

For All I Care [Vinyl]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'd like to respond to a few criticisms here which I think are unfounded:

"Lithium": I am baffled by the amazon.com reviewer's suggestion to "just skip" the Lithium cover, with no further explanation. That's poor journalism in an "official" review--why doesn't he like it? Why not lay out his argument and then let the listener decide for themselves? On first listen, it's my favorite track on the album. They mess with the rhythm, introducing a pause or hiccup, which sounds to me like an extension or exaggeration of the original drum part, and it gives the song extra force. And Lewis really belts the ending.

The mastering: it sounds fine to me. In fact, this and "Prog" sound *less* processed than their earlier, Tchad Blake-produced albums (Fred Kaplan noted this in his stereophile.com review). Perhaps if you're the type who's listening in their special hyperbaric listening chamber with the $10,000 speakers connected by solid gold cables to the amp and turnable floating in an isolation chamber...but then I don't know what to tell you. I noticed that the reviews complaining about the sound were posted before the US release date--was their something odd or different with the international version?

The engineering/decision to self-produce: it was mixed by Tchad Blake, the guy who produced and recorded their first few albums. It was recorded by Brent Sigmeth--google him to see what else he's done. These are rock/pop engineers, not strictly "jazz" ones, but it doesn't seem (or sound) at all out of line with their previous releases.

The singing: Wendy Lewis does not sound like most singers, especially over-the-top "I AM HERE TO ROCK" vocalists. It sounded very odd to me at first, but that feeling fell away after about one minute as I got used to what they were doing. My advice to others, for both the singing and TBP in general, is that you need to give it a little time. Whether you normally listen to jazz, rock, or whatever, this group is probably inhabiting a somewhat different musical space than you're used to. Anyway, Lewis' technique is much better than many of the people who get passed off as rock and pop singers, and her affect, which at first may seem flat and odd, ends up being perfect for these arrangements. Finally, anyone claiming that adding her is an attempt at commercialism can't be listening to the same album as I am. Really? Which one were they hoping would be a Top 40 smash?

I can understand perfectly well how someone wouldn't like this album--this kind of abstracted music-making is not everyone's cup of tea--but not for these reasons. I just don't think they hold water. Give it, or at least the samples, a listen, wait, try a second listen, and see what you think. There's really good stuff in here.

Move over Steely Dan - AJA..here comes the Bad Plus. This is the new LP you want to bring out when people need to hear how awesome your stereo system is or how awesome records can sound. And Lo and behold..the music is masterful. How this LP is so far off the radar screen is beyond me..it should be on the top of every Stereophile,Rolling Stone,Absolute Sound..etc,etc, listening list.A fellow music lover turned me on to it and I was and still am totally blown away with this album.. I'm trying to spread the word! KB

First off, I love the Bad Plus. I've seen them live and I have purchased (not pirated) all of their albums including their first independent disc, so I'm no fair-weather fan. I was very excited about this record, but my excitement quickly turned to utter disappointment.

The mastering on this record is terrible. You remember the hullabaloo over the sound quality of the Metallica album Death Magnetic? Well this is the jazz counterpart. And if you haven't heard about the loudness war thing, go to Wikipedia and look up 'loudness war', or google 'pleasurize music' .

I really have no idea why a jazz trio would want to have poor sound quality on a record, unless they think loud=more sales. Where is the proof that loud mastering (especially in the Jazz world) = more sales? Here is a record where the piano sounds horrible, the bass is muddied, and the drums lack any punch. It sounds really really bad on my stereo. The brickwall limiting at 0 db and the occasional clipping makes this record, for me, unlistenable. I am sorry but I won't be buying anymore bad plus records unless I am sure it has been mastered properly. And because reviews rarely mention that, it means I will probably not be buying anymore.

I hope that this doesn't signal a general trend in Jazz records. I think it is a mistake because jazz fans care about sound quality and are generally older with better equipment then the average Brittney/Metallica fan so loud records will not be something they will enjoy.

I am also disappointed that the band decided to damage the music because it shows disrespect for their fans and disrespect for their music.

The music itself is quality Bad Plus, using the same formula as before except they added a singer. Personally, I prefer instrumental music as i find songs sung in English to distract me from the music. It's as if part of my brain that would normally be used for music appreciation is being forced to decode song lyrics. But most people like singing, so if their intention was to increase sales, the addition of a singer was a good way to go, just not for this fan. The singer has a quality voice and was a good choice. Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, & David King are their virtuosic selves on this record.

So bad mastering + singer = obvious attempt to increase sales. If you are new to the Bad Plus I would recommend getting the first self titled album (although it's hard to get) or Prog.

Oh, and for those that are interested, this cd has an effective dynamic range of 7 dB. Good quality jazz disks should be in the range of 14.

I think Wendy Lewis is a very expressive and soulful singer, and well matched with the Bad Plus.

She has a great range of idioms that she travels, a dry delivery, capable of detached and very

controlled conversational singing, and moments of abandoned, revealing expression. The program

on the CD is very varied, Stravinsky, Pink Floyd, Babbit, Flaming Lips....The band sounds great on

this Tchad Blake recording. His aesthetic works well at integrating the singer into the Bad Plus mix.

It's a different kind of mix. A little rock and roll gauze. And their version of "Comfortably Numb"

to my ears is preferable to Pink Floyd's, which I love. And Lewis' reading of Cobain's "Lithium" seems

right on target to me. Complex. Emotional. Disturbing. Musical. Next time around I would like to hear

her improvise melodically, with no words. But maybe that's not one of her things. Besides that, full speed

ahead. These are the vistas.

I just downloaded this and I am listening to it a second time through right now. This is pretty good, and I think somewhat adventurous. It would have been easy for the band to keep doing what we already know from Prog, Give, and These Are the Vistas that they do well, which is instrumental arrangements, and I think they have taken a gamble by adding a vocalist to the mix. For the most part I think it works pretty well. Right now the track I like the most, which I don't think has been mentioned much in the other reviews, is their cover of Yes' "Long Distance Runaround." The vocals are a good fit for their arrangement on that trick.

I don't agree with the criticisms of the production quality. I am listening on a pair of Grado SR-225 headphones and as far as I can tell the production quality is just fine.

I discovered The Bad Plus through their CD "These are the Vistas". It was very innovative and thought-provoking for fusion jazz. I saw their concert last night and was just so blown away that I bought their latest CD. Now I'd wish I sample the music first before buying it because there's only a few songs I liked on here. I had no idea that they had a vocalist in their recording. I loved Lithium and Comfortably Numb, but I cannot, cannot stand her singing or the lyrics. It sounds like your typical whiny alternative rock. Keep playing crazy music, but keep the band to a trio. Cut out the singer. She's only ruining the wonderful music you guys are playing.

True, the sound on this disc is dreadful. Not a case of commercialism gone awry, I think, but one of self-overestimation - FAIC is the first album TBP engineered without the help of a seasoned producer, a mistake they probably won't make again.

I could have lived with a muddled bass, though, and even with drums coming out of a broom closet, if this had only been The Bad Plus as I know and love them - an irreverent, non-conformist jazz-outfit decontstructing pop standards and mixing them with their own, brilliant, originals.

I've seen these guys bring down the Amsterdam BIMhuis, and I will always treasure albums like Give, Prog or Suspicious Activity. Music brimming with ideas, humor, and virtuosity. But all of that is missing on For All I Care, an uninspired affair that just sounds... tired.

The fatal flaw of this record is that you can't deconstruct pop songs if you stick, verse and chorus, to the lyrics. That approach leaves no room for taking the structure apart to reassemble it in new, revealing and exciting ways. FAIC could perhaps have succeeded if the words had been chopped up, huddled about and interspersed with new lines, but if you force yourself to follow the lyric of a song in its original order, all you get is a cover song.

An album with covers of bands as diverse as Yes and Pink Floyd, The Bee Gees, Nirvana and Wilco, could that work? One thing's for sure: this one doesn't.

For if you must use a singer on a Bad Plus album, for X's sake pick someone with a little spunk, sense of adventure, and versatility. Wendy Lewis, formerly the singer of a couple of obscure indie rock bands from the Minneapolis area, lacks all of that. She ruins this album in a baffling, Yoko Ono kind of way by murmuring along to the music. Weakly, listlessly, lethargically.

On Barracuda and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, her singing is given lots of echo in an attempt at vitalization. Alas. The Good Lord himself couldn't bring that voice to life.

I had a hard time staying awake when I watched an interview with the woman on Youtube, but I seem to remember she's a old friend of drummer Dave King, who invited her to do the vocals on FAIC. For old times' sake, I suppose.

Dave is a very kind man.

But we are stuck with a boring Bad Plus album. Who could have thought that possible? My reason for giving it two stars in stead of one are the (all too few) instrumental tracks, Semi-Simple Variations being my favorite. Fortunately, it's given two takes. Unfortunately, these end after two-and-a-half and one minute respectively.

Bless you, Wendy. But be a dear and go back to being an obscure indie rock singer.

I have always enjoyed it when artists evolve. When Dylan went electric fans booed him off stages, Neil Young has tried many things in his career, some successfully, some not, but they were driven to try new things.

The Bad Plus has added a vocalist on their new CD. Just when you love what they have created in the past, they throw something new at us.

I am blown away by this CD. Their deconstruction-reconstruction style of doing covers is here with a voice. "Comfortably Numb" is amazing. Wendy Lewis fits in like the fourth instrument in what is now a quartet. This group has always challenged the listener and tread in new directions. Evolution is good.

After a string of acclaimed albums and years of collecting loyal fans, The Bad Plus takes a huge risk with "For All I Care" by focusing exclusively on covers, and by adding a stylish rock vocalist (gasp!).

The result? Exactly what we've come to expect from this brilliant trio: A masterfully creative and inspired set of performances that pay tribute to their sources - even more notably now with a vocalist. Certainly one of the best releases of '08.

Unlike some reviewers and listeners who imagine hearing "deconstruction" of melody in The Bad Plus covers, the opposite is consistently clear: These musicians respect classic melodies and prove it by their meticulous attention to melodic detail (especially pianist from Ethan Iverson). What often gets "reconstructed" are the underlying harmonic and rhythmic structures. Many other jazz greats (Dianne Reeves leaps to mind) do the same thing to equally strong effect.

Add the inventiveness of Wendy Lewis singing on most of the tracks, and such melodic homage is even more pronounced. With a vocal playfulness reminiscent of Holly Cole and Joni Mitchell, this broad range of covers is transformed into an eclectic suite of new standards for the new millennium.

[With regard to the mix/mastering, I'll wait for the U.S. release in February '09 for final judgement.]

Overview:

This release from the Bad Plus features a full CD of covers + the singing of Wendy Lewis. Lewis's somber vocals are a perfect match with the Bad Plus. As usual the Bad Plus cleverly breaks down and reconstructs some modern pop/rock classics. If you are a fan of what the Bad Plus can do with a cover tune, then this CD is a must have. The only knock against this CD is the Bad Plus doesn't introduce any new originals.

Song Highlights:

Lithium - The Bad Plus really know how to cover Nirvana. This is even better than their cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit from several years ago. Wendy Lewis' vocals rival those of Kurt Cobain. As with all Bad Plus covers there some humorous interpretations of the various parts.

Comfortably Numb: A very subdued and dark/somber version of the Pink Floyd classic. This song more than any other really shows off what Wendy Lewis can do. Not only are the musical parts craftily redone, Gardner does a great job re-working the vocal lines.

Long Distance Runaround: I was really pleased to see this Yes song included in the songs on this album. This has always been one of my favorites, and the Bad Plus does it justice.