All-Time Quarterback [Enhanced, Original recording reissued]

¡All-Time Quarterback!, Ben Gibbard | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued
• Label: Barsuk
• ASIN: B000066JEM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars some people know nothing. i am not one of those people., July 25, 2005

By 

D. Provost "music fan" (windsor, canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All-Time Quarterback (Audio CD)

first off, let me get some things straight with the idiot below me.

1. dntel is jimmy tamborello. not ben gibbard.

2. ben gibbard recorded under ATQ before he ever formed death cab for cutie. he released the tape on elsinor in 99.

now, the album is a pleasant listen for fans of gibbard and fans of lo-fi indie pop. broken guitar and a microphone can do wonders when utilised the way gibbard has on this record.

in a way, it reminds me of smog, who is one of ben's influences.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All-Time Quarterback, November 28, 2003

By 

"superball9" (Arlington, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All-Time Quarterback (Audio CD)

¡All-Time Quarterback! shows what potential your kids could have. Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard plays around with kid instruments and comes up with a warm and charming low-fi masterpiece. Half of this 11-song, 28-minute disc was originally recorded to walkman and many of the songs previously released as part of 1999's ¡All-Time Quarterback! CD-EP and the home-recording cassette-only The Envelope Sessions. As a whole, ¡All-Time Quarterback! has the feel of an album of hidden tracks or studio outtakes. "Plans Get Complex" is simply sing-song with its toy guitar and broken Casio underpinning. The previously unreleased "Dinner At Eight In The Suburbs" and the jaunty "Untitled" sound like early Pet Sounds demos while Gibbard employs a toy piano to seriously alter the mood on his cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Why I Cry." Unfortunately, despite this present collection, Gibbard has hung up the ATQ mantle writing it off as a fun one-off side project. ¡All-Time Quarterback! is a fine example of songs that stand on their own merits, recordings that haven't seen Pro Tools, and a combination of the both into a darn good album.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ben Gibbard on his own, July 16, 2002

By 

Sancho Perez (the quon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All-Time Quarterback (Audio CD)

This album showcases Ben Gibbard's song writing prowness and penchance for clever lyrics. Each song reads like a page of a diary, in that Gibbard reveals a little of his personality and his past. Like his main project, Death Cab For Cutie, these songs retain catchy melodies. However, with just a keyboard, a drum set,a guitar, and a track mixer, the sound is very stripped down and raw. As a result, the tracks sound very simplistic compared to the lush orchestration which the DCFC material is known for. Despite the upbeat sounding keyboard chords employed in many of the tracks, the lryics, while excellent remain somewhat downbeat. Although, most tracks deal with past mistakes and self mockery, only Gibbard could write such poetic words. Like other debut solo albums, such as Glen Phillip's, Gibbard's record has a bare, no frills nature that lends its own unique charm. Gibbard's expressive voice oozes sincerity, something rarely seen in even the indie music scene. The live DCFC song, underwater also adds to effort, highlighting the difference in sound between the two groups. Overall, the album provides a raw, but enjoyable trip into the life and mind of a song writing geniuse.