Customer Reviews

All-Time Quarterback

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

 

 

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.

¡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.

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.

this is benjamin gibbard of long touted "best band in the nrthwest" death cab for cutie singing by himself and with others, playing songs that come from the heart, the mind, and the little child in all of us...love redemption faith and other emotions so key in life are played here in broad terms and easily digested tidbits....this was orginally released a very very long time ago and was out of print since...but the cool kids at barsuk have decided to give all another crack at it, with the bonus footage being nearly as essential as the older disc....their are two unheard songs and a mini movie that will warm the cockles of any heart....very highly reccomended for those that love the indiepop front and even those who are in love with singer-songwriters with guts and pinnache (john vanderslice, bright eyes, neil halstead, etc)...get this record to mend and to be....whole.

Cool low-fi album. Had it and lost it. Bought it again cheap for track 8 and nostalgia's sake.

I really love the songs on this album! I haven't noticed the bad quality sound that other people have mentioned. Sure, it's definitely not made in an expensive studio but it's definitely nothing to keep you from enjoying the songs! It almost adds to the greatness--they might not be as good or enjoyable if they were too "clean". I would recommend to anyone, especially Ben Gibbard fans.

Finding this, for me, was exciting because I love Death Cab and I love The Postal Service. It was recommended to me by a complete stranger and I have been enjoying it greatly.

That having been said, this is not for all tastes. It is very hard to describe the sounds that are going on, so I suggest previewing a few tracks before you make a decision.

There are 2 really good songs on here. The first is "Untitled," which sounds like Gibbard was listening to a lot of Brian Wilson at the time he wrote it. The percussion sounds like it could have been on pet sounds. "Underwater" is a pretty good song...but the real jewel on the album is "Send Packing." It really is a beautiful, well-written song. The rest of the album sounds kind of thrown together and most of the songs would have been much better if they had been recorded with real instruments. Basically, the novelty of the kid instrument thing wears off really quickly. All in all, I wouldn't spend 10 bucks on it, but a couple tracks are pretty good.

you gotta love ben gibbard but the quality of the recordings are really grainy, some songs i cant even listen to but there are a couple that are pretty stellar, if you love Death cab, and you already have all the death cab albums and you already got the postal service album than you might as well go ahead and get this one to finish off ur collection, thats the way to go, if ya love death cab then you like this