Customer Reviews

Ancient Melodies Of The Future

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

the new bts is, i think, the "least good" of all their cds. i say "least good" not to be evasive or awkward, but simply to grant that while i don't think it's bts' best effort, it is still a good record, better than most music out there. still, if i hadn't heard bts before, this probably would not make me a rabid fan. but i guess in order to make a statement like that, i have to establish a frame of reference. up to this point, i think the two best records (i won't say which is better because they are so different) have been there's nothing wrong with love and perfect from now on. the least-good being ultimate alternative wavers. the problem with this album is that it is remarkably unremarkable. there's almost nothing special about this album. songwise, it's closer to perfect from now on than others, as all the songs are slow and melodic. but it lacks the booming guitar and musical variations that made pfno such a brialliant record. as another review said earlier, you know what the song will sound like within thirty seconds. the album's highlights, i think, are "alarmed," "trimmed and burning," "you are" and "the weather." the weather is an a-typical bts song, a more straightforward love song than they've done since the normal years. it's a beautiful song, and really savest the record from mediocrity. mostly, this album is good, but it tastes watered down, like there's something missing, something diluted about the sound. certainly you can sense what is behind it, and built to spill is still a great band. so i appreciate it because it's bts and even average bts is still really good. i think their own line from the album sums it up: "as long as it's talking with you, talk of the weather will do."

It might be an overstatement to call this album a departure, as Built to Spill sounds different on every disc. But these songs feel remarkable simple to me...it seems like more time was spent on the production than on the writing. The first song, Strange, sounds the most like old BTS, but from there it's sort of a mish-mash, sometimes sounding more like the treepeople, other times sounding more like a classic rock album (it seems like there are a lot of backwards guitar sounds).

This isn't neccessarily a knock, every Built to Spill album takes a little getting used to when it first comes out. This one just seems like there is less there to get into. It's also, by my estimate, the shortest BTS album by far, clocking in at under 40 minutes. Obviously, all BTS fans should get it, but if you are new to Built to Spill, "There's Nothing Wrong with Love" and "Keep it Like a Secret" are more user friendly introductions.

Wowee zowee! This was my first Built to Spill album. If this is a letdown, as everyone else seems to think, then their other stuff must be AMAZING. Since I bought this album it's been my most-frequently-played album. At the first listen, it was "pretty good", but then I played it again, and again, and realized, "Wow, this is REALLY good."

Getting to know this album has turned me into a giggly schoolgirl. You know how it is when the next song comes on and you go, "Oh, THIS song!" and you just want to jump up and down and scream with delight. This album almost compares to Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs in that regard. I adore every song, my particular favorites being Strange, Alarmed, The Host (why doesn't anyone mention that one? It's so good) and The Weather (check out that ending...possibly the best ending of an album since that little chime in OK Computer?). Doug Martsch writes such cool lyrics, and he sings them in such a casual, offhand way, you barely catch it before he's on to the next line (see In Your Mind). Then there are certain lines that stand out and make you swoon with amazement. "Didn't know what I'm afraid of, I had to learn it from a dream. There's a light that never goes out, burning a hole inside of me." It's so hard to explain, there's just something about the way he delivers words that's so cool and powerful. I am obsessed.

I love this CD so much, I assumed it was the high point so far of their career, probably Built To Spill's best album yet. (I knew nothing about the band before buying the CD.) Imagine my surprise when I looked it up on Amazon and found everyone saying that it doesn't measure up to their usual standards. All I can say is, Built to Spill's "usual standards" must be phenomenal. I'm going out to buy another BTS album as soon as I possibly can. That is, on Friday. Friday can not come fast enough...

Ancient Melodies of the Future is definitely Built To Spill. Doug's voice and guitar stylings are still the same. AMOTF didn't reach out and grab me like some of their past albums, but BTS fans definitely need to complete their BTS collection with this release.

I'd say Ancient Melodies of the Future is a cross between Perfect From Now On and some of their B sides from The Normal Years. They don't seem to take too many chances on this one, but then again, I haven't been able to spend much time with it yet.

If you already dig Built To Spill, you'll enjoy Ancient Melodies of the Future. If you don't know much about them, I recommend you buy all of their albums in order of their releases.

In truth, my rating would have been more like 4.5. This album is very, very good, but I was expecting even more from Built to Spill. The songs express a sort of nostalgia for BTS's days as a more lo-fi, harsher sounding group. The fabulous studio production is still there, but some of the songs, especially the opener, "Strange", sound like they might fit well on earlier albums, like There's Nothing Wrong with Love. However, every song on this CD is a pretty good and interesting listen. Like other BTS CDs, you need to give the nuances of Doug Martsch's guitar playing time to sink in. I listened to it about 5 times today, and I've liked it more every time, so maybe if I was writing the review in a week, it would be a full 5 stars. Either way, Ancient Melodies of the Future is an appropriate name because of some of these songs' resemblence to BTS's earlier work, as well as the fact that there are none of the sprawling, swirling epics that composed Perfect from Now On.

The musicianship here is excellent as always, and in typical BTS fashion, there is a lot happening in every song to keep your ears busy. It may not be QUITE at the same level as Keep It Like a Secret or Perfect From Now On in my opinion, but it is still excellent stuff. Definitely one of my favorites of 2001.

This is my first Built to Spill record. Ancient Melodies seems to me to be the product of a mature man expressing himself through kid's music. Nothing particularly wrong with that, to me. It's hard to drop the rock 'n roll itch. This is the next level down in terms of accessibility from bands like The Pixies and REM.

There's lots of stuff going on here, fuzzy synthesizers, chunky guitar hooks, quasi-philosophical musings about the nature of life,perception, love and lust, tape loops and other understated studio gimmicks. Occasionally Doug Martsch channels Neil Young a bit too much for my liking, hence the last star off.

One of the cleverer lines that stands out in my mind as I write is "Happiness will only happen when it can". How true. If this is the type of observation that helps you turn the coffeemaker on every morning, you should give Built to Spill's "Ancient Melodies" a try. Blow off the hipsters dismissing this record, who ingest too much media and aren't impressed by anything anymore. Hopefully you have arrived here before that has happened.

I've never considered myself a big Built to Spill fan, but this record...WOW. I bought it 7 years ago, and today (July of 2008) I find myself listening to it several times a week. It's one of those "onion" type albums, that every time you think you've gotten the hang of it, you'll peel back another layer and find yet more substance and beauty waiting for you.

Built to Spill are a band that I think are one of the better Alternative Rock bands still recording today.
Always changing and building on their sound with every release. This one, 'Ancient Melodies Of the Future' melds together the instrumental passages of 'Perfect From Now On' (their best, imo) with the poppiness of 'Keep It Like A Secret.' Although leaning more towards the 'Secret' pop formula, expanding the sound with more guitar and keyboards, like on "Alarmed."
Then five years later 'You In Reverse' continues the progression with a more prog jam band feel.
Songs on 'Ancient Melodies..' are shorter and to the point, like "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss." Still as a pop band, but including that "big" guitar sound we heard with previous releases. A pleasant change on this record, instead of re-hashing the same record over and over. An album that I think true fans can appreciate.
Doug Martsch is excellent as always in vocals and on guitar. Lazy day, moody voice, his signature, best heard on "The Host" and harking back to the Treepeople days with the song "Don't Try."
- I do think fans of Dinosaur Jr. or even Neil Young can get into one of the best Alternative bands out there today - Built to Spill.
Had to get this Cd burned since I out-played my original copy 'til it became unlistenable and scratched.
Although not my favorite Built to Spill album, I do play it more than 'Perfect From Now On' and 'Keep It Like A Secret' and the others.
Doug Martsch and company carrying on Ancient melodies from the past and giving BTS listeners a taste of what's to come in the future. Indie pop purity.

I'll admit that this album is slowly getting better for me. I definitely think it has some lemons (In Your Mind, Happiness), but after 5 or 6 listens it is better than the first. It's a very dark album - minor chords and sad organs - if the Cure made a BTS album or vice versa, this would be the product. There is a great feature on emplive.com about how this album was conceived, recorded, and produced. Doug said that with this one he just had the songs in his head, told the other two what to play and then added the gee-whiz guitar noodles and other noises with the engineer. Well, it shows. The previous albums were born from extensive jam sessions in which the songs were fully realized. For some reason some of these sound like they have some incredible ideas and hooks, but then there is a bridge or something that just kills it (Don't Try). It's very disappointing to hear these awesome slides and other aural massages and then to have something like an over-repetitive chorus or lyric ruin it (Fly...). Whereas in the past it seems like each part of the songs was perfect, with this disc it's like most parts are right on - it's the part that doesn't quite fit in the song that makes it seem like it was rushed or like Doug got bored with it. Some of the best songs just fade out when the mood is getting good (Trimmed, Don't Try). You can fade out an epic 7 or 8 minute song like the ones on KILAS or PFNO, but not a 3:30 minute song - come up with a neat ending or draw it out longer to fully explore the space the song was creating.

Make no mistake, there are some great songs that are great the whole way through (You Are), but overall, it's a bit patchy to warrant more than 3 stars from me.

It's like the difference between a fish stick and a salmon steak - they're both fish, but...

Allow this music to reveal itself to you and slowly it will become more and more amazing. What was originally marginal disappointment upon first listen has turned into something akin to staggering gratification. These songs are absolutely memerizing and hauntingly beautiful. "You Are" and "The Weather" rank among their best. Live with it, and you will reap the rewards of on one of the last truly great rock bands in America.