Customer Reviews

Big Plans for Everybody

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
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When I was 17, the only way to discover new music was 1)Judging an album by its cover 2)120 Minutes on MTV or 3)Word of Mouth from friends who did the same first 2 steps. Someone recommended Big Plans and I didn't like it at first, but because I had a job paying minimum wage ($3.35 at the time), I only could buy 1 record per week. This meant I was forced to listen it to it more than twice. To this day, 16 years later, every two months, I'll listen to this record, especially on road trips. It hasn't aged one bit. It brings back memories of being really happy driving country roads for hours just listening to the Big Plans over and over. The Shins, Elliott Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel, and etal all have a little bit of Let's Active in their sound. People have just began rediscovering LA. If you don't believe me, see how much Afoot on Cd was selling on Evay recently before Amazon started listing it. ($50+)

As my tastes in music have come full circle, Let's Active has always been in the loop. Every 2 months, I listen to Big Plans... for the last 16 years! I never get tired of it. The Shins, Built to Spill, Elliott Smith, owe something to Let's Active. It takes a few listens, but the reward is definitely forthcoming in the end. Until these reissues, CDs of Let's Active were running $50+ on eBay if that means anything. Get 'em while you still can.

I listened to my cassette copied version of this--given to me by one of my indie-friends back in the 80's--over and over. Each time, it surprised me....one of those recordings that don't get old, don't get boring, and just seem to strike the right chord. While slightly dated, it actually sounds a lot like many of the bands attempting to be indie today. I find it odd that no one knew of them then and even fewer know of them today. I do like REM's first few albums, but this is much better. Also worth getting Cypress/Afoot. Definitely one of the my favorite "obscure" albums of the 80's (along with the Sound-- both albums, the Chameleons's Strange Times, and Died Pretty's Free Dirt--good luck finding that one!).

If ever a band was criminally overlooked by the music industry, it's Let's Active. Each album they did is excellent. All their songs appear to be middle-of-the-road pop/rock at first but each listen seems to bring something new with it. You could put Mitch Easter right up with any recognized 'great' songwriter of the past 30 years, easily. 'Big Plans For Everybody' is their 2nd LP, and it sounds like a cross between REM's 'Green' and The Stone Roses first album, and yeah it pre-dates both of those. 5 stars.

It had been a few years since the band achieved notoriety with "Every Word Means No," their second LP "Cypress" had not sold as well as the first EP (although it is terrific), band members Sara Carlson and Faye Hunter were leaving the band, and Mitch Easter has to decide what to do next. He decided to make an unbelievably cohesive and fun record, and to play (nearly) all the instruments himself. It has poppy gems like "Last Chance Town" and "Fell," propulsive rockers like "Talking to Myself" and "Route 67," evocative ballads like "Badger," adventurous (though 80s-sounding) pieces like "In Little Ways" (check out the live video for this one on YouTube) and "Writing the Book of Last Pages," and my personal favorite, the pop sensibilities and philosopical lyrics of "Won't Go Wrong." As others have noted, this was out of print on CD for a long time, so if this holds any appeal to you at all, snap it up before it disappears again.

Few albums feel their subject. Big Plans for Everybody, Mitch Easter's watershed Let's Active album (and essentially a solo project), let's you smell the murky southern cypress swamps and feel the dirt roads beneath your feet as you ride the musical journey through his native Carolina. His subjects are as simple and the music as dense as the moss on an oak tree. From the opening blast of "In Little Ways", Easter lets you know you're not only in for a sonic treat, but also a complex meditation on love and life.

I first fell in love with this album in 1986 during my freshman year of college. It literally helped me survive the first semester. The first time I played the album my roommate, upon hearing "Fell" wanted to know if that was John Lennon singing and immediately asked for a copy.
I wore out that original cassette and have been lucky enough to have a CD pressing from the early 90's up until recently. Like many others here, I pull this album out every few months, and it sounds fresh every time. Paul Westerberg once sang "I never travel too far/ Without a little Big Star". I feel the same about this album.

Fans of 80's alternative, especially of 'Southern Alternative Rock' or REM, should be ashamed to not have this in your collection.

This album finds Mitch Easter and friends at their peak. There is much higher production than on previous releases, but it by no means a sell-out. Some songs like Writing the Book of the Last Pages pay homage to Mitch's heroes (John Lennon) while others are the natural progression from previous songs. Personally, this is one of the cds I could not live without.

I'm so happy to see that this has been rereleased and hope that it sells so that others can discover what a great talent Mitch Easter has at writing songs and playing guitar. Sure, REM can thank him for doing the knob-twiddling for their first 3 releases that set them apart in college radio, but Easter deserves credit for all of the work that Let's Active did as a band. They were fantastic live as well if you ever got the chance. If you like some of the quirkier indy bands that are popular these days you'll find a lot to like on "Big Plans . . ."

i love cypress/afoot, will always love it. the 2 albums are different enough that comparisons need not be made. so let's enjoy the greatness of this album seperately.

writing the book of last pages is grand, as is won't go wrong, these sound like the growth of the band we came to love. mitch's involvement of other musicians helps the album sound fresh and energetic, which can be the downside of one-person albums (the toms pulls it off as well!)

i have listened to this alot since i got it, and it's layered production is great to get lost in.