Customer Reviews

Blinders on

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

 

 

I bought this when it was available as a digital download on seanwatkins.com early in the year. I enjoyed it very much. Many of the songs are much different from the songs off his previous album, 26 Miles, but after listening to them a few times I fell in love with them.
I'm going to agree with the person who reviewed this album before me in saying "Run Away Girl" is one of my favorites. I also enjoyed all the other songs, though, unlike the former reviewer. I may have a bit of a bias because I absolutely love Sean's music but if I can listen to the entire album over and over again as I do now with "Blinders On," I must give the album all 5 stars.
I like it so much that I'm ordering the CD even though I already have the digital copy. I will restate, though, that I needed to listen to the CD a few times (about three) before I "understood" it, which is my way of saying "adjusted to it in comparison to 26 Miles."

A good album, not a great album; then again it's hard to compare Sean's solo work to the amazing Nickel Creek synergy.

I've enjoyed the Nickel creek CDs for years now, and in particular Sean's compositions, so I decided to investigate his solo work. I bought this CD after previewing "Runaway Girl" on his website. Like some of the other reviewers have said, this CD might take a few listens before you really "get it." I can really identify with a lot of the lyrics, though. Some of the edgier songs make more sense if you know the backstory ("Happy New Year" was written as a tribute for the tsunami victims of 2004). The string quartet excerpt, "Cammac," might seem a little random and out of place, but it reminds me of the sound of an orchestra warming up (I'm a string player myself, so it's almost a little nostalgic for me). Anyway, if it really bothers you, it's not very long and you'll live through it. My favorite tracks are "Summer's Coming," "Hello Goodbye" (which leaves you wishing it were longer, but you know it shouldn't be), "Runaway Girl," "I Say Nothing," "They Sail Away," and "Whipping Boy." The decision to follow up "Not That Bad/Blinders On" with "Whipping Boy" was genius, in my opinion. Musically, this CD more closely resembles Nickel Creek's "Why Should the Fire Die?" than the group's other recordings. I've enjoyed it, and it has earned a spot in my regular rotation of CDs.

Sean Watkins is really coming into his own -- and his own is something special and unique. This album plays out as an intensely personal journey into the mind of an extraordinary young talent. Watkins casts the rules aside. Little if anything on this album seems to have been formula packaged for radio play, but that doesn't mean the hooks are any less catchy or the stripped down ballads any less beautiful. Right off the bat, the album opens with with a wiggly, other-worldly sound that is unlike anything I've ever heard. Although it only lasts a second or two, it effectively says to the listener, "This is going to be different from what you've heard before. Shake the wax of status quo out of your ears." Like the Beatles did on their "white album" (and I don't use the analogy loosely), Sean plays the studio like a instrument for most of "Blinders On." The creativity and attention to detail that went into the production of this album will be thoroughly enjoyable to those who are attentive to the way songs "sound." At the same time, it will not be lost on even the most casual listener. Instead of the standard components of most songs today -- melody and lyrics -- with one or both components being quite weak, the tracks on this album are comprised of melody, lyrics, and production -- in equal parts and equally brilliant. I have followed Sean since Nickel Creek's early days, and it's amazing to witness such rapid artistic growth. I hope he can sustain it, because I can't wait to hear what he does next. Great job, Sean!

No, it's not always an easy listen, but few things that fall under the "avant garde" category are--and I'd say that most of this album easily does.

It's well-realized, innovative, and probably Watkins' best showcase yet. From electronica to twentieth-century-esque art music (there's a twenty-second excerpt of a string quartet, "Cammac"), Sean shows a new fluency and ease in the realm of pop music, an area he tried to break into with his last album, "26 Miles." It's a skillful record, and probably my favorite of his three solo works.

And as a final note, speaking of "Cammac"...I'm sorry to the first reviewer, but I'm also a "classically trained violinist"--and to call it simply "a muddy mess" is to disregard its artistic merit and display a complete want for acceptance of non-traditional aesthetics. (Try listening to some George Crumb, if you think this was a horrifying use of strings...).

I've listened to 'Blinders On' several times and I 'get' it. A lot of the people who've commented here apparently don't, and that's okay. After reading Hal Horowitz's review of the record, it's apparent that he enjoyed the same record I did.

Although 'Blinders On' can be easily digested in smaller portions, Watkin's latest is a very personal work that's best heard and understood in its entirety. It's all good, every little bit of it.

I'd never heard of Sean Watkins (and never listened to any Nickel Creek albums) before I decided to check this out, but I was pleasantly surprised. There's some beautiful folk-ish stuff on this album and parts of it remind me of a (better) David Gray.

I'd have to say Andrew Liggitt's review below was pretty much spot on - I'd agree with pretty much all the critiques he made of each song though I'd give the album 3.5 rather than 3.

Favorite tracks: Starve Them to Death, Hello...Goodbye, Run Away Girl, and They Sail Away (this last one being my favorite on the album...just beautiful and eerie - the instrumental parts of this remind me of Jeff Beal's score for Carnivale).

So, I got this new album, Blinders On, by Sean Watkins, one third of the incomparable art-pop-emo-grass band Nickel Creek. I've been listening to a lot of Beatles albums lately, and the way the Beatles picked up pop and ran with it is the way Nickel Creek has picked up acoustic music and run.

Blinders On is Watkins' third solo album. If anything, his symphonic pop is closer to the mainstream than Nickel Creek. Again, it's reminiscent of the later Beatles albums here and there. The production is first-rate and multi-layered. Keyboards and drums are welcome additions on many songs (practically persona non grata in Nickel Creek's albums). Strings are used to great effect (excepting perhaps "Cammac"; you either like it or you don't). Watkins' voice is more confident this time out; he even sings his own harmony parts on this record.

It's a little strange for me to listen to this album because some of the material appeared in live concerts that are freely available under the band name Watkins Family Hour. I listen more carefully to those tracks because I know the words, but they have undergone metamorphosis from concert to CD. Fortunately, the production has helped rather than harmed here.

The songs all have their own flavors, though, no two alike, and the new ones are growing on me. The one that sounds the most bluegrassy is a bouncy tune called "No Lighted Windows" about CS Lewis' The Great Divorce, apart from an old bluegrass instrumental at the end of the album, "Cherokee Shuffle". "Starve Them To Death" and "I'm Sorry" are so well-orchestrated and lyrically perceptive that they basically belong on commercial radio (or you might say that commercial radio doesn't deserve them, depending on your point of view). "Roses Never Red" is catchy and surprising. Woven throughout are evocative expressions of romance, memory, time, and things you can't say.

Buy it. Buy it now.

First let me say, i love sean watkins and nickel creek. "26 Miles" is one of my all time favorites, and every song he writes that gets used on the creek albums is a hit with me. For this review, i've been very critical because i enjoy his music so much, and my standard of listening to him is very high. more than half of the songs on this album are good, but i've given it 3 stars because of some of the terrible musical choices he stuck on here along with the good songs. so...

Here's my song by song review. I can't believe sean actually released some of this stuff. But, of course, because it's sean watkins there are things i like, so i'm glad he did. Anyway, here it is.


1: Summer's coming: Borderline.
Strong rhythm bass and drums. Overall, the feel is strong pop, but vocally it's not strong and there's nothing interesting musically. Not really a bad song, but not that much stands out. Mostly fluff and bounce but little substance.

2: "Starve them to Death": Great Song.
It feels like "hiding" from 26 miles and I like it a lot. Groovy upbeat with string trio interludes and guitar solo (very much like "hiding" there. It's good)

3: "I'm Sorry": Good Song.
Slow boom chuck chuck feel. Piano and rhythm guitar. I like the feel, nothing super impressive, but simple. Simple seems to have worked best on this album.

4: "Happy New Year": Eh.
Driving guitar, piano and bass. Lots of "ah" from sean. Electric effects solo not impressive. Think, ja ja ja ja ja ja and you've got this song. Groovy for while but may lead to a headache.

5: "Hello Goodbye": Great (this is "Anthony" from sean's view)
Super simple, acoustic guitar and one voice. Unfortunately, it's only one minute long, but that's also part of the charm and allure. Again, simple is great.

6: "Run away Girl": Great (one of my very favorites)
Musically, very catchy. Beautiful instrumentation, sounds simple (best kind) acoustic and medium tempo, with catchy guitar interlude. It's a gem on this record.

7: "I say Nothing": Borderline (reminds me of "letters never sent") I do like it because i'ts simple sean on guitar with a little effects interlude, nice simple drum beat and fun chorus switch from 4/4 to 6/8. That keeps the musicality interesting enough in the chorus for me to give this one a thumbs up. Overall still kinda borderline though.

8: "Coffee": Ugh. (there's nothing about this I like)
Terrible melody, too high for him to sing. Stupid lyrics. Ug. Dulcimer. (it's not that i have anything against it, it's just that out of the thousands of instruments in existence, dulcimer is the one least appropriate for carrying the melody.)

9: "The sound of my crush": Bad Bad Bad.
(in "coffee" he says he still has a crush on her, so this is the sound of his crush) not so great. All he does is say "ah" once with five part harmony. Yay for sean. (i've actually written an "ode to the sound of sean watkin's crush" and i've got it up for a little while on www.myspace.com/andrewliggitt)

10: "No Lighted Windows": Good.
Simple, upbeat, great. Acoustic guitar and fiddle. Nice throw back sound.

11: "Cammac": Bad, Bad, Bad!!!
As a classically trained violinist i must protest. this song is simply a poorly written, poorly played, over reverbed, fast and muddy piece of mess. Maybe someone who doesn't know anything about music will be fooled into being impressed. At 20 seconds running time, it's far too long. Terrible excuse for a song.

12: "Roses Red": Borderline
Kinda jazzy and bouncy. Acoustic. It's ok, but there's a really horrific electric solo in the middle. Sitting through it is manageable.

13: "They Sail Away": Pretty good despite the lack of substance. The actual sound of the song is fantastic, so i forget the words lack depth. It's slower, eerie and very full. Big full guitar finger picking with bass pedal tones and some fun violin tremolo.

14: "Not that bad/blinders on": Bad Bad song.
Sounds like 70s dance beats, with sean singing `ah" half the time.
It's about complacency and I like the sarcasm in the words. But...eh.

15: Whipping Boy: YES. YES YES.
Beautiful. This is a good use for the Dulcimer. My favorite song on the album. Simple, quiet. Acoustic. Beautiful. The symbolism is great. i'm interpreting it to talk about jesus. i could be wrong, and either way, everyone can interpret it differently.

Extra Track: Pretty fun with some really impressive bass work.

If Bob Dylan alienated his core by strumming a strat, Sean gets periously close by going Nirvana. In so doing, it testifies that an absolute virtuoso on acoustic does not equate to the same level of excellence in the humbucker genre. Moreover, in contrast to the river of wonderful melody that spills out of the acoustic paired up with Sean's obvious vocal gifts, the electric tracks sound angry....even ticked off. Half empty is half full. I am all for exploration, but let's focus group it before full scale marketing.