Customer Reviews

Dear 23

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard this CD when I was a junior in college and it quickly became an instant fixture in my stereo. This follow up to the very catchy "Failure" is a geniune pop masterpiece. Released around the time when grunge was king, Dear 23 was an overlooked album that can easily compete with their other Seattle counterparts in quality. Although "Frosting on the Beater" was probably their biggest commercial success, this album is by far the gem of their career.

The harmonies of Jon and Ken are seldom rivaled and are what seperates them from the pack. This release shows their very diverse song writing talents, from the emotionally powerful "Any other way" to the jazzy "Mrs. Green" to the heavy "Help yourself" with two excellent acoustic numbers in between. Never lost is their remarkable sense of melody and catchy hooks. With lyrics like, "The lines across your face are drawn with hate, 'cause I'm drawn to someone else..." this album has a very dark, anti-relationship message throughout. This is a must-own CD for any fan of clever, well written pop songs surrounded by excellent harmonies.

"Dear 23" is an album that I loved upon first listen..the harmonies of Jon and Ken are fabulous, coupled with wonderful, hearfelt lyrics/insturmentation-this is not just your average pop music!! While their sound is vaguely reminiscient of late 60's-early 70's psychedelia, the Posies had also created a niche for themselves in the music scene that was, sadly, sorely under-appreciated and overlooked...I am so glad I didn't make that mistake!! The whole album is incredible, but I would have to say that my 2 outstanding favorite tracks are "Apology" and especially "Any Other Way"-talk about packing an emotional whack upside the head!! The Posies are no longer together, but fortunately, they left behind a fabulous body of music treasures..."Dear 23" is not to be missed!!!

I've been a Posies fan for years now, introduced to them, like many others were, by their album Frosting On The Beater and the semi-hit "Dream All Day." With the advent of internet shopping I could now find their other albums and I started buying them all. This album stopped me in my tracks, and years later I have yet to recover.

This is wonderful and timeless pop music. Sure, they wear their influences on their sleeves. So what? With songwriting this strong I don't see how anyone could complain. The vocal harmonies are top notch, blending so seemlessly into one voice. Jon Auer's lead guitar work is sublime, and in the case of songs like "Flood Of Sunshine," a profoundly spiritual experience. The depth of metaphor that fills songs like "You Avoid Parties" and "Everyone Moves Away" is beautiful on so many levels. And who can't relate to songs like "Help Yourself," "Apology," and "Any Other Way"?

A lot of people say that this album is over-produced, but I just don't hear that. Sure, the production is thick and there's plenty of reverb, but I've always believed that big songs deserve a big production. These songs perfectly walk the line between orchestrated pop and explosive arena rock, and the detailed and intricate production suits them perfectly in my opinion. Later albums seem rather under-produced in comparison, subscribing to the grunge school of rock that shunned big budget recordings.

There really isn't anything about this album that I don't like. From start to finish it transports you to another place in a way that no other album I own has been able to do. I don't listen to it as much as I once did, but every time I crack it out I find myself blown away all over again. Every chill that pulses down my spine makes me think that this is the most perfect power pop album ever recorded.

...

I got this cd in my junior year of college, and it pretty much changed my life. It was sort of like a latter day Simon and Garfunkel album in that it captured the innocence of being young and the complexities of a grown up world at the same time. Sure, that sounds cliche, but there's just something about this album that reached inside me and yanked hard. I bought it after liking "Frosting on the Beater" and several Posies fans telling me that this was the cd by them I had to have next. They were right. It's become one of the best cds I own.

It's pure pop- beautiful melodies, jangly guitars, and witty lyrics. Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have gorgeous voices that blend and lift and soar. It's rare that an album has both amazing songwriting and excellent performance of those songs- usually one outshines the other. But this album manages to combine both. I literally had to sit down when I first heard "Any Other Way" - it was that powerful. Other standout songs include "Suddenly Mary", "You Avoid Parties", and "Flood of Sunshine".

It was the perfect album for the emotions I was going through at the time. It is the soundtrack for being caught between wanting to grow up and looking forward to the future and being scared to death of what is to come. It is a combination of love, independence, fear, and joy. It's just a beautiful album. Buy it.

Incredible sophmore effort...Singing and arranging was breath taking. For those who thought melody was dead and longed for another "Lets Active" release, this filled the bill. Any songwriter would love to have voices like these to sing their songs.

"APOLOGY","ANY OTHER WAY" and "You Avoid Parties" are the stand out tracks to get lost in. "Golden Blunders" and "Suddenly Mary" are fun in their own right. Again one of the few cds that you can play all the way through.

The absolute best CD you never heard of! SO addictive, brilliant and well put together, it confounds me how this CD isn't rated in the top 10 CDs of all time. Golden Blunders, Mrs. Green, My Big Mouth, I could go on and on and on. BUY IT.Dear 23

In my opinion, The Posies are one of the '90s most underestimated and overlooked bands. Although they maintained significant support in the Seattle area and in Europe and Japan, for one reason or another they were never fully discovered in the United States. Dear 23 is their 2nd release (first professionally recorded release) and came to be the single-most influential album in my life throughout the '90s and still to this day. This album has a wonderful melancholy feel throughout. The tracks flow beautifully from one track to the next, ending with "Flood of Sunshine" which begins at a slow crawl and builds continually, climbing to the height of the album, then quickly subsides to a single sustained note that fades into perfect silence. The quality of the lyrics are second to none, they are intelligent and well composed. "Golden Blunders" (track #2) which received limited airplay on MTV (which is where I first heard of The Posies), is a catchy power-pop tune, once I heard it, I was hooked. I've since purchased all of The Posies' albums and I have seen them live at least 9 times in Seattle. My favorite tracks on this album are: "Golden Blunders" "Apology" "Any Other Way" "Help Yourself" "Everyone Moves Away" and of course "Flood of Sunshine". I have given this ablum as a gift to numerous friends, all of which claim to love it.

Beautiful vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Hollies married with soaring pop melodies showcase the Posies first major label release. As perfect a record as any band could hope for, The Posies journey into the music world was downhill from here. Dear 23 was a commercial failure because of the overnight sensation of the grunge scene that also hit in 1990, leaving little interest in a Power Pop band. Songs that should have become classics include "Golden Blunders," "Apology," "Suddenly Mary," and "Everyone Moves Away."

Heartfelt, lyrical, harmonious, intelligent. It really doesn't get any better than this.

The Posie's second album is a remarkable collection of bombastic, over-the-top, endlessly enjoyable tunes that focus on the band's superior songwriting ability and strong understanding of pop music history. Few bands since the Hollies have such wonderful harmonies. You can't help but sing-along. There isn't a single dud on the album. Tracks like "Golden Blunders", "My Big Mouth" and "Suddenly Mary" are instant pop classics and "Any Other Way", "Mrs. Green" and "Flood of Sunshine" are forceful, huge statements that show hints of 70s progressive rock. "You Avoid Parties" and "Everyone Moves Away" shows the band's acoustic side, which works undeniably well. The album is certainly overproduced, but that is part of this album's joys. It might sound pretentious, but "Dear 23" has so much life, energy and skill - powerpop essentials - you just have to be charmed. One of life's cheap thrills.