Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Belle & Sebastian you're used to, but wonderful, October 7, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Audio CD)
Like most veteran fans of Belle & Sebastian, I worried about this CD for months before it came out. Would the band evolve away from all the things we love about them? After learning that this album would be produced by Trevor Horn, my concern was that it would sound much too fake and polished--like a cheap plastic version of their old works. B&S singer Stuart Murdoch said (on the band's website I think) that in making Dear Catastrophe Waitress, he and the band had an ammount of fun that hadn't been achieved in making any of their albums since Tigermilk. Now that I've finally heard this new CD, I don't feel Tigermilk, but I certainly do feel the fun. The band has traded their darkest cynicism in for more mature responses and even life-affirmation at moments; exchanged their flat and shaky vocals for strong and deliberate melodies and more harmonies than ever; and as far as instrumental arrangements, the dizziness and some of the etherealness has been replaced by energy and sunniness. The evolutions are of course in a direction that we tasted in their last two full-length albums and last several EP's, but they are most fully realised in Dear Catastrophe Waitress. And not everything has changed: their wit, silliness, playful melodies, and the chamber pop aspect are as strong as ever. Any long-time fan will find here grounds to be nostalgic for the the good ole familiar Belle & Sebastian heard on classics such as If You're Feeling Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap. However, I recommend loving the fact that their sound has not become stagnant, and embracing this new style as lovely and refreshing!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's time to be happy!, October 19, 2003
This review is from: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Audio CD)
I've heard a lot of negative reviews about this album, proclaiming that the Belle and Sebastian of the late 90's are just a memory now. No more will B&S be something we listen to when we are in are darkest times, looking for someone who understands how we feel, and blah blah blah... I will personally attest that I bought this CD while feeling a little down and listening to it really cheered me up. That's pretty cheesy and sentimental to say, I realize, but it's true. This isn't a new Belle and Sebastian. The lyrics are as clever and sarcastic as ever, and Stuart's voice is still as haunting, but now he's got good news to bring us! These are songs about love, hope, and God even. And the joy of which Stuart sings is reflected by stunning instrumental arrangements. More horns and strings than on any other full length make this album a complete musical experience. Songs like "If You Find Yourself Caught In Love" and "Roy Walker" are so happy that they near sappy, but never take themselves seriously enough to cross any sentimental lines. Two standouts for me on this album are two songs that find Belle and Sebastian taking some interesting chances musically. The song "I'm a Cuckoo" is a Thin Lizzy tribute that captures the style and substance of that band, with double-guitar riffs and speech-like vocals. "Stay Loose" has an obvious '80s sound, but not as derivative or clichéd as some bands who have been riding the New New Wave. This song is laced with elements of Bowie, and, in my opinion, later Blondie. When a band like Belle and Sebastian has gotten to be closely associated with the doldrums, it's really nice to hear them have a conscious change in heart.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Scottish Schoolyard Tears Dry Up Ye Damp Wench, November 3, 2003
This review is from: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Audio CD)
I love Belle and Sebastian! I have loved them from their early early days. If you can catch one of their rare live appearances, they're great, the songs sound better, have more bite, and will forever leave an imprint. Their strongest releases still remain "Tigermilk" and "If You're Feeling Sinister" but "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" is truly fantastic work from them, and signifies a welcome return of Stuart Murdoch to captain of the ship. This CD is well worth buying. The songs here might not have quite as strong a pull as their angst-ridden classics of yesteryear soaked with tears and beauty, like "Judy and Her Dream of Horses, " "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying", or "My Wandering Days are Over", but these songs are arguably more fun, and substitute soft fragile yearning for booming bitter rebellion. They are peppier, more swinging songs. Astonishingly varied, and impressively composed, the band is doing some rather interesting experimenting, pushing that musical envelope as far as it can go, and I like the direction they're going in. "Step Into My Office, Baby" and the title track rank with their best recorded material. These songs have a wide bearth, containing fresh, up-tempo but serpentine orchestrations in the style of some of their singles such as "Jonathan David" or "I'm Waking Up to Us." They are blissfully theatrical, and dangerously catchy with a retro tongue-in-cheek-British-Invasion tint to them. You can even dance to "You Don't Send Me." Try it! I'm not crazy, I'm not lying. The folkloric harmonies of the bold "Piazza, New York Catcher" are memorable. "Wrapped Up In Books" is a worthy pop ballad, right out of something that would have been on their "3...6...9...Seconds of Light" EP. "Lord Anthony" seems almost a tribute to their early work, the aching melodies that garnered them so many fans of the Dispossessed and Disillusioned, those with the glazed-over eyes, hanging off the monkey-bars and wondering when they'll be old enough to read Camus. You know who I mean. C'mon, you know. Will you like the odd, dreamy rockabilly-influenced "Roy Walker"? It depends on your mood, I think. "Asleep on a Sunbeam", "I'm A Cuckoo", and "If She Wants Me" are always duds to me, like those songs on the latter part of "Fold Your Hands Child" that you always skip over. There's no particular reason why, but they bring the album down a bit, because there's such a contrast between these songs and the rest of the brilliant work being done on here. If these songs were on another band's album, they'd be my favorite songs on the CD. On here, I just can't pay much attention. They go on a bit. They're a bit flaccid. "If You Find Yourself Caught In Love" practically redeems everything on its own by virtue of its lighthearted infectious rhythms, traced with the ghost of the Carpenters and something maybe like the Monkees. Who knows. Yes, didn't you hear? Belle and Sebastian were accidentally frozen in a block of ice in 1963 and were finally de-thawed in 1995. I know people were concerned the band would go all oino-boingo in the studio with producer Trevor Horn, but the CD has a snappy production to boast of, maintains their basic aesthetic (and self-respect, of course) and concludes with the wildly confusing "Stay Loose." This electro-reggae number will forever be known as the Black Sheep of Belle and Sebastian songs. Later on, when B&S rule the world, factions will form around the integrity of this closing track. Wars will wage, like something out of "Lord of the Rings", but at the end of it all, when the fires are cooling and the cities begin to re-build out of ash, at least there will be a couple of gorgeous melodies to hum to.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
