My Dinosaur Life (LP includes Download Insert) [Vinyl]

Motion City Soundtrack | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (January 19, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B002ZDOY9I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,117 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Worker Bee

2. A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)

3. Her Words Destroyed My Planet

4. Disappear

5. Delirium

6. History Lesson

7. Stand Too Close

8. Pulp Fiction

9. @!#?@!

10. Hysteria

11. Skin and Bones

12. The Weakends (Album Version)

Editorial Reviews

2010 release from the American Punk Pop band. My Dinosaur Life marks the band's major label debut and finds them reuniting with producer and friend Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, who first teamed up with the band when he produced their hit record Commit This to Memory. Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Sonic Youth) was brought in to mix the album and the end result is another step forward: 12 new songs that are lyrically contemplative and poignantly honest while still cleverly culturally astute and music that harkens back to early Motion City Soundtrack while employing the musicianship and maturity the band has gained over the past seven years. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Baby Out with the Bath Water!, March 18, 2010

By 

Russell Carrick "Russ Carrick" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Dinosaur Life (Audio CD)

As Motion City Soundtrack is probably my favorite band of the last five years it is very hard for me to write this review, but I do so in the hopes that the band reads these reviews and might take heed of one DEVOTED fan's heartfelt plea.

The beauty of MCS - what sets them apart from so many more simple bands that occupy a similar genre - is their INTRICACY. Going well beyond the guitar-and-vocals-backed-up-by-a rhythm-section formula of rock and roll, the band (in the past) has created finely-detailed aural creations where every instrument doesn't just back up the others but rather AUGMENTS them (and even the drums sketch intricate lines)...so what you get is a sort of sonic feast where you can listen to a song over and over again savoring the nuanced mechanics of so many elements doing so many different things at once, yet all making the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

Now - and I can't stress this too strongly - this effect is best exemplified by MCS's keyboard element, which adds not merely another layer of sound, but a whole additional DIMENSION of sound to their songs (while at the same time giving them a unique and welcome signature.) I say all this to point out that, if you remove this whole other dimension, what you have is quite simply a set of songs that are LACKING A WHOLE DIMENSION--sounding in the end less intricate, less full, and less intense. Put another way, Motion City Soundtrack was made to be a loaded sundae, not very good scoop of vanilla.

My fear is that somewhere along the line the band bought into the notion that their keyboards, their gear-shifting refrains, and all their little nuances made them less punk in attitude or seriousness. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a dyed-in-the-wool devotee of punk essentialism (and all varieties of *up-tight* rock and roll energy), and have lamented many times after a band lost their edge or succumbed to over-production. And while "Even if it Kills Me" is a little prettier than "I Am the Movie" it was BY NO MEANS any sort of shark-jumping album. Yes - "I Am the Movie" was a little more raw, but it was filled with wonderful flourishes and keyboards; and - Yes - "Even if it Kills Me" was more polished and poppy, but it was still filled with Motion City Soundtrack's heartfelt agita and speed. Just listen to "Fell in Love Without You." This was what I was expecting when heard Mark Hoppus was back producing - NOT a stripped down version of a band whose strength lies precisely in all their accessories!

So, gentlemen, if your listening - for your next album bring back the lost dimensions, "throw it all" in every song, and don't be afraid of polish...it's what you do. (And I'll be there waiting.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Escaping The Tar Pits, November 14, 2010

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: My Dinosaur Life (Audio CD)

They've turned up the guitars and let them rip. Motion City Soundtrack work the best elements of pop-punk (think Blink-182, whose Mark Hoppus produces) and hyper-powered emo (think Fall Out Boy at their accelerated best) for "My Dinosaur Life." It's adolescent rock with punky snottiness mixed in with the catchy melodies and flippant attitude, all while poking fun at the whole genre.

After all, what band would openly cop to 'watching Veronica Mars again' while waiting up for their girlfriend without the credibility swirling the drain? Or claim that they should be better respected because of their good behavior, which they do on the opening track "Worker Bee"? But then they blow that opportunity sky-high with the musically hysterical "@!#?@!" where they go to the falsettos when they sing the Mother F-er chorus. It's a good joke and doesn't wear thin after repeated listens (as does the wretched "F-You" by Cee-lo).

Despite the humor, these are terse songs about relationships. Motion City Soundtrack pump enough energy into "Disappear," "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" or "History Lesson" (the obvious single) to cover the bitterness, and even when a savage lyric that describes a failed relationship as being

"Like a slasher film,

I'm torn in all directions,

the plot sucks

but the killings are gorgeous"

you can't help but smile. "My Dinosaur Life" is one of my faves for the year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed the album, but a word of warning, October 30, 2010

By 

Justin Strother "TANSTAAFL!" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Dinosaur Life (Audio CD)

I sought out the uncensored version of this album after getting burned in the past. The number of swears that would be masked would make this album virtually unusable. It would be a mistake not to get the unedited version.

That being said, I greatly enjoyed the album and will be seeking more from Motion City Soundtrack.