Customer Reviews

Downward Is Heavenward

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have yet to find a reason why Hum is not more well known or popular (around Los Angeles at least). Sadly, Satan (the radio) mainly allowed only ONE track of Hum seep onto the radio waves and that song was "Stars" from their album "You'd Prefer An Astronaut". Any Hum fan could tell you that Stars was not their best song, maybe the catchiest, but not their most complex.

By first appearance the members don't look as intimidating as their music. Although love through a scientific microscope really isn't "intimidating" to many. Matt Talbott (vocalist) doesn't look like he could hurt a fly unless it slammed into his large bifocal lenses. The band itself doesn't resemble the cliché of "hardcore rock band". Maybe it has something to do with coming from Champagne, Illinois.

They push their instruments in all directions, from a hard ambient orchestra of grunge as in "Isle Of The Cheetah" or the tranquil yet distorted space rollercoaster of "Afternoon With The Axolotls", these 4 gentlemen could easily be mistaken for neo-grunge symphony composers. Though their intellectual aspect is seen not only through instruments but also through their lyrical sentiment. They combine love with science and astronomy and create a true uniqueness that defines Hum. I'm not going to sugar coat anymore explanatory definitions in reference to Hum, you can find an ultimate and passionate understanding here: [ http://www.h-u-m.net/bio/index.shtml ] (Oh and bookmark that site--it's amazing how much passion was devoted. Thanks Marijun!)

There may not be many fans out there, but I've noticed that the majority that are, are diehard. There has to be a reason for that impact. Maybe you should check it out and find out for yourself--then enlighten friends! After hearing an album, it shouldn't surprise you why 3/4 band members obtain their Master's Degrees. Yet, the only surprise that stands is the majority that are unaware of the brilliance that remains to echo here.

Maybe it's just that Hum is too deep for the common listener, whom prefers to swim comfortably at the surface rather than swim down into the unknown. After all, Downward is Heavenward. (Cheeeesy but true!)
-Steve

Downward Is Heavenward is the fourth and final album from Champaign Illinois spacerockers Hum, released in 1998. Hum is perhaps best known for their signature "wall of sound" aesthetic, featuring two droning guitars, slowly crushing you beneath huge waves of layered distortion, while Matt Talbot's soft voice floats delicately above it all. The dual guitars perpetually build on one other's dissonance, shaping a sonic landscape of endless lingering suspensions that rarely resolve. Every sound on the album shimmers, from the epic wash of the cymbals to the background noise loops, meticulously generated from delay pedals and multi-effects processors.

Cryptic lyrics about space travel and time machines might serve to obscure the meaning, but underneath the sci-fi allegories and behind the intricately layered arrangements, lies a collection of 10 perfectly crafted love songs. In "Apollo," the most stripped-down song on the album, Talbot is at his most vulnerable, softly repeating "I'm thinking of a number between everything and two," while reverb-drenched guitars bounce off each other's echoes in the distance. The space between lines creates a tension that he refuses to release until the final chord of the song, when he adds "it's molecules of you," almost as an afterthought. Every single track on the album is similarly constructed for an intense and moving experience.

Historically, it seems heavily distorted guitars are often employed to distance oneself from the music, to prevent an emotional connection. Yet with Downward Is Heavenward, Hum is somehow able to achieve the opposite effect, their songs sincere and vulnerable, without resorting to visceral screams or high-pitched emo whining. The chemistry between the four musicians is unmistakable, each instrument complementing the others to create a succinct and coherent whole. If you're able to find the b-sides "Puppets" and "Aphids," I highly recommend burning all 12 songs on one CD for a solid 62 minutes of transcendent spacerock. Although I wish the band hadn't broken up 7 years ago, I'm grateful that we have yet to see a wave of imitators selling Hum knock-offs that serve only to cheapen the original, and I'm thankful that we will always have this album as a reminder of what truly great music is capable of achieving.

Hum is a band that can be embraced by both indie snobs and fans of more commercial rock, and for good reason. The songs are beyond compare, the lyrics are romantic in a highly intelligent, strange, and yet comforting manner. And of course, the riffs destroy just about everything in its path. Like the guitar haze of My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, and Flying Saucer Attack? Check. Like the riffs of the Deftones, Failure, and The Smashing Pumpkins? Hum leave those guys in the dust. Downward Is Heavenward will perhaps remain one of the 90's most overlooked records, rather sadly. It takes the potential of You'd Prefer An Astronaut and completely follows through times ten. Whether underground or commercial sounds are more your speed, you'll definitely find something to like here.

last december i bought astronaut and liked it alot. then i remembered hum released a new record so i got that.i wasnt sure if it would be good so i bought it on tape. let me just tell you after listening to it at least 1000 times i still love it.hum is a very different band than others that play this type of rock because they progress and put out good albums.you can tell they know what their doing because the music is very inteligent. its a very romantic record and at times sound heavenlike and very hypnotic. if thats your thing this album is for you.i can only say that the big guitars and very technical drums make this record a huge wall of sound. the wimpy but outsanding vocals make a really good contrast against the heavy distorted guitars.this is one of my favorite albums and i dont have many. the songs that i feel are best are isle of the cheetha-green to me- afternoon with the axolotls-the inuit promise and comin'home. but those are just my favorites but the whole album is great.its very good album oriented math rock.i really cant say enough great things about this record. if you only get one hum record forget youd perfer an astronaut and get this one you wont be disapointed

in my time I have heard people say that hum is similar to bands like Failure and Blinker the Star quite a bit. Okay, fair enough, but really they are in a league all of their own. While their music will most likely appeal to fans of those bands, hum owns a uniqueness that few have experienced but many come to love. Everything from the swelling guitar riffs to the soaring solos (if you can call them that, they usually have one guy soloing during the chorus, and the other is playing riffs), to the manic drumming, and the stuffy vocals set them apart from the mainstream. Its really too bad they didnt stick around, although it really wasnt their fault either. Downward is Heavenward starts out slow, with Isle of the Cheetah, Mat Talbot's nasal voice slicing through a lush guitar riff. It builds up slowly and gets heavier and heavier, until it fades off and gets light again. One would think this sets the mood for the album, but it really doesnt. Hum mixes in emo, pop, and rock in an amazing record. Highlights include If you are to Bloom, The Scientists, The Inuit Promise, and Green to Me. Check this one out if you havent already, I think that you will like it. Hum was a band with a lot of potential and a lot of talent. These four musicians blend together very very well, and it works extremely good. A musical masterpiece not to be missed.

in the great pantheon of music, one thing is clear: drug addicts write the best songs. time and again this truth is proven. radiohead, spacemen 3, pat boone (just kidding). hum should fall into that category. on the first few listens, "downward is heavenward" seems like one of those albums that sound like it was made in some magical faraway land of colorful sounds and lyrics that somehow say what our souls have been aching to scream for ages. but the more spins you hear, the more you notice how incredible the songwriting is, how phenomenal the guitar work gets, how masterfully the entire album was mixed and assembled. this wasn't a drug-induced record. these guys are just that far ahead.

"isle of the cheetah" is undoubtedly a rock gem. i defy you to find its equal. it serves as the portal into a 52 minute lesson about the universe you can't see with your eyes. from there, the album winds its way along, alternately chundering, melodic, and surreal. moments of pure genius are stacked all along the jouney, in every song. "apollo" is one of the top 5 "starry night highway driving" songs, hands down. and to top it all off, as if this album needed it, "scientists" purges all the guitar angst of the space-age life and leaves you breathless and desparate to listen to it all again.

buy this album. it is head and shoulders above all but a select few records EVER. it stands as hum's defining and most mature effort.

After Hum's amazing You'd Prefer an Astronaut, they released this album to very little commercial success, but as with other hum albums, it was not the sales that matered but the overall vibe and sound that another album, by this extremely underappreciated band, could achieve , by progressing their formula for success and improving every single thing about the album in general. One of YPAA biggest flaws relates to the sound quality of the album, though the dynamics of sound and the clarity is great, you can tell that the album was not recorded as well as this album was, due primarily to the fact that for YPAA, you'd have to turn your stereo so high that distortion was almost imminent. However, this album nixes that recording sound and from the opening chord you can tell that Hum's sound has remained in tact, the space sound reverberates through your stereo and your head amplifying the octaves of the music, and once again Matt Talbott's lyrics draw you into his world of lost love and quite literally make you sit there in awe at the progress this band has achieved from their previous album to this one. Guitars are more clear, the drumming is more powerful, and the bass guitar comes in at the perfect moments of each song showing us just what a force Hum could truly make with their music. Every single song is a tour de force, as Hum's unique sound is perfected on songs like Ms. Lazarus, If You are to Bloom, and one of my favrite Hum songs of all time Apollo. this song reaches into your heart and makes you feel just what it was meant to; the feelings of loss and detachment that come from an extremely important relationship, and hoping and wishing while looking to the stars hoping that one day the two of you will meet again if only to connect for that brief moment in time, but knowing that the feelings you two hold for one another will at the same time cause resentment as a hidden sign of love. Perhaps I am wrong about my analysis, but the girl Matt Talbott sings about in most of thes songs is the same girl on the inside of the booklet with YPAA, and they split ways only to eventually get back together and marry having a child, who unfortunately died, and who was one of the driving inspirations for Matt Talbotts next band Centaur, which formed after Hum split up. Centaur is a great band as well and takes a bit of getting used to but they achieve an amazing sense of union even though the previous other members are not in this band, they went on to form Glifted. Check this album out, an amazing accomplishment and one of the most powerful and amazing performances by a band which to this day few bands can claim reached the cult following this band did while staying true to their roots and improving their formula at the same time. Peace out!

I've been a HUM fan for about 3 years. I can't even describe how many times i've listened to this album. beautiful musicianship. I've never heard such a sonic harmony before. They are masters at taking simple riffs and transform them to nothing short of genius. less truly is more. just buy this damn album. you won't regret it

I saw Hum back on the 'You'd Prefer an Astronaut' tour (man I'm gettin old), when they opened for The Verve. The funny thing is that when I saw these these guys live, you would never have thought that such a nebish and nerdy looking bunch of kids could deliver such a wall of melodic sound. You could tell by the crazy chords the guitarist/lead singer (I can't remember his name) was playing, that there was something pretty special going on. My friend and I went to talk to them after the show...boy what a bunch of [rudies].

Rock star/double platinum attitude not withstanding, I figured these guys would fade away like the rest of the alt rock movement. They did .....but not without leaving this one undiscovered gem. While inconsistent in some places, this album puts together a melodic and sonic soundscape that is unrivaled by anything else I have ever heard. It is an unadulterated corner of the music universe, which is meant to be enjoyed by the few who are lucky enough to appreciate it. The best part, is realizing that something truly beautiful can come from a very unlikely and long forgotten place.

Hum is one of those absolutely transcendental bands. I think it's clear that DiH is their magnum opus... the production in particular on this album is unbelievable, and yet it's not overproduced. I think that back in the days of alternative rock, people just went about recording much differently. It was all about creating an original sound, and that is one of Hum's biggest strengths. It was kind of frustrating when, upon trying to get into these guys, I found nothing on the internet but a barren wasteland of dead end links. I can only assume that the band is now defunct... If I had to liken Hum to bands people know better (which is a difficult task mind you) I'd say it's sonically in the vein of Smashing Pumpkins- but by that I mean only the guitars, bass and drum production techniques. Maybe if the Pumpkins never made it big and were a humble indie band, then they might be something akin to Hum. But compositionally, Hum's songs are just something else. Tool-esque, maybe? Not quite. Hum don't aim to impress with musical technicality, and yet their music always has just a bit of a learning curve... You'll have a bit of a tough time grooving to "Isle of the Cheetah" or "Comin' Home" on the first listen. But the challenge of the music is never so much that it hinders the vision of the song or takes the spotlight. And lyrically, these guys are perfect. The lyrics are cryptic, yes... but not in the nerdiest sense, thank god. ("Yeah, there's speculation that the H stands for heroin, or heaven and hell, or the H in Jesus H. Christ, or...") They will grow on you. You will listen to a song one day, and a particular line that never caught your attention will all of a sudden describe you, in that moment, perfectly. I think there's another element in their music too... insecurity. Being known by many, respected by some, understood by very few. Obviously, Matt Talbott knows a thing or two about solitude, as the curiously scientific ring of almost all his lyrics suggest an introverted dude who's got some time on his hands. But when others are brought into the spotlight, the dominant feelings are love. Sometimes they even venture on all-out adoration, a connectedness so special that you create dreamscapes to be with the person.

So let's see, if you're already into Hum, maybe you have "Astronaut," or maybe you remember stars. But to give a song by song breakdown- "Isle of the Cheetah" is a mid-tempo masterpiece. The climax of this song (somewhere around that massive drum fill toward the end) is love incarnate, and the melody and chord changes... it's definitely one of my favorites. "Comin' Home" is a straight up Hum hard-rocker. And when these guys rock out, they rock out. I couldn't help but notice that this album has a "strategy" for hooking the listener that's similar to "You'd Prefer An Astronaut." Both albums start out with a spacey, mid-tempo tune and then go straight into a fast, heavy rocker for the second track. I'm not complaining, it works. "If You Are To Bloom" seems to groove in a way that's very un-typical for Hum, and takes a bit of getting used to... but it's positively a love song, and the lyrics follow suit. "Ms. Lazarus" is catchy, but there's not much to it for me. I think they could have put a little bit more into writing this one. "Afternoon With the Axolotls" is my favorite track. Lullaby-soft to enveloping, creeping along... right up there with the Pumpkins' "Soma." "Green to Me" gets us back to the r a w k. Energetic, but it also has that unbelievable melody to it that's pure Hum. "Dreamboat" is my second fav. A masterpiece. There are no words to describe the outro to this one. "The Inuit Promise" is kind of cute. Definitely one of the more discordant tunes. "Apollo" is the album's slow tune, and it is *perfect*. Not at all mushy or whiny, but delicate and heartfelt and desperate. And finally, we end with "The Scientists." I guess Hum didn't want this album to end on a down-note, because this tune bounces along happily.

"Downward Is Heavenward" is easily one of my top ten favorites. Hum's genius is something more modern bands should aspire to. Oh wait a minute, alt-rock is dead. Damn!