Easy Wonderful

Guster | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Aware/Universal Republic
• ASIN: B0040318MC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,792 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Ever since their humble beginnings at Tufts University, Guster have always sought to outdo themselves. They sell out New York's fabled Radio City Music Hall one year and perform with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall the next. They sell out a 33-date college tour, and this past spring founded the eco-friendly Campus Consciousness Tour, with buses powered by biodiesel and performances powered by wind power. It's in this overachieving band's nature to one-up itself.

So don't expect it to be any different with the release of Guster's new album, Ganging Up on the Sun. The Boston-bred band's fifth studio release may be a melody-minded, breezy, free-spirited, literate pop record like its predecessors--2003's Keep it Together, 1999's Lost and Gone Forever, 1996's Goldfly, and 1994's Parachute--but this time around, Guster are "more fearless than ever before," says singer-guitarist Ryan Miller. They've pushed themselves both stylistically and emotionally, resulting in their most confident and superlative work to date.

"This album has our loudest song ("The Beginning of the End"), our quietest ("Empire State"), and our longest ("Ruby Falls"). "One song has one of our most sincere lyrics ("Hang On") and definitely some of our most cynical." While Miller doesn't cop to any specific lyrical themes ("I write a melody and words pop up around it"), he does note that most of the words were written against the backdrop of "a president taking a country to war based on some very dubious rationale."

You can hear a thread of dissent in songs like "Captain," "Lightning Rod," "Manifest Destiny," and "The New Underground." "But I never want to be preachy," Miller says. "I'm not telling you whose face to throw a pie in. I'm just trying to exorcise some frustration, some anger, and maybe a provide a channel for someone else's frustration and anger."

Ganging Up on the Sun's sunny, driving-with-the-top-down melodies, vintage harmonies, and warm guitar jangle do recall artists you'd associate with the '60s and '70s--bands who also wrote during a time of war and societal mistrust of government--such as CSNY, Mamas and the Papas, Fleetwood Mac, the Band, the Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty. Are Guster wearing their influences a bit more on their sleeve this time around?

"The word `classic' was used a lot throughout recording as a goal for the sound of this album," singer-guitarist Adam Gardner says, "and it definitely has a more classic rock feel to it." Adds Rosenworcel: "I think when we switched from the `just guitars and percussion' shtick to using whatever was in front of us, we ended up sounding more like bands we were listening to."

The shtick he's referring to is Guster's early years as a trio when, onstage, front men Miller and Gardner stuck to acoustic guitars and Rosenworcel played bongos with his bare hands. They've come a long way since then, and even added a member. Ganging Up on the Sun is Guster's first album as a four-piece: Joe Pisapia, a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist who played on Keep it Together and performs with them live, joined full-time when they began recording the new album.

"Joe is by far the best musician in the band," says Miller. "He can play every instrument and has taken our level of musicianship up about seven notches. Brian, Adam, and I spent ten years together in rooms, buses, and vans--it means so much to have this new energy as part of our equation. It still feels very much like Guster, just a more confident, muscular, refined Guster."

Not only did Pisapia add texture and oomph to the tracks by playing banjo, dulcimer, trumpet, and lap steel guitar, he also served as producer for half of the songs, which were recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium and completed at Pisapia's home studio, Ivy League, from January to April 2005. The second batch were recorded later in the year at the secluded mountaintop studio Allaire in Shokan, New York, with Ron Aniello, who also worked on Keep it Together.

"I think in the back of my mind I knew we were writing our best material yet," says Rosenworcel. One of the highlights is the lead-off single "One Man Wrecking Machine," which is about a guy who hates his life and wants to go back to "the good ole days" and hang out with his buddies, get high, and make out with the hottest girl in school, as Miller puts it. "I've had that fantasy my entire adult life," he says, "Like, what if I had the confidence of a 30-year-old man as a high school sophomore?"

Another highlight on Ganging Up on the Sun is the seven-minute "Ruby Falls," a celestial epic that features an uncharacteristic muted trumpet in the outro ("I listen to that solo and think `that's on my record'?" says Rosenworcel). "Personally, I can't wait to play `Ruby Falls' live," says Miller. "Not just because I love the song, but because I think there's a power to it that may even be bigger than what we captured in the studio. Or I could be wrong and we'll sound like the Carpenters."

"I just love that our band feels unpredictable right now," Rosenworcel says happily. "I love that no one knows what to expect from us."

Pop quiz, no cheating: name a band that, fifteen years on, is operating at the absolute peak of its creative powers, making the most inspired, timeless music and playing to the largest audiences of its career? The answers don't come easily, but we have one: Guster.

Few would have predicted the evolution that Guster has undergone, but then, Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, Brian Rosenworcel and Joe Pisapia have been quietly confounding expectations since Guster began recording 15 years ago. With their new album Easy Wonderful, the quartet has made a piece of art that rewards each listen. With the reflective opener "Architects and Engineers," the pop gem "Do You Love Me," the optimistic anthem "Bad Bad World," the wall of sound production of "What You Call Love" and the haunting ballad "Stay With Me Jesus," Guster have created the best album of their lives.

The four-year gap between their last album, 2006's Ganging Up on the Sun, and Easy Wonderful was a bit longer than the quartet had anticipated. Miller admits, "I wish that it had taken two months instead of this long, but I feel like we did everything we had to do to make a great album." Work commenced in 2008 -- which was a big personal year for Miller, Rosenworcel and Gardner, as they all became fathers for the first time. To accommodate their growing families, the band decided upon a different tack in songwriting. Miller says, "Rather than the way it was before where we would live together for four months, this time we would work for like a week or two, break for a couple weeks, work on stuff on our own and then come back. We worked really well that way."

When Guster started thinking about going into the studio, they decided they wanted to work with an outside producer. Gardner explains, "We did the last record ourselves. But this time we thought, `We all now have kids, we're all going to be fragmented, we're all going to be coming in and out of this process, we need somebody who's got their eye on the prize the whole time.'" After trying out a few different people, David Kahne (The Strokes, Paul McCartney) became the clear choice. Pisapia says Kahne impressed him with his ability to get inside their new material. "His notes on the songs were so astute and so attentive. He knew every part of every song and what was special about it. He spent a fair amount of time with us in rehearsal before we even went into the studio and he'd have very specific suggestions about certain parts - even how to play them."

The recording sessions were quick and efficient, but the group didn't feel fully satisfied with the results. Gardner says they made the decision to take a break from the recording process. "We all retreated to our corners. We all had to step away from it to see what we needed to do to improve it." During this break Miller started writing a couple of new songs by himself, but found he couldn't recapture the spark which had made the band's first group of songs so compelling. Miller credits a deep and soul-searching conversation with Rosenworcel in breaking his creative logjam. Miller says, "Brian and I had a conversation and it was like, 'Right, we can do this.' And I just kind of let go of everything. I just decided I was going to write music and I didn't care what it was. And then the floodgates opened, like it never had before for me. It was really amazing." In an explosion of creativity, Miller penned six songs in a couple of weeks. The band listened to Miller's demos and were thoroughly reinvigorated by the new material.

Guster reconvened in Nashville at Pisapia's brand new Middletree Studios, which the talented multi-instrumentalist built by hand with his fiancee. He says he wanted to make a comfortable place to work where "you could take a record from A to Z." And his three bandmates agree that he succeeded in creating a work environment that brought Easy Wonderful to the next level. Gardner says, "Physically and emotionally Joe's studio was so different, we'd been in this basement studio in New York City, cramped in this space with no windows that we jokingly called 'The Dungeon.' Joe's place is totally the opposite--, this stunning open-concept studio that has a great vibe. We found ourselves hanging out there even if we weren't recording. There was an immense feeling of freedom the moment we left New York and started recording in Nashville."

The quartet quickly recorded Miller's new compositions as well as tweaking a batch of songs they recorded with Kahne. The end result of the two recording sessions is what Pisapia calls "the classic Guster pop record. And that's what I always thought we should do. We had our period where we've tried on a lot of different hats and different musical costumes, which is a lot of fun. But this record feels a lot more germane to who the band really is." Rosenworcel adds, "When I try to describe our album to people I've been saying, we really just honed in on trying to write 12 great pop songs. I think Easy Wonderful is more consistent than anything we've done."

Gardner says that the process of creating Easy Wonderful has been a turning point for Guster. "I feel like we learned a lot and came out of it as stronger players, writers and record makers. We feel more energized about our music and playing together than ever. I think we've shot past where we've been and we've made a better record than we've ever made before."

So how does an album end up being called Easy Wonderful? Miller says his family was driving through Brooklyn one day when his wife spotted a sign that said "Easy Wonderful Corporation." Miller then told his bandmates about the sign in passing one day. "We had been talking about the album title and I told the guys my wife saw that sign. And Brian immediately said, 'I like Easy Wonderful a lot.' And I was like, 'That wasn't even a suggestion!'" Gardner feels the title is appropriate for the album he's most proud of in Guster's career. "It's a really accurate description of what making the record at Joe's was like. It was our best recording process ever. I think we're in the best spot we've ever been as a band working together, and it shows on this album."

Product Description

2010 release from the Alt-Rockers. Following their release of well received and much more grown-up Ganging Up On The Sun in 2006, Guster took a mini-hiatus to focus on parenting and other ventures. They were also continuing to transition into becoming a quartet with the addition of producer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia who had just joined the group. Three years later, they would be performing at venues across the U.S. with new tracks in their arsenal. These songs would soon become the building blocks for Easy Wonderful.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 80 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Guster trying to be Guster October 9, 2010

By D-Rich

Format:Audio CD

How does one review this album? From beginning to finish, there is not one track that you're going to skip. Theres nothing horrible here. However, theres not one track that you're going to want to skip ahead to, either. This album doesn't have a "Satellite", "Fa Fa", "Happier" or "Careful" thats going to pull you in. It also doesn't have a "Ruby Falls" or a "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" as an epic ballad. This is an album full of twelve songs that pretty much don't TAKE ANY CHANCES. They are all mid tempo, three minute pop songs. They all sound very much alike, and it's a bit of a shame. Songs like these have always been on Guster albums, but for every "C'mon", there was always something like "Lightning Rod" that really caught your attention as something different. The guys played it safe this time, trying to sound like the band they thought they should be. That kicked Adam Gardner totally off vocal duties, totally killed the bongo percussion, and turned the songwriting into a strict formatted process. This album has no variation, and suffers from it. Guster has always been a "happy" band, but this album is just a bit too sugar coated for its own good.

Guster fans, I still would suggest looking into this album. It will not be your favorite album by the band, not by a longshot, but you will find 12 decent songs that will entertain you by a band that you like. To people who are not familiar with the band, DO NOT START HERE. Start with Lost and Gone Forever and Keep it Together.

I hate writing a review like this. Guster is the band that got me into music, and they finally slipped. 4 year gap between albums and not one standout track? It just doesn't make sense. Guster seems to have always been trying to find their "sound", and this is the album where they honed in on what they considered their best assets. Problem is, Guster's definitive sound turns out to be when they have no idea what they want to sound like. This is not a great album. This is not a horrible album. It's somewhere in between, to the point where it's hard to figure out what you think of it. That can't be a good thing.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Guster - Easy Wonderful October 5, 2010

By Rudolph Klapper VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Guster has been calmly making what amounts to the same pop-rock-with-an-unfair-ear-for-hooks since 1999's classic Lost and Gone Forever, with varying degrees of success. I've gotten older, and Guster's fans have definitely gotten older - I recently attended a show where the majority of the audience was way past college and hovering around the black hole of their 30s - but Guster have pretty much stayed exactly the same, and it doesn't seem to mean a thing. Maybe that's why they're one of the few bands from my high school days that have yet to truly disappoint me.

Now the critical part of me finds plenty to dislike with this, their sixth album. It's absolutely nonthreatening - if I had to compare Easy Wonderful to a living thing, it'd be a koala bear, cuddly and furry with a strict vegetarian diet. Drummer Brian Rosenworcel's brilliant hand drumming, which defined the band's early sound and still makes their live shows one of my favorites, has been, by and large, neutered to a standard sticks-and-pedals kit. Adam Gardner's lovely baritone is now reserved strictly for backing vocals, and singer Ryan Miller shows an increasing love for saccharine lyrics and chintzy sentiments that would best be left in a Hallmark card. In other words, it's the same gradual progression towards "dad-rock" that Ganging Up On The Sun hinted at, but with one slight addendum: Guster is still churning out some of the best melodies of their career.

It's why I know that Guster will always be the security blanket of my musical existence when they keep tossing out effortless gems like unreasonably catchy first single "Do You Love Me." Hell, any band that can use song titles like that or "Bad Bad World" or (God help us) "This Is How It Feels To Have A Broken Heart" and make me immediately forgive them when that melody hits has my respect. Guster have been doing this a long time, and occasionally it shows, but I can't think of another band who, song-for-song, keep coming up with choruses and hooks that stay in my head when other, more "challenging" albums gather dust until I have to write my end-of-year lists. There's been better songs this year, but few more likely to have me singing along in my highest pitch than "That's No Way To Heaven" and fewer still with the potential to kick around my skull for weeks like "Do You Want," or "Architects and Engineers," or virtually everything else here. There's nothing more groundbreaking here than some well-placed banjo twang, and Easy Wonderful hasn't made me think or made me call up a friend late at night caught in some ten-minute-plus audio brilliance. This is just guitars, bass, drums, and harmonies, and it's absolutely, relentlessly gorgeous. If Guster can grow old and still sound so cheerful, maybe everything won't be so drab after all.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars They keep getting older, but their audience stays the same age. October 11, 2010

By J. Loudon

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Formed in 1991, Guster has been playing to the same crowd for a long time now. Although there is certainly a residual fan base from their earliest days, the vast majority of Guster's popularity comes from the college market. Although they started as an acoustic trio featuring hand percussion in place of a standard drum set, Guster has since expanded into a mainstream pop rock band, still frequently utilizing hand percussion.

Leading off with "Architects & Engineers," Guster instantly feels familiar. A laid back beat combined with an unavoidably catchy chorus featuring more "ooo"s than words seems to be Guster's true key to success. One of their first big hits, "Fa Fa," off the album Lost and Gone Forever fell into a similar pattern. The following track and lead single, "Do You Love Me," utilizes hand claps as another crowd pleasing technique, proving the members of Guster are no strangers to what brings an audience to their shows. On the chorus, "Do You Love Me" even introduces tubular bells which put the track on the edge of a holiday feel if not for the absence of sleigh bells.

As the album progresses, it becomes obvious Easy Wonderful is an attempt to broaden the band's fan base along with their previous self-induced limitations on instrumentation and styles. A brief string intro on "This is how it Feels to Have a Broken Heart," leading into an beat reminiscent of disco complete with harmonica and banjo puts Guster's unique songwriting talents on full display. The following track, "What You Call Love," adds ukulele and percussive pizzicato strings to the mix to fill out their already newly complex lineup of instruments. The electronic bass and drums on the closing track, "Do What You Want," prove Guster is not only looking to expand their talents musically, but also broaden their influences.

Although there seem to be numerous chances taken on Easy Wonderful, there is none greater than in their songwriting. Many of the tracks are habitually cheerfully both musically and lyrically. The first single, "Do You Love Me," plays to the band's strengths and will certainly keep their fans cheering for more at shows, but tucked into the middle of the album, "Stay With Me Jesus," is a sarcastic look at the powers of Jesus. The three members of the original Guster trio are all Jewish and while their values are usually set aside for feel-good tunes, "Stay With Me Jesus" asks why Jesus would protect some but not others; an unusually deep and somewhat dark discussion for the band.

Easy Wonderful utilizes the same cornerstones that made Guster popular in the first place, but each song finds some way to push an envelope that was exceptionally thin when the band got its start nearly twenty years ago. Few bands are easier to grasp and enjoy on the first listen so whether you liked them a long time ago or you're unfamiliar with them, give this album a chance.

Similar Artists: Counting Crows, Sea Wolf
Track Suggestion: "Stay With Me Jesus"