Customer Reviews

Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla [Vinyl]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, so this is my first review, but I was forced to do it because reviews for this EP make me so angry. I believe people are misunderstanding the point of this album. The album was inspired by a lifted pickup truck Jason Lytle saw at Lake Tahoe with a license plate that read "ToddZilla". Some of the more uncharacteristic songs on the album are inspired by the thought of what this "Todd Zilla" guy must be like. Thus you end up with songs like Pull The Curtains with it's explicit lyrics and Florida, which are meant to be written from Todd's viewpoint, not Jason Lytle. With that said, the album is quite solid with the exception of A Valley Son and Cinderland, which are certainly B-Side material for Grandaddy, thus the 4 stars. Give songs like Goodbye a listen all the way through and tell me that outro alone (at 3:20) is not worth it.

I can't believe the rubbish I've been reading about this EP. It's a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't, if Grandaddy had brought out an EP Facsimile of 'Sumday' the reviews would have all read the same 'not breaking any new ground' etc. etc. For those of us that aren't Prententious, Elitist Twats and actually 'like Music' in all it's various forms this EP has much to offer. It's a journey of contrasts in which Grandaddy digress in unexpected ways, i.e. the much maligned 'Cinderland' & 'Florida'. Though to 'Digress' in this case is a wonderful change from the 'converstion' we all just had with 'Sumday'. Grandaddy do a excellent job of serving up an EP of great texture and extremes, so effectively, it's a pity it didn't continue this pattern to 11 or 12 songs to create what may have been a very worthy follow-up album to 'Sumday'. It may have been treated differently to the 'Disposable Status' that these Critics love to Pigeon hole these EP's into. Real Music enthusiasts are looking for Music to explore and enjoy, and if you can ignore 'Critics' for the sake of 'Critics' you will warm to this EP that is perfectly accessable to those who don't have to stroke their ego by being dismissive.

In my book Jason can do no wrong. I have everything from Grandaddy and love every second of every song. Grandaddy are one of a handful of bands that bring on that euphoric sensation you feel when you hear music that blows your mind. I am very sad that these guys are calling it a day and wait in anticipation for their last release.

On to the EP - in a nutshell this EP really combines the sounds of Western Freeway / Broken Down Comforter with Sophtware / Sumday and a little something new in the mix - Pavement style rocking. For fans of both Grandaddy and Pavement, songs such as Florida on this EP won't sound too out of place - fans of Sumday era Grandaddy will take some time to get used to it.

Anyway, highly recommended to any Grandaddy fan even if just for track no.2, At my Post - pure space rock magic...

Bring on LP no.4.

I can personally relate to a desire to move on to a new place (in this case Lytle's relocating from Modesto to L.A.) when dissatisfaction sets in. Earlier this year I was ready to pack up and go anywhere. The theme of departing resonates solidly with me. Urban sprawl, strip malls, chain restaurants, gentrification, condos and subdivisions popping up like puffballs, loss of open space...I can declare solidarity with Grandaddy's stance on that subject, too. Lytle's indictment of urban sprawl contained on "Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla" is both timely and trenchant.

I'm heartened by the bracing, simplified sonics, closer to "Under the Western Freeway's" shabbily invigorating listen. "Todd Zilla" manages to feel frayed and fresh simultaneously. What these songs may lack in radio-friendliness they make up for in immediacy.

"Florida" seems to be the dividing song for a lot of people. It's a song of pent-up frustration. But if it isn't clear by now that the whole EP is about frustration, then "Florida's" cathartic musical approach just might get lost on you.

There's a lot to be said for pressing record, playing the song, overdubbing some parts and releasing the album. Maybe it won't satisfy casual listeners, but it's eminently rewarding to followers. The last track, "Goodbye," contains what seems like a subtle synthesizer nod to Jeddy 3, the ill-fated humanoid from Grandaddy's magnum opus of 2001 "The Sophtware Slump."

After reading the review up above me and being a Modesto native, it's really hitting home that Grandaddy will soon be no more. I guess people move on. But their music has changed my life in so many ways. It makes me homesick for Modesto. Gives me hope that music is good again. Moves so smoothly listening wise and lyrics are always top notch.

This EP is no joke, it's amazing. Jason's always onto some new kick and with this he deciding to rock out like crazy. It starts you off with a jam and then slows a bit to let you catch your breath and then picks right back up. When he gets to the song "Florida" honestly I didn't know Grandaddy could go that nuts. To just scream out in agony mixed with rock and roll fever. It must be him letting go of this music and not going willingly. I shuddered at the song. But to break it down. If you love Grandaddy then you'll love this I'm certain.

if you haven't heard, this is quite possibly the second-to-last grandaddy release. we'll probably get a single or two from next year's album, but jason has said he's movin on and up and out to l.a., leaving grandaddy behind. oh well. he's also said he'll always record music, so that's all i need to know.

anyway, on to the e.p. in a word, brilliant. if you're a grandaddy fan there is no way you won't love this. the only reason i gave it 4 stars is the length. need more.

I listened to Grandady's newest and it sounmds like Grandaddy is shifting from using the normal space-rock sound that made me love them so much, they decided to add some more guitars and turn it into a kind of shifty-concept album. Amazingly, a band sometime fails to tell us whenever they plan to change their music and end up freezing their fanbase to Sumday or The Sophtware Slump. To me, Grandaddy's single "Pull The Curtains", I thought it sounded pretty terrible. No, not terrible. Just a bit sloppy. A stigmata lik that makes you wonder what you are going to do once you listen to the album.

Generally, the singer just wants to get out of California, while he's still alive, yet he has a few songs to spew before he runs for cover. One of them is "Pull The Curtains". The beginning sounds a bit promising when Plaid drums were an intro into emo territory, all while keeping the computer blips to remind us by. Though lyrics like "Pull the curtains on the day/Sometimes it is the only way." gives me hope that all the plots isn't lost within a band that would change their music with a concept. "At My Post", at first, akes he use of synthesizers to a good use, before starting kind of messy and lazy in attempt at space shoegazing that it diesn't even sound like they ar trying to bring lighters up or get us to support the story. The thing that keeps us going is his heavenly harmonizing, which gets lost in all different types of weird noises mixed together. In other words, I listened to this song, and very unlike a Granddady song, this song just gets boring to listen to. I thought the song was going to stop at 4:08 till it went on, leaving me a bit distraught and waiting for a few albums of instumentals. "A Valley Son (Sparing)" personally sounds like a Sumday B-Side that should have been the reason for buying the album. Aside from the voice from Jason Lytle, the music compliments the song wonderfully, and could possibly be the one standout of the song that we can listen through without worry. "Cinderland" opens up sounding like an interlude instrumental, but it breaks down into a synth-laced chillout rocker, making it an accessible standout. Now, notice I say "accessible" standout.

"If you are who you say you are, get up her to the bar we'll plot a plan to take down the man," the leader sings in "F**k The Valley Fudge", a piano-laced teenage sing-along. Somewhere along the line you will find out why the song ends up namechecking the likes of companies like Applebees and Chuck E. Cheese. In the middle of the song is all ambient propeller-sounding noise, that makes us wonder, "Wha...is this over already? Well, that was one of the worst I have ever heard thus far." And indeed the idea of building a self-written (not to mention small) anthem about dumping commercialism and ending with approximately one whole minute of noise and asingle piano noise is just disappointing in levels we can't understand.

"Florida" is a song in which sounds like it is trying to be punk, but to sing "Florida" so partly blandly and freely that it takes like the rust of blue and yellow clash, and have someone scream like a banshee doesn't quite help my interest in the song. This passage seems too hard to be an underground response as a suite to American Idiot it isn't quite funny. On the possibly last passage, "Goodbye?", the song ends with an acoustic passage about saying goodbye to where you are, leaving it all behind. And it sounds a bit complex on whether the song is melancholy because halfway through the song, there comes a choir out of nowhere to help close the album, as if the suspicion and hint of melancholiness was all worth the trip. And now it seems that the album is all about getting out of where you are, after having a bit of grudges and hidden good times with it.

I know the cardinal rule of reviewing is to not worry about a band's changing and to just worry about the music in the now, but so far the music is just out of order. There is only a few things about this album that sounds like a passage worth going through. And a Granddaddy album is always into some order waiting to fascinate us. Yet, it turns out the diary is somewhat interesting, yet not isn't as interesting as you thought it would be. Whenever a band makes music that compliments music and lyrics and builds a high impression, and comes out with a few good songs that sounds just as good to be a score of a movie, that is pretty troubling, you know? Maybe there will come a full thought of the diary, just to change my hopes on the matter.

Rating: 5.5/10

I was pretty bummed to hear the band is breaking up, but incredibly happy that they're releasing an EP and an LP before the inevitable happens. As far as LPs go, I haven't been disappointed by any Grandaddy releases, but was cautious as to how this EP would measure up, considering they are releasing the album next year some time, and songs from the EP would most likely be songs that didn't make the final cut on the LP. However, after hearing the EP 'Through a Frosty Plate Glass', I knew Grandaddy had the potential to make a masterpiece at the EP length. They've done it again with Todd Zilla. This isn't a mere collection of B-sides. This is a concept album, even though it's not a full length album. It showcases all styles the band has dabbled in, with their fast-paced grunge on 'Florida', to the hypnotic trance of 'Cinderland', to the Indie-styled melodies of 'At My Post', to scratch the surface. I wasn't disappionted one bit, and it leaves me desperate for their final release early next year.

a really provocative, interestingly written and performed Grandaddy special that manages to touch on some heartbreaking topics in a surprisingly melodic and hypnotic way. Never fear: there is great humor here, as well. I'm not sure that there's anyone else in rock today who so touchingly references human hopefulness in the midst of environmental decline in such a moving and infectious way.

Grandaddy are not the same as Flaming Lips, as some misguided reviewers would have you think. They are/were something truly unique and enjoyable who will live on in their substantial repertoire of great music that evokes so many emotions and soothes the soul in multitudinous ways. Long live Grandaddy!!!

No one did else did melodies like this.

So much on this EP--it's hard to complain. Jason's mature songwriting, with his melodic gift and sense of balance, is present (Pull the Curtains, Cinderland...). His capacity for romantic/cosmic soundscape is present (everything). And his uncompromising voice. Like others in the reviews above, I have some problems with the final three songs. Florida is just annoying. Goodbye needs a push in the final minute or two. Valley Fudge is marred by the cursing--not simply a rudeness, but an intellectual miss (If you want to leave, dude, get in the car and drive away already). Jason's strong suit is loss, and he ordinarily demonstrates wisdom. As for suburbia...yes, there is much to dislike...but then it has its uses (safety, organization). But those sounds!