Fountains of Wayne (US Release)

Fountains of Wayne | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: November 30, 2004
• Release Date: November 30, 2004
• Label: Rhino Atlantic
• Copyright: 2004 Atlantic Recording Corp. Manufactured & Marketed by Warner Strategic Marketing
• Total Length: 36:11
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0012251D6
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,732 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fountains of Wayne versus the Blue Album, May 13, 2002

By 

James F. Colobus (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fountains of Wayne (Audio CD)

`Let me get this right', I stutter incredulously, `You mean to say that you DON'T own Fountains of Wayne's first CD?'

`What's the big deal?', you reply, a look of bemused detachment etched across your angular, but not unattractive, face, `I'm not big on Weezer-copy cats. I'll stick with the Blue album, thank-you-very-much.'

`I'll tell you the big deal!', I stammer, one hand clenched in a fist of rage, the other cradling a half-drunk bottle of IBC, `Fountains of Wayne is every bit as great as the legendary Blue album! The songs are just as catchy and well-crafted, the lyrics just as clever! You really owe it to yourself to give it a listen. Don't let your closed-mindedness deprive you of the aural pleasure being offered to you by Fountains of Wayne.'

`Okay, okay - you win,' you mutter resignedly, `I'll borrow your copy and give it a spin or two. Just don't expect me to love it the way you do.'

Well, guess what?! Just three weeks after the conversation detailed above took place, you couldn't thank me enough for turning you on to Fountains of Wayne. Honestly, no need to thank me - it makes me happy enough to see you singing along to `Survival Car' with that big ol' smile on your face.

That's what friends are for.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get this FofW first: a rare gem without one bad track., March 14, 2005

By 

Wolf (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fountains of Wayne (Audio CD)

I can't pretend to know what you'll like, but I can tell you that of all the albums we've heard and like, this is one of perhaps three that my musician friends and I agree has not one bad track. If you are new to the band and want to try them out, you really should get this one first. Then if you like it, you'll probably find parts of the other albums that you enjoy. I doubt you'll like any as well as this one--the others just are not the same--that new thing included.

But will you like it? First, understand that FofW is hardly technically awe-inspiring. They play simple chords with simple melodies. If you like Weezer for this reason, or any number of other "fun" rock bands that know how to make a song that will stick in your head whistle-ready, there is a good chance you'll like this one. I enjoy complex music and all, but there is something to be said for a song that is simple but memorable in its own way. Here's a whole album of them.

Lyrics: I like how they are also simple--kind of a marriage of blue collar ideals, which is what the lyrics tend to touch on: those strange little quirks of suburbia and sort-of-urban nights and days, poem read in the light of a street lamp coming home from the party where the cute girl smiled at you finally. That sort of thing. Some characters in these lyrics: a fat biker with a hot girlfriend and crumbs in his beard, a guy who should stop cursing at girls (reasons given, then), a guy with an offer to ride in his "survival car," a girl that makes you want to break stuff and blame it on a stranger, etc. Fun.

Bottom line: my musician friends and I said, in turn, "Hmm, that's good stuff. Not landmark, but those are some cool songs."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Almost Better Than Anything, Ever", May 1, 2004

By 

Blake Maddux (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fountains of Wayne (Audio CD)

Well, not quite, but the eponymous debut CD by Fountains of Wayne offers a catchy batch of songs with a synergetic effect. While it hints at full-fledged power pop at times, its saving grace is a generous helping of non-grungy alternative flavor (of course, it is alternative to the extent that it is power pop, which is never really fashionable anyway.) Songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood are not afraid to embrace the fact that they were high school losers, and they make particularly poignant observations about being so, as well as some keen insights into the love and work tribulations of their fellow twenty-somethings. Musically, they forgo (certainly not for the worse) the punkier elements of Weezer, but they also share many of their virtues: shiny production, quirky and occasionally silly sing-along lyrics, and loud, crunchy guitars. And while the CD may suffer slightly from a certain undernourishing quality that plagues almost all power pop, one can really only nitpick when the overall results are this good.

Several of the dozen songs on Fountains of Wayne fall into one (or both) of two categories: confrontational character studies and self-pitying personal laments. Of course, the distinction between these two categories isn't always completely obvious, and there are also times when they feel the pain of others. Their status as losers is evident in lyrics like "I wonder if he ever has cried, cause he couldn't get a date for the prom," and who else other than a couple of guys who weren't regularly getting some would think to say, "each time you curse at girls, you curse a little at yourself, don't you know a girl gets angry"? Their sympathy (or perhaps more precisely, empathy) for others is evident on the softly ominous "She's Got a Problem": "Every time she goes outside/She barely gets home alive/She's got a problem, and she's gonna do something dumb," and the 9 to 5 lament "Sick Day": "She's a hell of a girl, she's alone in the world/and she likes to say 'hey good lookin'/She's on her way, she takin' a sick day -- soon."

Granted, these lyrics are not terribly profound or innovative, but consider two things: 1) This genre -- alternative pop rock-- does not aim to be profound or innovative, and 2) while they may be neither, the sentiments expressed so simply here are rarely done so at all in popular music. I mean, "please don't rock me tonight, I'm not in the mood," coming from a guy? (Come on!) And how often does one hear lyrics like: "Joe Rey smokes at three/Barks like a pigeon and watches TV/He's cool...cool, cool, cooler than I am./He knows what I don't know/Got seventeen different words for snow that he signs/Signs to a deaf girl named Diane"? So while the lyrics are hardly pure poetry, they do have a refreshing originality and cleverness about them which makes the album worthy of repeated listenings in the hope of locating other such gems (such as the chorus of "Leave the Biker", which I will let you hear for yourself). The closest thing to a dud on the CD is "Survival Car," in which the high school loser tries too hard to be a superhero. However, the better songs that it is situated among allow it to slip by more or less unnoticed, and it is more disposable than flat out bad, and it will probably get stuck in your head whether you like it or not. Among the best songs which have not been quoted are the groovy opener "Radiation Vibe", the sing-along "I've Got A Flair", and the Simon & Garfunkel-ish closer "Everything's Ruined."

So, how successful is this CD as a whole? Well, the main goals of alternative pop rock (and power pop) are to be fun and catchy in heavy doses, and poignant in measured doses. Fountains of Wayne achieves all three of these goals in an admirable -- and thoroughly enjoyble -- fashion. It is not only a very promising debut, but a fine record by any standard. And if the hyperbolic quote from MOJO critic Dave DiMartino in the title of this review wins Fountians of Wayne listeners that it wouldn't otherwise have, then more power to it. Bottom line: it is great by virtue of its enjoyability.