Customer Reviews

Ganging Up on the Sun

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Guster represents all that is right about American indie-rock today, music made for the love of music and not some calculating hit making machine. The music is wonderfully textured with harmony and style, fully realized and expertly crafted. Imagine Wilco, Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay blended together and you get some idea of the sound Guster has achieved.

In truth, there is not one cut on the disc that is not first rate, I am never tempted to hit the skip button. Moods range from the rockin'; "The Beginning of the End" and "The New Underground" to the quiet; "Dear Valentine" and "Hang On" to the epic; "Ruby Falls." In between are pop gems like "Satellite," "Manifest Destiny," and "One Man Wrecking Machine." "C'mon" and "The Captain" add the alt-country tinge to the disc which rounds out the sound to perfection.

Lyrically the band is sharp, full of catchy phrases and clever lines. For example: "I want to pull it apart and put it back together / I want to relive all my adolescent dreams / Inspired by true events on movie screens / I am a one man wrecking machine." Or perhaps this gem, "Hang on / When all is shattered / When all your hope is gone / Who knows, How long / There is a twilight, A nighttime and a dawn."

You won't find a better set of songs anywhere. It's is all here, songcraft, production, mood and that elusive "sonic something" that separates good from really good. Guster is certainly in the really good category and maybe even hedging towards great. You can listen to this music over and over, always finding something new and interesting. It will draw you in, quietly at first, but once it has you it won't let you go.

At times the new Guster CD has the very pleasant feel of some sort of poppy Americana or rootsy pop. At other times it becomes more ambitious, with a grander, fuller group sound. This is evident in the Pink Floyd-ish scope of a song such as "Ruby Falls" and also on "Empire State," which is nearly sung a cappella. The focus on "Empire State" is all on Ryan Miller's pure, melancholy vocals, with only muted, atmospheric background accompaniment. The effect is powerful. Despite that song's understated tones (and others'), the new disc as whole does tend to rock out more often than the band's clientele may be accustomed to. This includes a full-bore "rock star" turn on "The Beginning of the End," featuring a sizzling electric guitar solo. After listening to Ganging Up a couple of times, I can already tell that it will yield a few of my favorite Guster tunes, particularly the well crafted "One Man Wrecking Machine."

Like many reviewers here, I've been a HUGE Guster fan since their early days, and I waited so long to get this album. Sadly, I'm not all that pleased with it. The sound on this album seems to try to be very British-pop and uninspiring.... I'm not gonna complain about Brian's switch over from bongos to drums that occured a couple albums ago because that's old news, but with it, the original Guster sound which we all grew to love is in the past. Also, I love Joe in the band; he's an amazing musician and I was hoping his musical influence would affect this album in a great way, and I don't know how much of the song-writing he contributed to, but it's not as good as I'd hoped.
Why do bands with two lead singers always have to consolidate into one lead singer? It's usually the record companies that force this to make the music more radio-friendly. Same thing happened with Vertical Horizon. I love Adam's voice, and I'm whole-heartedly disappointed that Adam sings lead on ONLY ONE TRACK. I love Ryan and all, but his voice does get a bit whiney when it's not balanced out by Adam's lower, fuller voice, so when you have an album of tracks almost entirely sung by Ryan's high nasal voice (and he does sing particularly high on this album), your ears start to ache a little....
On to the tracks: At first, I loved Satellite, but after a number of listens, I realized it is very tedious and repetitive. Lightning Rod is just boring and a bizarre way to open up an album. Manifest Destiny and One-Man Wrecking Machine are decent songs, but way too poppy and radio-ish. The Captain is a pretty good song, touching on the same feel as Jesus On The Radio. The New Underground is a pretty cool song, having a real 80's punkish feel to it. Ruby Falls is trying to be the Come Downstairs & Say Hello of the album, but unlike Come Downstairs, it is very slow-moving and unmelodic. The tune of C'Mon sounds like it was designed to appeal to teenage girls, and I dont think it should be anything more than a B-side (and it drives me crazy how Ryan sings the word like "C'maawn" as if he's a New Yorker). Empire State is another slow-moving track. Dear Valentine is a good song, and the last two are OK....
All in all, this album is VERY slow-moving and unexciting. I will continue to love Guster and I don't care that their sound is evolving, but I wish they would go back to the more exciting song-writing of the previous 4 albums...

An alternate title for "Ganging Up on the Sun" could have been "Times Are Changing", for any long time Guster fan will have to notice a significant change to the Guster formula.

Let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE Guster fan. I've seem them live and have every album and a whole collection of early works, TV Videos, and live sets. My whole family has looked forward to the latest Guster release. We are Guster promoters and have a plethora of Guster memorabilia.

"Ganing Up on the Sun" is not a bad album. If somebody hears one of the songs from this album on the radio or satellite and is curious, this is a great album to introduce you to Guster. I doubt you would be disappointed by purchasing it.

That being said, for the pure Guster fan, this album represents a departure from earlier works. It is more of a "mood" album - you won't find much that reminds you of "Fa Fa" or "Barrel of a Gun" on this album. It has a good mix of sounds, styles, and tempos, but will ultimately leave you wanting more.

The big changes I've noticed are the fact that the bongos are pretty much completely gone in favor of the "normal" drum set. Nobody can really blame Brian for this, I'm sure all purist Guster fans by now have seen how badly his hands bleed after every concert. But when the change is made to more traditional drums, the sound changes along with it, for good or bad. Also, Joe Pisapia plays a much more relevant role in this album and there are lots more piano, keyboards and banjo. That isn't so much what the original Guster sounded like, but is a sound Guster is heading towards. Maybe they are trying to sound more like the mainstream bands such as "Bare Naked Ladies" (personally, I hope not).

And I never thought I'd say this (based on some of the songs from the original albums), but it is actually sad that Adam only has a lead singing role on one song on this album. A lot of first time Guster listeners don't even realize there is more than one lead singer. Adam is a good singer and is part of what holds Guster together. It is a shame for him to be diminished on this album, even though Ryan has a more marketable voice.

If I were trying to win over a new friend to the Guster style of music, I would NOT choose this album. To me it's hands down to give them "Lost and Gone Forever" - what an AMAZING album. That's why it is a 5 star album on Amazon which in any music genre is hard to come by.

"Keep it Together" is a close second with a lot of good songs. It pains me to give this CD only a 3 star rating. I want it to be so much more. I want Guster to still be that one band that has that certain something no one else does. But sadly, this album, due to many factors, falls short of their earlier works.

If you are new to Guster, skip past "Ganging Up on the Sun" and start your musical journey with "Lost and Gone Forever" - it will be well worth it!

For the hardcore Guster fan, "Ganging Up on the Sun" has several tracks you will add to your favorites list, most likely all within the first 5 songs on the CD.

Guster has set the bar very high for themselves with their past musical works of genius. They are a great band and I look forward to their future works!

I was very surprised by this album. It certainly isn't their best. I expected the classic folk, bongo rock music that makes Guster such an amazing band. If you are new to Guster, I agree with the above reviews, start with Lost and Gone Forever or Keep it Together. If you're a hard core fan, this CD may shock you as it shocked me. It has taken me a bit to get used to. There are some really good tracks on here. Manifest Destiny, One Man Wrecking Machine, and Captain are wonderful. That may also be because they sound like classic Guster songs. I have to say I miss the bongos a lot. There is a lot more drum set used in this album to give them a more poppy sound than what they used to have. But, as the title of my review says "it's growing on me." It is Guster after all, and they're wonderful. So if you're a long time fan, give it a chance. Hopefully it'll grow on you as it has grown on me.

Ever since I saw them open for The Bare Naked Ladies way back when and all these college girls were singing along to these rather minimal, infectious poppy songs and the guy was pounding away on bongos, I knew this band was onto something.

I haven't stopped listening to them since and Keep It Together was a beautiful album and this one is their most polished effort yet, with more instruments and richer music. But the forlorn ache to his voice and the almost melancholic cynicism slash optimism of many of the tunes are still trademark Guster.

This is as good an album as there is this year.

"Ganging Up On The Sun" is the sound of a band well within its stride - a band who has progressed and delivered a better album each time around. This is not a knock on their previous body of work - anyone who has listened to their previous albums know that Guster is a band that delivers a wonderfully rich yet somehow organic sound. This is the latest and greatest from a band that is truly at the forefront of current American rock.

For the uninitiated, Guster was a three piece (Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner, and Brian Rosenworcel) who met at University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They've since added a fourth member, Joe Pisapia. Each member is a multi-instrumentalist - and the band mixes the traditional rock instruments at times with horns, tribal rhythm instruments, and banjo. Make no mistake - this is ACCESSIBLE music - music that incorporates a wealth of variety to enhance the greater whole, not overpower it and alienate. And, of course, Guster's vocal harmonies are among the best of bands today. Miller handles the majority of lead vocals, but Gardner is a quite capable vocalist as a lead, perhaps underused.

Ganging Up On The Sun includes songs that are introspective; songs to be listened to and enjoyed alone or with a loved one - other songs are party songs, yet somehow more cerebral than all of that. That's the strength of Guster - the music is not simple, but you enjoy it FOR that, instead of in spite of it. The vocals sound effortless on this record - as if they don't have to try to make a perfect recording.

"Lightning Rod" includes some of the harmony that Guster does so well - a soft guitar plucking, nice atmospheric background, and Miller's soft vocal. Guster showing off its softer and sensitive side. "Ruby Falls" does it even better.

"Satellite" starts off with an acoustic strumming reminiscent of "My Sweet Lord", but continues with a bouncy beat. This is a single with all the Guster elements at the fore - great songwriting! "One Man Wrecking Machine" continues this to great success, as does "C'Mon".

"Manifest Destiny" features the 'other side' of the Guster sound - a plucky, upbeat sound - which is brought to the max in "The Captain" (with banjo in the mix!)

"The New Underground" shows the flexibility of the band even more - the sound is fuller, lower, and a tad darker - with guitar stabs reminiscent of Rush's Grace Under Pressure record.

"Dear Valentine" is one of the few songs with Gardner as the lead - which makes the song worthwhile for that alone - he brings something different to the Guster sound - but it's still unmistakably Guster. And great horn work in the mix.

All in all, this is a WONDERFUL album that must be heard to appreciate. Listen to it several times and you will fall in love with it.

If you love this record - look at "Keep It Together" and "Lost and Gone Forever" - their most recent two albums prior - as they're bound to capture you as well.

Highly recommended. I'd say 4.5 stars out of 5 if I could. Loses a half star for slightly weaker songs in the final third of the record (except for Dear Valentine).

This is my 1st CD by Guster, & I like what I hear. My favorite track is "Satellite" with its calliope-circus-sounding opening and the breezy romantic melody, "Shining like a work of art, shining on a wall of stars..." "One Man Wrecking Machine" is a electric slow-tempo song that pulses seductively, "I want to relive all my adolescent dreams inspired by true events on movie screens." "C'mon" is another favorite with its driving guitar and sunny day melody, "It's a big old house and it's coming back to haunt me." "The Beginning of the End" is a rocker written from the point of view of a machine, with some tasty lead guitar on the instrumental bridge. The closer "Hang On" is another strong track filled with melodic yearning, "stuck without a captain or a chart, no one seems to know just who to follow anymore." "Ganging Up on the Sun" is a satisfying set that grows with repeated listenings. The band uses different tempos and instrumentation such as the banjo thrown in on "The Captain" to add variety. "Ruby Falls" is another great track. Enjoy!

As a hardcore Guster fan my expectations for this album were higher than your average listener. After reading the almost weekly additions to Guster's "Studio Journal" on their website (written by their amazing drummer Brian, who always provides some major laughs and is not surprisingly a very talented writer.....anyway), one could tell that even Guster had some enourmous expectations for this album dating all the back to last summer. Like most reviewers here, I pre-ordered the CD from their website, listened to it once while my always screaming 3 month old baby was in the back seat screaming and automatically HATED the direction they seemed to have gone. A few hours later a cracked open a few beers, put on the album again, relaxed on my couch, and paid much closer attention (without any distractions). I started to hear things I'd never heard before, lyrics that were mind boggling (even for a strong lyrical band like Guster) a muted sound here, a stray guitar riff over there, etc. Everything started falling into place and Guster managed to put the puzzle pieces together right before my ears. They must have known their oldest fans would need some time to see the beauty of this album and the impact this album is intended to have on the listener.....but that's what makes them Guster......all I can say is wow......job very well done. Guster hasn't ever made an album that is too similar to the one that preceded it, and they have never lost a fan in the process. If that's not genius, I'm not sure what is. I agree that this probably isn't the Guster CD to start with, but if you're new to Guster you'll get this CD someday after listening to the CD's that put them on the map (Parachute/Goldfly/Lost and Gone Forever), when you're ready, buy this album along with Keep It Together and you'll see a band that has grown up without ever growing old or going out of style. It just keeps getting better......and I somehow have a feeling it always will.

I've been a long time fan of Guster, having seen them in concert numerous times. I preordered the album from their website, so I've had it for a few days now. I still might need a few more listens for it too settle in, but here are some first impressions:

On the whole, it seems like they took off on a more experimental direction this album- think more in the vein of Red Oyster Cult than Jesus on the Radio (both from KIT). I personally prefer the rootsier stuff, but that is not to say there is a bad track here.

Ryan continues to take on the majority of the lead vocals- I was expecting more from Joe. Adam takes lead on one track, and throughout there are some beautiful harmonies.

On the whole, it's maybe a bit different, but nothing too strange that a Guster fan wouldn't expect. To the non-fan, I'd start with Keep it Together or Lost & Gone Forever (that's a toss-up), and come to this later. Seeing them in concert though is an imperative- it will make you an obsessed fan!

This is still an early impression- even the amazing last two albums grew on me, and I seem to have a new favorite with every listen. I assume this will be the same. I definitely love the fact that they continue to grow and try new things. And I can't wait to see them with Ray Lamontagne later this summer. We love you Guster!