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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cheese Epiphany , September 10, 1998
A classic has hit the streets, and no one is reviewing it, no one has heard of it. Let me just say this -- Good Humor is one of the best pop albums ever. Not of the decade -- ever. It is a major classic, a Beatles-bushwhackingly great album. I compare it to The Beatles because, at their best, Lennon and Co. wrote songs that stripped you of skepticism, reduced you to a sort of drooling infancy where all you cared about was getting off on the hooks. Good Humor accomplishes this with even more guileless aplomb and insinuating charm. It's the kind of album you want to play to somebody who's on the verge of committing suicide. Hey, I myself don't have any great desire to live, but I know I'm not shuffling off this mortal coil before the next St. Etienne album comes out. At least not without putting up a fight. To quote Woody Allen, they're "too wonderful for words." The highlight of the album is a song called "Sylvie." Might as well admit now this is easily one of my ten favorite songs. I've listened to it more times than I can count already, and each time it's succeeded in bringing a catch to my throat and a dew to my eyes. It's one of those ecstatic songs that make you want to spin around and twirl your arms like Ann Margaret in Bye Bye Birdie. Yes, it's a wussy song -- and it couldn't be better. In the car driving around, when I heard it for the first time, I literally clutched my stomach and groaned "Oh my god." It makes you so happy it's PAINFUL. The singer, Sarah Cracknell, is a luscious sweet-faced blonde, but because she wrote "Sylvie," lusting after her is out of the question. I'd rather crush her in a bone-splintering bear hug. The rest of the album necessarily takes a step back from the dizzying heights of "Sylvie." As well it should. Every great album needs a centerpiece. That being said, the remaining songs are certainly no letdown -- they're perfect, down to the last note. One quiet, subtle sensation after another, all of them with hooks that come straight out of the poppy field from The Wizard of Oz. No matter what you're prepared to hear, you won't hear it. You'll hear better. Good Humor is a sonic orchard of apple-cheeked surprises and discoveries, candy-coated with some of the snazziest-sounding bass lines I've ever heard. The title is no misnomer -- this album is all about putting you into a good humor. A more admirable ( and more difficult ) task than it may appear. Even the gloomiest of gloomy Gusses will succumb in a matter of microseconds. I know -- I'm the gloomiest of gloomy Gusses. St. Etienne is not prolific. They put out one album every three years. Good Humor is the first they've released since 1995, and it's their best, most consistent effort yet. But it's important to listen to the others too. Slowly, steadily, without fanfare, St. Etienne has emerged as the most musically innovative band of the decade. It was impossible to tell where they were headed after listening to their last album, the spectacularly glossy and futuristic Tiger Bay. It's now impossible to tell where they're going to go after the deceptively quaint, retro, ABBA-esque Good Humor. Just as Beck is eclectic within the confines of one album, St. Etienne is eclectic from album-to-album. But each album is, to quote fellow genius Bjork, homogenic. Which works better than Beck's method. It doesn't seem so collegiate and wiseacreish; instead, it seems genuine and natural. It is kind of frustrating that they don't stay on the same track and follow through on their previous CDs -- especially when Tiger Bay was such a knock-out -- but finally I see that that's the whole point. They pull the rug out from under you, diminish expectations, so that every time one of their albums come out, it's like discovering them all over again. I have all of St. Etienne's stuff, and I love all of St. Etienne's stuff, yet I wasn't expecting anything from Good Humor. Especially since it's been ignored -- practically ostracized -- by the press and public. Needless to say, I met with an agreeable surprise. Ugh! It makes me sick to my stomach that seemingly no one but me is aware of the existence of such a superlative piece of work. It just brings to my attention all the ugly unfairnesses of the world, and makes me despair about my own chances at success. But it's the best and sweetest kind of despair in the world. And that I'll swear by.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Saint Etienne CD, April 6, 2000
This album seems quite different from other Saint Etienne albums in two ways. First, there are no instrumentals or odd "experiment"-like tracks. Instead, ther are 11 pop songs, everyone of which would make a good single. Second, there are less electronic samples and rythyms. Only the first track "Wood Cabin" sounds at all electronic to me. The single "Sylvie" is a great disco sounding song with a beautiful piano intro. "Mr. Donut" is a very pretty slow song. "Goodnight Jack" is also one of my favorites, with a cool ending part, "...She's going to run..." that is different musically from the rest of the song. Overall, this is my favorite Saint Etienne album; I even like it better than the "Too Young To Die" singles collection. However, now for the bad news. Do not, I repeat, do not buy this CD with out the extra CD "Fairfax High". This contains 11 more tracks that are all great too. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I like the extra CD even better than the great regular album. So, do what you have to do to find the out of print two disc version, and pay what you have to pay to get it . Good luck; I'm not selling my copy.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
blissful, August 25, 2004
having been a fan saint etienne for many years, i've amassed quite a collection of their stuff. in fact, the only frustrating thing about the saints, other than they're lack of touring in the states, is the vast amount of music and remixes that they've released. when this cd was first released in the u.s., it came with a bonus disc. unfortunately, there weren't that many as it was a limited run. so if you are intending to buy this, as it is one of their better albums, you MUST search for the bonus disc edition, even if it means buying it second hand, as many agree that the songs on the bonus disc are better. you'll pay less, because it's used, and even better, you get more saint etienne for your buck. with that said, this album has replaced So Tough as my favorite project by the saints and even though it is their most poppy cd to date, the sounds are entirely blissful.
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