Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Addictive melancholy and happy music, October 15, 2002
I heard "Pig" from a compliation cd that my boyfriend made for me. I listened to "Pig" several times over and over. It's a very addictive song. Then I borrowed the whole album and it took a few listenings before I wanted to listen to it over and over. Every song pulls at a different emotion. With "Pig" you just want to sing along with your inner rock star. Then "Painbirds" brings you're inner rock star back down to earth. "Sick of Goodbyes" is another song that you can't help but play over and over. At first, "Chaos Of The Galaxy/Happy Man" makes you want to skip to the next track, but you listen to it. You think it will finally get out of it's "tuning sounds" and onto something else, which is does and it ends up being a really cool track. It seems to be a good transition track from the first half of the cd to the second half. "Cruel Sun" and "Ghost Of His Smile" are in a similar vein as "Pig." "Hundreds of Sparrows" is an absolutely beautiful song that will be going through your head several times over to the point you want to listen to it again because you like it so much. Don't judge this album by the first or second listen, you have to let this album do it's work with you and you'll never forget the adventure!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond words...., April 14, 1999
By A Customer
Without question, one of the greatest rock albums I have ever heard in my 38 years on this planet, and I've heard many. Mark Linkous, the genius behind the name Sparklehorse, writes some of the most disquieting, yet profoundly beautiful songs ever recorded. His voice is soft and delicate, and he often distorts his vocals so that they sound as if they are being delivered over a megaphone or telephone. However, this affectation in no way detracts from the proceedings; in fact, it often enhances them, by imparting an otherworldy quality to his music. It would be enough that Linkous has the talent to write and perform his pop gems, but he also has the added talent of being a wizard in the studio. Although this album has been described as "lo-fi", "slow-fi", etc., make no mistake: this is a richly produced and sonically complex masterwork. Listen with wonder, to "Sunshine", where Linkous overlays a beautiful melody and gently sung vocal with diverse elements such as cellos, samples of humpback whales singing, and a telephone answering machine message from compadre Vic Chesnutt. It may sound like a mess, but in truth it is one of the most astonishing songs I have ever listened to. Think of Brian Wilson scoring a David Lynch film, and you may get some idea of the duality that is the essence of Sparklehorse. A true masterpiece.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long live Mark Linkous, Blue Ridge genius, March 23, 1999
By A Customer
It's Radiohead channeled through weird, experimental-era Tom Waits. Mark Linkous, the guy who is Sparklehorse, creates amazing records by picking up what most people would consider musical and lyrical detritus, shining it up and tinkering a bit with it, and then coyly presenting it to you right there under a foreboding, dark, dreamy canopy of stars ... probably right there in the hills of Virginia, where the guy is from.There are five or six tracks on Good Morning Spider that, when you strip away all the magic and creativity and loving craftsmanship, show how easy it would be for this guy to write the kind of hooky, chart-friendly, guitar-based rock songs that would probably get it more than one customer review every two months and might see the album selling better than No. 1,437, or whatever it was on Amazon's listings. But be glad that he doesn't go that route. Instead, Linkous drapes those gorgeous melodies with curious instrumentation and arrangements that exude a resigned sort of romantic grace, and he sings his image-laced lyrics in a whisper. It's almost like he's lying flat on his back in a lush green field after taking a bullet in the chest from a Civil War long-rifle, and all he can talk about is how beautiful the sky looks from his wounded, bloody perspective. Despite the guy's obvious emotional battles, he sings about birds and bugs, heaven and stars and dreams. Calling all purveyors of great pop music: Buy this record immediately. Let's work together to help save this guy's major label deal.
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