Customer Reviews

Grand Theatre Vol. 2

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Grand Theater Volume Two" is the 9th studio album released by the Old 97's and the sequel to last year's Volume One. The band picks up right where they left off with a revitalized twang-punk power-pop folk-rock sound. The production is crisp and fresh, the songs well written and catchy, and overall this is a great CD. "Brown Haired Daughter" is the perfect opening song to the album. It has a light shuffle-type feel to it and will make you want to get up and move. "I'm A Trainwreck" is a rocker and picks up the pace. "Perfume" sounds like a sequel to Volume One's "The Dance Class" and is classic Old 97's: A seemingly happy tune with a dark twist. "White Port" features hilarious pirate vocals that will have you bobbing your head and laughing at the same time. "The Actor" showcases Rhett Miller's vocals and are flat out amazing. Every song on Volume 2 is awesome; there isn't one filler on it. There is a natural evolution to the sound from their earlier work and fans of the band won't be disappointed. Highly recommended!

I am glad to hear the Blame It On Gravity era is over. They're finally back to the sound that I fell in love with a decade ago. This album blows Volume 1 away, and it is their best start-to-finish album in a long, long time. If you liked their earlier albums, you'll like this one.

Better than Volume 1 and in league with Too Far To Care. If I were going to introduce someone to their music, I would hand them this album. This is classic Old 97's: rocking, stomping, catchy and fun. Not a bad song in the bunch. Too bad they called it Volume 2 - it sounds like leftovers instead of what it really is - their best album in years.

didnt purchase volume 1 bc I was so bored with the preceding records and solo stuff. amazon sent me a notice that this one was due out soon and bc these guys are one of my all time favorite bands I decided to pull the trigger. In reality they've given me more listening pleasure over the years than I could ever give them back buying their stuff, though mostly on the back of recordings from 01 and prior.

Bottom line this is a great record and I soon will order volume one bc of it. It is really nice to enjoy such greatness from the Old 97's, kind of a deja vu to 1996. I don't know how they did it bc it seems once you go stale you rarely get your groove back (wilco, stones). but they did. Kudos to murry, philip, ken and rhett

Like others have said, this sounds quite a bit like an older Old 97's record. I also agree that it's stronger than Vol. 1. There's plenty of haunting twang here, but also a nice range of songs like most of the 97's discs released in the past 10 years or so.

And, this comes with an interesting twist in that the two Murry Hammond-led contributions are both absolute standout tracks, and amongst the very best stuff Murry has ever contributed to the 97's.

This is a band that's been going strong for almost 20 years now, and while I'll probably always view Too Far Too Care as one of the best records made in my lifetime, it's incredible to see the Old 97's continue to deliver unique, sometimes surprising (hints of Ireland & a 79 second instrumental!) & overall just great new music.

Highly recommended!

The Grand Theatre Volume 2 cranks everything up a notch. I'll admit that Volume 1 was disappointing to me. So I'm amazed at how awesome Volume 2 is. How did that happen? Did they learn from some mistakes on Volume 1? Volume 1 sounded more like a Rhett project...whereas Volume 2 sounds like the other guys took over and said "Hey, Rhett, you used to let us jam, and your lyrics used to be undeniably catchy...let's try that again, OK?" And Rhett obliged. This album rocks from beginning to end. It never gets slower than mid-tempo. A majority of the songs actually DRIVE. THAT'S the Old 97's I remember! I'm so thrilled the guys are back and better than ever. After a few listens, you'll be singing along and imagining the next time you can go to a concert and hear these songs live. It just doesn't get much better than this. My greatest fear would be that people disappointed in Volume 1 will pass on Volume 2, or they will go in with a negative attitude and never give Volume 2 a fair chance. Let's hope Old 97's fans are more loyal than that.

The Old 97s are one of my favorite bands and I have all of their albums, but I was a little disappointed with "The Grand Theatre Volume 1". It was good; it just wasn't great. It didn't seem to have that fire that their previous albums have and the lyrics just didn't strike me as clever as what I was used to from them. Since so many of their great songs are about lost love, loneliness and life on the road (the part I relate to most), I worried the stability of age and family had deprived them of their muse.

Thankfully, Volume 2, at least for me is leaps and bounds ahead of Volume 1. The songwriting is solid and it's musically a bit more experimental, to great effect. Murray's songs shine especially; these are some of the best he's written but the whole album is 100% solid. I've just finished my 8th listen in two days and didn't skip a single track. That's how good I expect an Old 97s album to be and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

The Old 97's Grand Theatre Volume 1 was awesome and it's successor Volume 2 does not disappoint! A MUST for any Old 97's fan --- and if you're not a fan or familiar with the Old 97's, The Grand Theatre is a good place to start!

How do these guys do it? Just when you think they can't have any more masterpieces in them they put this album out. It is incredible. It has it all. I have to admit that there are a few on here that are slightly different of the Old 97s formula and I might like them best (probably because they take me by surprise). When I listened to this the first time I actually stopped the CD and listened to White Port, Manhattan, and You Call It Rain twice. They really grab you. Even if you are not a big fan of Old 97s (though everyone should be) this album will have many things you are going to love. Get it right away!

If you already like the Old 97s, you will love this album.

If you've never heard of this band, or if you don't know much about them, the 1st step is to see them live. Once you do that, the decision about whether or not to acquire this album (along with all their others) will be made for you.

This album stands up to all the other Old 97s' records. Catchy choruses and alt-country grooves. "Perfume" is a fantastic song. "White Port" is the perfect complementary track. Those 2 stand out to me, but there's not a bad song in the bunch, as each one has it's own appeal.