Customer Reviews

Great Lakes Myth Society

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The best way to describe GLMS, I believe, is "Epic". A sound like no other, original and ..... educational? lyrics derived from band members' interest in the history and mythology of the Michigan and greater lakes region. The band's energy and sincerity will get you hooked, the quality will keep you listening.

I think this is one of the most charming and honest albums to come our way in years. Great Lakes Myth Society is full of back road stories that are laced with the influences from our ancestors past. It sounds to me like "Charles B's" nostalgic nerve was severed at birth. May James Monger's Roar in Big Jim Hawkins haunt you in your dreams!

If you can't find something you like on this album, then you just don't like music! Melodies, harmonies, great beats, wonderful instrumental renderings, sometimes orchestral, but always interesting with fascinating imagery.

Any band that'll sing a ditty about Jimmy Stewart in Marquette County in 1959 is okay with me. "Why cry when you can be in Michigan on Halloween?" Well, some of us can be. Those who've fled westward can only recall, fondly, their days of youth, stomping about the Great Lakes region...and this imaginative, unpredictable album will spark and feed those recollections. Fine work, boys.

Well, Ann Arbor is hardly at "the foot of Lake Erie..." as the Product Description so confidently puts it, but no matter. This band gets it right on every song. There's more to write about (and sing about) in this incredible region than the folks in New Yuck, New Yuck, could imagine. Can't wait for the new CD.

A band's first couple of releases are usually a case of ambition outweighing musicianship. Truly great bands work through this formative period until they master their instruments and learn to play off each other skills, when it all finally clicks into place, and they begin a run of quality work.

TOBASAL's third album, (complete with band name change), is that giant step up. The playing is tight and creative, (it's a joy to hear a band playing off each others strengths so well), the arrangements considered and subtle, the harmonics extended, rich and frequently unexpected. Song structures vary from traditional verse / chorus formats to ones based on Movements, recalling the Kinks or the Beach Boys. The use of hooky instrumental passages that function as choruses seems to be a relatively unique band trademark.

The lyrics are literary and reflective, full of creative sepiatone metaphor that recall the past whilst similarly evoking something completely out of time. When coupled with the timeless instrumentation, you're left with an album that you can immerse yourself in deeper over time, if you're a patient listener. You might swim on the surface of the lake for a while, then one day dive deep enough to realise there used to be an entire town down there.

Brilliant work, and utterly unique. It's the American equivilent of XTC's 'Skylarking', albeit a Winter's Day rather than a Summer one.

I have this CD and Compass Rose Bouquet - of the two, Compass Rose is far superior and would be a better choice if you're trying to decide between the two.

GLMS is 'folk-rock' band that often gets the 'Indie' label as well. They remind me of a softer, gentler version of The Decemberists. One thing I especially enjoy about this band is their nautical references and slightly Irish sound. If you like The Decemberists, or The Contrast, then you'd probably like this band, but start with Compass Rose Bouquet first - if you 'love' that CD, then this might be for you as well, but it's not as good as Compass Rose.

One thing I want to say here though - one reviewer compared this band to Gordon Lightfoot - NOT EVEN CLOSE. Either that person never listend to this CD, or has no idea what Gordon Lightfoot has ever done. I'm not trying to disparage Gordon Lightfoot - I very much like songs like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Canadian Railroad Trilogy,but they sound nothing like GLMS's stuff - nothing. The only area of commonality might be Canada after that, there's NO similarity at all, so if you've read that review, it's way off and the reviewer needs to go back and listen to both artists, or get a hearing aid.

This record is neither as good, nor as bad as previous reviewers have said. Its ambitious - taking the theme of the Great Lakes and weaving
it through about 15 songs. But ultimately, the songs and music just
arent that great. There are a few gems early on ("Buffalo Nickel" is
amazing) but many songs I would classify as filler toward the end. I did like the fact that there are several different singers (males and a female) who give some variety to an otherwise dreary collection of songs.
At its best its good folk-rock, and at its worst its new-age pop that isnt very "poppish". I applaud the effort here, but cannot really
recommend this one. "Lost Debates" is one of the worst songs I have ever heard - its shrill tone is virtually unlistenable. I dont know how you give this one 5-stars unless you are a relative, or in the band! If you have found this obscure band and you are reading this review, the chances are you will like some of what they have to offer... but probably not all of it.

The reason they write about Jimmy Stewart is, there's nothing exciting happening in upstate Mi. That sums up this played out boring CD. Sorry guys, but Gordon Lightfoot beat you to this type of music and does it much better. Even their name reads like a VFW hall sunday meeting. I'm sure people who injoy Lawerence Welk might enjoy this CD.