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The Magnetic Fields | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 4, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B0001NNL8O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,103 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed 1999 release 69 Love Songs, i finds singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt in full possession of his acerbic wit. Featuring lyrics ripe with melancholy and bittersweet imagery, the record's fourteen tracks are possibly the most personal Merritt has created to date -- a departure from the many voices on 69 Love Songs.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressed is Imminent November 26, 2004

By Rygel

Format:Audio CD

Something that always is impressive about Stepen Merritt is his bravery in bringing pop music out of it's dull, repetition and into a brilliant ride of lyrical bliss and musical genius. His use of everything from the cello to the banjo on the latest work of The Magnetic Fields 'i' is both deep and catchy. With poppy songs like "I Don't Believe You" and "If there's Such a Thing As Love" put into a mix with the odd "In an Operetta", with the bitter breakup tune "I Thought You Were my Boyfriend". The Cd ends with the beautiful "It's Only Time" which is the highlight of the CD, both lyrically and with it's lovesick tune.

This is an album that has no bad songs at all and never disappoints, even with it's experimental adventures.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than 69 September 16, 2004

By K. Busch

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I hold a minority view: I think this album is better than the 69 Love Songs. The lyrics are at least as good -- clever, heartbreaking, insightful, ironic, funny. The biggest improvement is better musical composition. As in good classical music, the accompaniments have become interesting. "I Die" is almost a duet for voice & cello. "I Thought You Were..." has a haunting counter-tune in the treble. "Tongue-Tied" uses pauses as cleverly as Haydn. "Infinitely Late" is spare and rich simultaneously.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, but too much filler July 15, 2005

By Bo Brinkman

Format:Audio CD

This is an unusual CD, with a lot of things to recommend it. Stephin Merritt has the ability to write catchy tunes in many different styles, always showcasing his smoky baritone voice. "I Don't Believe You" is a witty and up-tempo quasi-love song. "I Wish I Had An Evil Twin" reminds one of They Might Be Giants, while "I'm Tongue-Tied" is a honky-tonk lament in the style of "Crazy."

I don't even want to talk about the "I" theme, but it does not seem forced, and does not detract from the album.

My main criticism of the album is that tracks 10-14 are fairly un-memorable. They are pleasant and hum-able, but to me they seem like filler.

This is definitely a must-have CD for anyone with a particular interest in great song-writing, but it is not a masterpiece.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Say hello to Merritt's BEST album! May 23, 2004

By vidar

Format:Audio CD

When I heard that this album doesn't break any new ground for Stephin Merritt, I decided to give it maximum 4 stars, no matter how good I would think it was. I love "69 Love Songs". It is one of my favourite albums of the last ten years. For a long time, I have intended to write a review of "69", but I don't think I ever will. It's a hard album to write about, and my English isn't good enough to do it justice.
With "i", Merritt has done the best thing he could possibly have done. To make a completely different album, just to prove he can develop, would be foolish of him, having such a gem of a 14-songs collection up his sleeve.
This album is so beautiful, it actually makes me cry. I don't cry that easily, and the last time I cried because of the sheer beauty of an album, was when I got acquainted to "Forever Changes" some years ago.
This album is pure gold from start to finish. It's an incredibly beautiful sounding album. No synthesizers. Cello, harpsicord and banjo dominates the soundscape. And what songs they are! Most songwriters would do anything to write songs like these. And Merritt makes it seem so easy, like he's writing these songs as effortlessly as picking leaves from a tree.
If I took my 14 favourite songs from "69" and made it into one personal favourite album, the result wouldn't have been much better than this. Yes, that's how good I think it is! For me, this is probably the album of the year. And it makes the best soundtrack for the summer of 2004 I could possibly have hoped for.
I seriously believe that Merritt is touched by the hand of God.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I Tunes August 29, 2004

By altmalta

Format:Audio CD

So what do you do when you release a triple album that consists of 69 love songs? Release a quadruple album of hate songs? Well in the case of The Magnetic Field (one of the many side projects of pop savant Stephen Merritt) one goes back to basics and this is a good thing .i has only 14 songs, no synthesizers and no filler whatsoever oh and each song begins with the letter I (I don't believe you, Irma etc).

Musically, however, I has the same poppiness and clever lyrics as 69 love songs and the album is littered with catchy tunes, leaving three dreary ballads aside I is a very good follow up to a classic album- can't wait for that quadruple album though!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure and simple: the masterpiece of the year so far June 1, 2004

By I. M. Sanchez Prado

Format:Audio CD

I am a great fan of the chaotic passion of 69 Love songs and I always believed that Stephen Merritt and his band would not be able to match it. This CD proves me wrong. It works in two levels. First, it is a wonderful epilogue to the Box Set. This album is the ripe, finished result of that exercise of experimentation and creativity. The power of the love cliche, minimalist music and Merritt's apparently uneventful, yet perfect vocals, reaches here a degree of near perfection. However, falling in the temptation of staying in the comparison with 69 Love songs would be underestimating this collection. In itself, it is a wonderful, enjoyable, passionate CD. It is one of the best songwriting around and Merritt proves that to be great you don't need an excess in arrangement or a pseudoepic appearance. This CD is musical poetry at the highest and it does nothing but remind us that there is hope beyond the increasing mediocrity of the musical mainstream.