Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The kings of the swinging moods are back in town, October 19, 2005
To make a long story short, Harvey Danger broke up sometime after King James Version was released--5 years to the day (plus one) of this album's release; the members went their separate ways until deciding to play a reunion show on April 21, 2004, which thereafter brought about talks of a third album that would later materialize as 'Little By Little...'. Now, all during this "hiatus", HD's message board was still active, allowing for us diehard fans to foam at the mouth every time a band member would post letting us know of news of possible shows or possible third albums. And when everything finally became official, I found myself looking forward to an album's release more than I ever have before. On top of everything, too, it is a double-disc. (I should note that before Christmas of '04 they released an EP with the previously-available classic "Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes)" that included a demo of "Wine, Women & Song". And I should also note they now have a new drummer, Michael Welke.)
The two songs that jumped out at me from the start were "Cream And Bastards Rise" and "Little Round Mirrors". "C&BR is comparable to HD's harder rock tunes like "Authenticity" and "Carlotta Valdez" (and includes the likely-to-be-often-quoted line 'you don't have to be a genius / but it helps to'), while "LRM" is more melodic and beautiful, all the while staying as catchy as possible. Since I'd already listened to "Wine, Women & Song" about a million times I had a hard to taking to it here, although it is a terrific song in any case. Two sleeper tracks that seem to grow on me more each time I listen to them are "War Buddies" and "Moral Centralia". I get chills when I hear (in "War Buddies"): 'if you've got guns / well now's the time for sticking / resistance is already forming / the second shot won't be a warning'. And the same can be said for the 'you are weak...' interludes in "Moral". Those are the top five songs, I believe, followed closely by the epic closer "Diminishing Returns"; "Happiness Writes White", a beautiful ode written for Sean's wife; a reworking of a song done by Sean's side project band, Mortal Enemies--"What You Live By"; "Cool James", which was apparently written, originally, for the 'Merrymakers' album; and "Incommunicado", a short, back-and-forth duet with Rachael Bowman of Some By Sea.
As for the bonus disc, "Picture, Picture" and "Cold Snap" (featuring The Long Winters' John Roderick on guitar) would knock out "War Buddies" and "Moral Centralia" to move into the top 5 (if we're judging all 19 tracks). "I Missed It" isn't far behind, either. "Elvis, I Don't Love You Anymore" is an interesting song. It takes on an almost punk-like feel, which might be off putting for some people. The demo version of "Moral" is everything you'd expect from a demo, although there appears to be a (larger) number of fans who like it more than the original. "Cream And Bastards Reprise", which is live, finds Sean Nelson being more off-the-wall than I can ever remember him being, as his intro will no doubt make you chuckle a tad. The writing snippets of "C&BR" and "Little Round Mirrors" are both poor, 1-minute recordings of the respective songs' sound right out of the womb, though it's rare to hear such raw samples. Finally, the not-so-hidden track, "The Piano Lesson", I will leave for you to discern on your own. (I will, however, say that it's a cool nostalgic reminder of trying to watch Sportscenter while my little sister learned to play piano.)
This is undoubtedly my favorite album right now; though time will have to tell whether or not it outshines 'Merrymakers' and/or 'King James'. But right now that doesn't matter. Since I got 'Little By Little...' I have been listening to few other CDs, and see no reason why anyone would want to. Whether you simply like or simply love Harvey Danger's other albums, you are going to attach yourself to these 19 tracks. And (to be horribly cliché), they will, little by little, grow on you until Harvey Danger is one of your favorite bands. That is, of course, unless they already were. This is the album of the year. Buy it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding for both its politics and its music, June 23, 2006
Even if you've listened to this album all the way through and hated every second, you should still buy it. Harvey Danger made a brave statement by releasing this album for free via BitTorrent, and should be rewarded for it.
However, I doubt you'll hate this album. Harvey Danger is so brilliant that even an angst-ridden goth-wannabe like me (I'm a huge NIN fan) has to smile and enjoy their cheeky cynicism and playful sound. I hate pop, as a rule, but this stuff is genius. The lyrics are clever, almost to a fault. The singer belts out his abundant, saucy one-liners with glee, and his biting humor is contagious. The music is a perfect match for the lyrics: snide, snickering, and absurdly catchy ("Flagpole Sitta" was not a fluke). The band has moved away from its more punk-rock sound on "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone" and moved more toward subtle pop (example: "Wine, Women, and Song"), but have lost none of their edge.
If there's fault to find, it's in the production. It's clear that this album didn't benefit from an unlimited budget and top-of-the-line equipment, but most people probably won't even notice. Even most audiophiles should find the recording tolerable, particularly given the quality of the material.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The kings of the swinging moods are back in town, June 1, 2007
To make a long story short, Harvey Danger broke up sometime after King James Version was released--5 years to the day (plus one) of this album's release; the members went their separate ways until deciding to play a reunion show on April 21, 2004, which thereafter brought about talks of a third album that would later materialize as 'Little By Little...'. Now, all during this "hiatus", HD's message board was still active, allowing for us diehard fans to foam at the mouth every time a band member would post letting us know of news of possible shows or possible third albums. And when everything finally became official, I found myself looking forward to an album's release more than I ever have before. On top of everything, too, it is a double-disc. (I should note that before Christmas of '04 they released an EP with the previously-available classic "Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes)" that included a demo of "Wine, Women & Song". And I should also note they now have a new drummer, Michael Welke.)
The two songs that jumped out at me from the start were "Cream And Bastards Rise" and "Little Round Mirrors". "C&BR is comparable to HD's harder rock tunes like "Authenticity" and "Carlotta Valdez" (and includes the likely-to-be-often-quoted line 'you don't have to be a genius / but it helps to'), while "LRM" is more melodic and beautiful, all the while staying as catchy as possible. Since I'd already listened to "Wine, Women & Song" about a million times I had a hard to taking to it here, although it is a terrific song in any case. Two sleeper tracks that seem to grow on me more each time I listen to them are "War Buddies" and "Moral Centralia". I get chills when I hear (in "War Buddies"): 'if you've got guns / well now's the time for sticking / resistance is already forming / the second shot won't be a warning'. And the same can be said for the 'you are weak...' interludes in "Moral". Those are the top five songs, I believe, followed closely by the epic closer "Diminishing Returns"; "Happiness Writes White", a beautiful ode written for Sean's wife; a reworking of a song done by Sean's side project band, Mortal Enemies--"What You Live By"; "Cool James", which was apparently written, originally, for the 'Merrymakers' album; and "Incommunicado", a short, back-and-forth duet with Rachael Bowman of Some By Sea.
As for the bonus disc, "Picture, Picture" and "Cold Snap" (featuring The Long Winters' John Roderick on guitar) would knock out "War Buddies" and "Moral Centralia" to move into the top 5 (if we're judging all 19 tracks). "I Missed It" isn't far behind, either. "Elvis, I Don't Love You Anymore" is an interesting song. It takes on an almost punk-like feel, which might be off putting for some people. The demo version of "Moral" is everything you'd expect from a demo, although there appears to be a (larger) number of fans who like it more than the original. "Cream And Bastards Reprise", which is live, finds Sean Nelson being more off-the-wall than I can ever remember him being, as his intro will no doubt make you chuckle a tad. The writing snippets of "C&BR" and "Little Round Mirrors" are both poor, 1-minute recordings of the respective songs' sound right out of the womb, though it's rare to hear such raw samples. Finally, the not-so-hidden track, "The Piano Lesson", I will leave for you to discern on your own. (I will, however, say that it's a cool nostalgic reminder of trying to watch Sportscenter while my little sister learned to play piano.)
This is undoubtedly my favorite album right now; though time will have to tell whether or not it outshines Merrymakers and/or King James Version. But, overall, that doesn't matter. Since I got 'Little By Little...' I have been listening to few other CDs, and see no reason why anyone would want to. Whether you simply like or simply love Harvey Danger's other albums, you are going to attach yourself to these 19 tracks. And (to be horribly cliché), they will, little by little, grow on you until Harvey Danger is one of your favorite bands. That is, of course, unless they already were. This is the album of the year. Buy it.
Footnote: the track arrangement on this Kill Rock Stars re-release is slightly different than on the original Little By Little..., that was released on Phonographic Records; here, "Incommunicado" is replaced with "Picture, Picture" (rightfully so) on the main disc, while "Incommunicado" essentially then becomes part of the bonus disc. Other than that, the releases are the same.
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