Customer Reviews

Loser Anthem (B Sides & Rarities)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would give this a million stars if I could. This is easily the best recording I've ever heard. No hardcore MGB fan should be without this ultra rare, limited edition masterpiece! Only 35,000 copies are in production. That's not a lot considering that Beautiful Midnight went Gold selling 50,000 copies in the first 8 hours of release! If you're not a hardcore MGB fan, I strongly urge you NOT to get this EP. Pick up Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts, Underdogs, or Beautiful Midnight instead. Leave this EP for those who need it; the TRUE fans, like me and others. This EP won't be around for too long at all.

Flashdance II - Cut #1 from Beautiful Midnight. Pure rock! Originally released on the net in early 2000.

The Man From Harold Wood - The ending of FD2. This track is dedicated to Matt's father who was from Harold Wood, England.

My Life As A Circus Clown - Cut #2 from BM. Quite short, but very stunningly recorded. One of the stronger songs from the disc. Pure rock as well.

Intermezzo - Matt can't figure out how to play the intro trolley from Dragon Trails. More of a comedy-type track if you think about it.

Flight Recorder From Viking 7 - Very deep and beautiful duet featuring the great vocals of Canadian superstar, Holly McNarland. One of the slower tracks, but very deep and subtle.

Life Beyond the Minimum Safe Distance - Beautiful and acoustic, what more can you ask? What starts out slow and calm, turns into a crashing hard, almost threatening tune. An unforgetable song indeed.

The Fine Art of Falling Apart - The most beautiful song I've ever heard. First time hearing it, I was in tears. Recorded in only one take, no editing/mixing what-so-ever. A masterpiece none-the-less. Quite haunting to a point.

Like I said before, no true MGB fan should be without this great EP put out for all you hardcore fans. Simply the best!

If you are not a fan of the Matthew Good Band, please don't pick up this EP and believe it to encompass the essence of the band. This EP was more or less a "gift" to die-hard fans that are so damn hungry for new MGB material and can't wait for their new album "the audio of being" that will be released September of this year. A few of the tracks were recorded during their last album sessions and some were done more recently.

I can describe this album as "spacey, airy", Matt Good says it's a "soundtrackish" album. I think you'll know what he means when you hear it. It is not a conventional piece of work in the least.

The opening track "Flashdance II" is a straight-forward rocker that was actually streamed over the net more than a year ago. Many of us die-hards have already been listening to a low quality, real audio version of it for that long. Track 2 "The man from Harold Wood" is entirely instrumental with strings and piano, very short, and rumored to be for Matt's father. Track 3 "My life as a Circus Clown" is my favorite on the album and is also a straight-forward rock song. Ironically it has an uplifting chorus. It's a bit dark but there is hope in it's lyrics, that kind of nice. That song floors me everytime. Well Track 4 is not a song but an "intermezzo". If you're not sure what that means I'll just say it is just talking. Track 5 "Flight recorder from Viking 7" finds an unlikely duet with Matt and another artist that he goes way back with. It's a very eerie song. Very good though nonetheless. Track 6 "life beyond the minimum safe distance" is my favorite of the slower songs, it also has a very eerie feel, very urgent, but beautiful. Track 7 "the fine art of falling apart" is lyrically amazing, and was done with just Matt and his guitar in one take. It was rumored to appear on their new album under the name "over me" but does not seem likely now. It is a sad song, very dark. Matt really hits some high notes on it and it can get to you. It's just very honest and I respect that he did it in one take and didn't try and make it anything other than raw and real.

All in all, this is an EP for MGB fans really. If you don't know about the Matthew Good Band, please go get their current album, "Beautiful Midnight" or "Underdogs" and you will thank me. After you digest that, pick up "Loser Anthems" and then you can fully enjoy that. Just stop using the internet and go get some sun and listen to the Matthew Good Band. Thank me later...Cheers

This CD really makes the difference for me. Being a huge mg fan, i had to have it. Got it off Ebay as a gift. was worth the fifty bucks, and it really can speak to me. Man from Harold Wood is a deep song, though i think some people dont see it that way. Just love it :)

Isn't it sad that MGB's EP has songs that are better than almost every other band's LPs? It is just pathetic. I mean, tracks cut from some of their cds sound too good to be on most band's cds.

This EP holds some of the best songs I have ever heard. Flashdance II is brilliant! Just a nice classic MGB rock song. The Fine Art Of Falling Apart did not quite grasp me at first listen, though after listening to it more, I can say that it is simply incredible! And... the best track on the cd, Flight Recorder... I cannot describe how beautiful this song is. I was just completely shocked the first time i heard it. And i still get in a trance every time i hear it. Very errie and slow, but it is just fantastic.

After searching high and low for this album, I was lucky enough to come across a copy of it at a local music store, so maybe it's not as rare as some people make it out to be (only 35 000 copies made, but now in 2002 I found a new one!). I just want to say that if you're a Matthew Good Band fan and you stumble across one of these gems, get it! You will NOT be disappointed.

"Flashdance II" (which continues smoothly into track two, "The Man From Harold Wood") is just a pure, great MGB song that's fun to listen to. "My Life As A Circus Clown" is a cool rock song, and would pretty much fit on a MGB album like Underdogs or Beautiful Midnight. The "Intermezzo: M. Good Vs. M. Trolley" is a hilarious account of Matt trying (and failing miserably) to play the Trolley song from Mr. Rogers.

In my opinion, though, the real money's worth of the album comes from track 5, "Flight Recorder From Viking 7". If this was the only song on the album, it would still be worth the twelve bucks I shelled out for it. I can't quite describe in words what this song is like - eerie, mysterious, haunting, beautiful...the words don't do it justice. It starts off with a lot of beeping and Matt taking deep, shuddering breaths that set the mood for the whole song. Holly McNarland is a great addition and fits really well with Matt's powerful voice. I think it's this song that really shows off why a lot of people consider Matt one of Canada's best musical voices.

The rest of the album flows really well off the pace set by "Flight Recorder." "Life Beyond the Minimum Safe Distance" is another slower track accompanied by a nice guitar and piano track. Again, Matt's voice really shines here. The track really swells up towards the end.

And finally, there's "The Fine Art Of Falling Apart," a song that Matt just recorded once and left as it is. He's flat on some of the notes, but that only seems to add to the song. There's raw emotion here, raw sound quality, and that feeling of almost musical perfection.

All in all, this is the EP that many will be disappointed not to own, but you can see why they only released 35 000 copies of it - once you have one, it's just that much better. Loser Anthems is certainly a winner.

Are we high yet, crazy kids? This is what the Japanese on the cover of this album loosely translates to. Released June 5, 2001, there are only 35000 copies of this ep made available to the world. It features 7 tracks which are out-takes from Beautiful Midnight and Underdogs.

The first track is Flashdance II which was previously released on the band's website in March 2000. Personally, this is my favourite MGB song because it blends a very powerful chorus with solemn verses. The intro where some guys is trying to "slam" the Matthew Good Band, but not to the satisfaction of Matt is quite amusing. This is the perfect song to blast on the stereo and sing along to when you think no one is watching. The Man from Harold Wood is meant to be a continuation of Flashdance II. It's basically just a piano solo with chanting from a crowd. Nothing really spectacular.

Another track worth mentioning is the fourth one: M. Good v. M. Trolley. Here, Matt's wondering how on earth a certain piano tune was played (the Trolly song from Mr. Roger's Neighbourhood), but claims it impossible, stating that only 2 midgets could do it. It's a fun amusing little ditty.

Holly Mcnarland appears for the song Flight Recorder from Viking Seven. This is the only track that I'm not too fond of. It's just something about the spaciness echoing of this song that I don't like. It has a really slow tempo and drags the pace of the album down.

The final track, The Fine Art of Falling Apart is original in that it was recorded in the first take, and no studio tweaks were made to it. Matt just went into the studio, sang the song with this acoustic guitar and when it was done, just left it as it is. I think this song was beautifully done, in that it wasn't over-tweaked by the wonders of studio equipment. It's presented to us in it's raw form.

All in all, it's an excellent EP for mgb fans to hold them over until The Audio of Being is released

Even though the band apologizes for the poor sound quality of this album on the inside cover, it doesn`t mess up the songs. Some of the tracks on the album aren`t even songs, they`re just Matt talking. "Flashdance II" and "The Fine Art of Falling Apart" are quite possibly the best songs on the album. Holly McNarland sings in "Flight Recorder From Viking 7" and her voice is perfect with Matt`s. Buy this album, you won`t regret it.

This is MGB's gift to its die-hard fans who are waiting impatiently for their follow-up album to the excellent "Beautiful Midnight". And although I'm not quite as big a fan of this EP as others appear to be, I think "Loser Anthems" does satisfy MGB fans craving for their music.

I'm only really enthusiastic about two songs on this seven-track disc. The first is the opening track "Flashdance II", A great rock song that you'll enjoy cranking-up. The second is a beautiful slow song called "Flight Recorder from Viking 7", which floored me the first time I heard it; I think it's their best slow-song since "Apparitions".

So, what you get is 27 minute EP with one first-rate fast song and one frist-rate slow song. Can't complain.

Sur ce single de Matthew Good Band on y introduit deux sortes de climat. On commence le disque avec un climat plus claire, plus rude et dure. Cependant, on descend dans les bacombe de ce que l'ont appele la force mental. Matthew Good voulait nous amener la et lorsque l'on écoute ce disque les yeux fermer, on y parvient tellement facillement. Encore une fois on nous propose une voix magnifique et un instrumental peu travailler mais qui ce mixte très bien avec le style de musique qu'il nous est offert sur cette album. Plus de chansons aurait été apprécier, mais quand même, on déguste le peu que l'on a puisque que c'est des bonne tounes.

I bought this cd and I was excited bacause of it's limited availabilty. But the cd itself is not that great. The band even apologises for the quality on the inside cover. I'll give it 3 stars just because it's mgb and it's still listenable.