Customer Reviews

No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry... [Vinyl]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had this for about a week and I just don't get it. I have thousands of CDs and LPs in my music collection. I've been recording albums with my own band for over ten years. I've been playing drums for twenty-five years. I don't understand how this band makes pop music that is so simple yet so complex.

It's baffling. I've been listening to the triptych, "Hawaii," "Vaccine" and "Tricks of the Trade." After the first ten listens, I believed this to be a muddled, meandering mess that threatened to sink the entire second half of the record, greatly diminishing the impact of the whole piece of art. After twenty-five listens, layer after layer of complexly interwoven melody, instrumentation, composition and general aural magic have begun to reveal themselves. I can't stop playing this section of the record over and over again. I've not even made it to really understanding the final two tracks on the record yet...

Currently, I've only one small complaint and that may very likely disappear with time. There is no bulldozing rocker like "Apocalypso" or "Snow Brigade" on this latest release. I would have liked one of those buried somewhere in here.

Mew defy classification and expectation. If The Jonas Brothers and Coldplay made a record with 1970s King Crimson and Rush...produced by Kate Bush. Maybe that would start to begin to explain what is happening here.

When "And the Glass-Handed Kites" was released, I told numerous people that the best way to describe Mew was that they sound like falling in love for the first time feels...all over again...ever single time. That description still holds true for me.

Amazing.

There are those who wanted more of the same of And The Glass Handed Kites or Frengers....and some of those folks might be disappointed. While No More Stories doesn't delve too far from the sound that makes MEW-- well...MEW....there is something different about it. Possibly more mature. Whatever the case, there is nothing wrong with it. From start to finish the musicianship on this record is just amazing. Seeing them perform these songs live and hearing them come to life was just an experience that I hope everyone will have the opportunity to have. While the record might take more than one listen at a glance, it quickly grows and becomes like a flourishing flower, exposing moods, tempos, and rhythms that only MEW could give us. And, while Jonas Bjerre's voice is always in top form, on No More Stories, he explores the range of it in a way that he hasn't done before. He doesn't only focus on the high notes but on the low ones as well-- and the record is all the more beautiful for it. On songs such as "Beach", "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy, and "Silas the Magic Car" we hear the vocal ability that Jonas seems to still be tapping into, and it it only gets better with time.

Everyone is welcome to his or her opinion, but anyone who calls this band gimmicky or says that they are just trying to be another Radiohead, well, I don't think they get what this band is about.

MEW doesn't sound like anything else out there, and I couldn't be more thankful....or relieved.

Mew's last album (.."And the Glass Handed Kites") is one of the best albums I've ever heard. Needless to say I was exited about this follow-up. I've listened through this one twice and I am loving it already. Buy this album! Mew will change the way you see music. It will transform your preferences :). TIP: Mew is an album band. You sometimes have to listen to the whole album to get the point. I do not recommend buying a few MP3 tracks.Go for the entire enchilada!!

If after your first run-through you aren't convinced, give it a few more goes. It took me a few days to really appreciate the beauty and power of this album. I think especially for a fan of Frengers and Kites, No More Stories may not be too exciting at first. Certainly it doesn't have the obvious accessibility of Frengers or the immediate intensity of Kites, but it has something that makes it stand out. I can't really explain it, except to say that No More Stories is all about layers. The melodies are maddeningly complex, so much so that on my first few listens I thought it was an aimless jumble of disjointed tunes. But it all works, everything flows together nicely, and the bizarre key changes, rhythm changes, time signature changes, produce a truly rich effect. This is a deep, mature work, and sticks with you even if you don't realize it's taken root. While I was a little underwhelmed when I first ran through the album, I couldn't resist going back for more. Something about the strange, ethereal sound drew me back again and again until finally I grew familiar enough with each song to understand and love it. No More Stories is best taken in via headphones, I think, to really get a feel for all the levels and components. This is especially true on the middle piece, Cartoons and Macrame Wounds. This is a stirring, lovely song, but very unconventional, and somewhat puzzling. Indeed, the opening contains a line that is virtually impossible to make out, with or without headphones, and it's a very well-written line. Most unfortunate. I only found the line in the lyrics in the booklet. Another troublesome track is Tricks of the Trade. It annoyed me at first, it seemed too bland. But now I realize it has a moody, punky vibe that's truly infectious. New Terrain was probably the one track that convinced me from the start. The distorted, dreamlike flow makes it, in my opinion, the most impressive and beautiful song of the lot. Plus, it's probably the heaviest track, the closest thing to an actual "rocker" in the vein of Kites, or even Frengers for that matter, you get here. But again, No More Stories has an elegance and power all its own. Hawaii Dream is simply divine, perfectly surreal and soothing, and the transition into the exciting island beat of Hawaii is just brilliant. Sometimes Life Isn't Easy is a fine, inspiring blend of ballad and poppy sing-along. Vaccine is another I didn't care much for at first, but it's grown on me, and its haunting melodies are as wonderful as anything. Introducing Palace Players has a cool Frengers feel, really upbeat, almost swingy, very bright and vibrant. I don't have much to say about the others--Beach is quite pretty, Repeaterbeater is good fun save for its abrupt ending, Silas the Magic Car has a sweet bedtime feel but comes across a little bland in comparison to the rest, and Reprise, while not immediately coherent or enjoyable, is a perfect elegiac close, painful and bittersweet, with a soulful melody that can fit just about every other tune from the album into it, mostly Silas the Magic Car. All in all, this is a wonderful music experience, transcendent and passionate, with a decidedly hopeful yet somewhat sorrowful air, as of opportunities and youth lost but new chances ahead. More emotionally poignant than Frengers, but less nihilistic than Kites. I still prefer And the Glass Handed Kites of course, but I'd probably put Frengers right below this one actually, but not by much; and there's nothing quite as glorious as Comforting Sounds on this album. My biggest complaint would probably be that occasionally the lyrics are drowned by the arrangements, but then, Kites would have been largely unintelligible, especially on tracks like An Envoy to the Open Fields, were it not for the liner notes. So then, it's a great success. May Mew continue to enchant us.

So I bought this album right when it came out and was extremely dissapointed. I thought it lacked the unity of And The Glass Handed Kites and the driving beats that I love about MEW. It didn't help that I bought Phoenix's latest album at the same time either and already had something awesome to listen to. I couldn't get a couple of the songs out of my head though and kept coming back for more and eventually realized that No More Stories Are Told Today.....stayed in my CD player for the majority of the time. MEW has simply grown, moved on, and produced a CD even better than the previous stuff.....something I can feel even more than before. I can't believe I passed "Introducing Palace Players" 50 times before I gave it a chance. Never again will I fast forward a track because I don't get the beginning. This song is one of my favorites of all time now. Besides that though, this entire CD is awesome, just give it a chance with an open mind.

Mew has been at the top of all my favorites lists since I stumbled across "And the Glass Handed Kites" in 2006, and I had been eagerly looking forward the epic opening track that would undoubtedly kick off "No More Stories..." Imagine my confusion when I first popped it in the player and the backward-treated vocals of "New Terrain" shot down my expectations. From the outset, it seemed that "No More Stories" was going to be a far more esoteric affair.

I have come to accept that the first spin of an album will rarely be forthcoming, especially one that I am anticipating. Even between the first and second spin, "No More Stories..." sounded like an entirely different album. Still, I don't know that I can recall an album that I had such an initial resistance to. It seemed heavy on atmosphere and low on melody, and I was afraid that Mew's pursuit of complexity was beginning to decenter their accessibility. I still held, though, that "No More Stories..." held a huge payoff if I could just open myself to it. It was opaque for several spins but it has, indeed, opened up and kept my interest much longer than many other albums that I thought would be in the running for my "best of 2009" list, including Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" and Muse's "The Resistance."

Listening now, it's hard to see what I did not like. The angular rhythmic approach of "Introducing Palace Players" is no longer jarring, but implies an intricate polyrhythm that supports Bjerre's soaring vocal line. "Hawaii" is no longer pointlessly percussive, but instead evolves and grows into a superbly layered and affecting texture. "Silas the Magic Car" and "Cartoons and Macrame Wounds" are intricately structured in a way that is not immediately apparent, and "Beach" is hardly the throwaway tune I thought it was; it's now my current singalong favorite.

I admit to still clinging somewhat to the band's more aggressive side, which has receded to some extent, giving way to a more pervasive and orchestral melancholy. Still, the emotional impact that Mew has always been able to capture is still in evidence on "No More Stories....." Once I quit looking for another "Snow Brigade," I began to resonate with songs like the "Reprise" in a similar and perhaps more poignant manner.

The Lowdown: Undoubtedly, "No More Stories..." show Mew at their most experimental and it can be a challenging listen. For the newly curious, it may not be the best place to start (try Frengers). For fans of music that is both deep and wide, though, Mew is still one of the best-kept secrets around.

August 25th, 2009

You don't just listen to Mew's new album/cd "No more stories are told today..." as much as live it.
Mew, aside from being masters of composition and of an incredible ability to creat in one song more melodic content than most good bands will create in their entire body of work, have created here an album that is filled with heartfelt sentiments, and overwhelms the listener with a wide range of feelings.
There are moments of sweet melancholic dreams, where you are transported into landscapes of dark and dense forests shimering with snow and ice (take "Cartoons and Macrame Wounds" or "Silas the Magic Car" as examples of this). Or songs that have a childish joy curtesy of their rich and beautiful melodic content (for instance "Beach").

If you feel, as I sometimes have felt, that we are awash in audio trash; hip hop / rap with its unfiltered, unapologetic, retrograde and degenerative stupidity, wannabe pop singers who think "oversinging" is a sign of talent, (look up the term and then go slap Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carrie, and while you are at it kick Michael Bolton), rehashed 80's new wave pseudo post punk rockers (just cause you emulate Depeche Mode and The Cure does not mean you are any thing remotely as good), hack DJ's who think "triggering" other real artist's sounds or songs while holding one headphone against your ear means you yourself are an artists, and lastly teenage targeted stupidity a.k.a. the Jonas Bros / Hannah Montana and the Disney bred rubish... to those of you who think all is and has been lost to the aforementioned cultural black whole, I have this to say.

BUY THIS CD!!! It will make you feel that there is hope in the world of music, and true art and culture are not de-evolving but is actualy still evolving and in good form.

As every Mew album, it requires some patience. (Just the album title should give you some indication of that.) It is well worth the patience. These crazy danes still use more obscure chords and time-signatures than most artists are even aware exist, and yet somehow, you still walk away with the choruses stuck in your head. It still feels "poppy" in one sense, like they are writing pop songs for radio in an alternate dimension. Can't say I'd mind living there. (track to sample: "Hawaii")

I hate calling this band "pop" because they are far from being a pop band. In fact, I would call this album one of the more creative, progressive "melodic" albums of the late 2000's. It's mesmerizing almost on the fringe of being progressive rock similiar to bands of old like Yes or even Pink Floyd. This is a great album. I wish more young bands of today had this type of creativity and ambience in their music. Today we have so many 3 chord jingle songs or sampled dance and hip hop. This album is refreshing.

This is the best release by anyone in years.

Unless you are one of those who hates it upon first listen (sorry for you), it will reward you beyond expectation.

Hooky and free-flowing, nice coloring, off-beat and punchy rhythms. On top of it all, Mew has very good production values.

After a month plus of ownership, this CD is still improving upon repeat listens. Picked up Frengers and Kites based upon my experience with this, but still think that 'No More Stories' is the best.

The tracks that may sink in first: Beach,Silas,Introducing, Tricks...

Enjoy.