Customer Reviews

The Night and I Are Still So Young

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

 

 

This is one of the most beautiful albums ever made. The lyrics are sad, but the melodies, harmonies and arrangements are bright, lush and sunny, like a spring forest on a sunny day. If you like Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson, you really need to hear this. It is, as I titled my review, breathtaking. These musicians are all in other bands and they take a really long time between Heavy Blinkers projects, but I hope they get going on another one soon.

Long considered one of the best pop bands in Canada, the Heavy Blinkers have reached a new maturity with this stunningly orchestrated pop masterpiece.

Two years in the making, "The Night And I Are Still So Young" consolidates the nocturnal orchestrations of the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and grafts them onto material akin to 70's era Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman. This album finds the five Blinkers collaborating with over 25 auxilliary players to help create a symphonic tapestry that is as rich and dense as you're likely to hear this year.

Long considered one of the best pop bands in Canada, the Heavy Blinkers have reached a new maturity with this stunningly orchestrated pop masterpiece.

Two years in the making, "The Night And I Are Still So Young" consolidates the nocturnal orchestrations of the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and grafts them onto material akin to 70's era Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman. This album finds the five Blinkers collaborating with over 25 auxilliary players to help create a symphonic tapestry that is as rich and dense as you're likely to hear this year.

small wonder that Van Dyke Parks and the High Llamas are up to speed with the songs of Jason MacIsaac and Andrew Watt: their sunny surf anthems and sad saltwater ballads touch on the orchestral terrain of their hero, Brian wilson. Which doesn't mean they're blatant copyists. Their geography and their sound are poles apart, lending the spooky pop "try telling that to my baby" and the grandly structured "fall on my sword" real artistic punch. Spiritual survival is the name of the HB's game, and they carry it off, too.
MAX BELL
UNCUT magazine Aug. 2004

What can I say? I have listened to this cd in its entirety four times (in headphones mind you) trying to identify some redeeming quality, but there is just nothing there to hang on to. The song writing is weak and lifeless. Nothing sticks in your head once the cd is finished. There is no melody or flow to these songs. I do believe this band has great talent, but the song writing must vastly improve to keep me interested. Comparing this band to The Beach Boys, or suggesting this recent work is a masterpiece is ridiculous. Sorry Blinkers. This cd made me feel like I was slipping into a coma.