Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
if you don't absolutely love this album, you are dead to me., December 13, 2004
I have tried to expose many people to this album, failing miserably with every attempt. I don't know what it is about that is inaccessible to a great many people, but if you know anything about music you know that this is one of the most original and sonically pleasant and lyrically fantastic albums in a long time. I can't think of another album that is as complete and flawless as this thing.
You just have to hear it. Everybody should at least give it a try, the first time i heard "Death," I think a piece of my heart fell off and disintegrated...never to be found again. Simply amazing.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Credit Where Credit is Due, October 24, 2003
Let me add my voice to the others here in fervently affirming that this album is incredibly, incredibly solid. It just doesn't get old. From the faster songs to the slower songs, it all flows together so beautifully. The Velvet Teen has mastered melody. The vocal part of every song on the CD will beg you to sing along. While it is largely guitar-based, the band also employs a great deal of keyboard on this one. Judah Nagler's unique, mellow, and often falsetto voice gives each song enough hook alone, as does the simple-yet-innovative-instrumentation. The combination of those two elements makes for an irresistable art-pop masterpiece. Lyrical content is overwhelmingly inspired as well. You will find no sappy love songs or silly "you broke my heart" songs here. Instead, the songs deal in great depth with various human passions. For example, "The Prize Fighter" describes the arduous journey to success from the perspective of a contender, "Four Story Tantrum" describes the melancholy and lonely existence of a girl with whom the narrator is apparently taken, and the slowest song on the CD, "Red Like Roses," is sort of an ode to breaking free of the mundane, to self-exploration, and to self-expression. I can pretty much promise you that you will love this CD, and that there is no need to sample it first, but I must warn that one (and only one) person that I met said that he didn't like Judah's voice so he didn't like the band. I love his voice, but based on this anecdote, I would suggest you at least get a feel for his voice before buying the CD. LONG LIVE PEOPLE NAMED JUDAH
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
so much love locked inside you, bursting at the seams, April 8, 2002
"Out of the Fierce Parade" is the amazing debut LP from Santa Rosa's finest, The Velvet Teen. Ten remarkably assured and downright catchy indie rock/art-pop recorded skillfully by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla. The undeniable focus of the band is frontman Judah Nagler, whose sublimely beautiful tenor voice leaps acrobatically like a young Jeff Buckley, though never to the detriment of the inherent melody of the song. The high, passionate vocals may ostensibly put the Velvet Teen in the same genre as the current vogue of British bands such as Coldplay, Travis, Starsailor, etc., but unlike those bands, the Velvet Teen flat out ROCK. Standout tracks such as "Radiapathy" and the near apocalyptic soundscape of "Into the Open" show not only Judah's brilliant songwriting skills, but also the flawless rhythm section of Josh Staples and Logan Whitehurst. They have an almost preternatural understanding of the roles of their instruments, such that each of their parts play off of the other's, supporting and sometimes even providing the hook (as in the bell-like bass of "Four Story Tantrum" or the stomping intro to "Your Last Words") without overwhelming the song. The trio's complex vocal harmonies are also nothing short of jaw-dropping. The best part of this band is the versatility of their songwriting; they can go from a prog-operatic masterpiece like "Red Like Roses" to the near perfect synth-pop of "Caspian Can Wait" (my personal favorite) without skipping a beat. Nearly every song will have you singing along (I say nearly only because Judah's vocal range is often impossible to replicate) or dancing your hitherto complacent [self] off whilst screaming lines such as "I will ride the wave into its smoking hole/I will be the vulture to its carion." Brilliant. But enough of words: just buy the cd and see for yourself.
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by The Velvet Teen 
