Personal Life

The Thermals | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 7, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Kill Rock Stars
• ASIN: B003U9KZ5I
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,507 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Over the course of seven years and four LP's, The Thermals have tackled religion, politics, and death with no small amount of passion and fervor. With their fifth LP, The Thermals have battled (and perhaps even conquered!) the deepest and darkest of all popular art themes- love. Not that The Thermals
haven't sung/spoken/screamed about the wide range of emotions love produces and abuses. But never before have The Thermals devoted an entire LP to love, loss, and lies! More than an album strictly about love, Personal Life is about relationships. It's about the concept of a connection between two people -making it, breaking it, and faking it. Personal Life amounts to the indie-rock equivalent of a brilliant but ultimately doomed love affair. A beautiful, turbulent experience that will hopefully leave you wiser in the ways of love and life.
Personal Life is something of retro-technical achievement. Producer Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Tegan and Sara) recorded The Thermals the same way in which he produced their 2004 LP. The band was recorded live (for the most part) to tape, and the album was mixed to tape as well. The sonic care Walla gave to Personal Life assures an enjoyable listen for audiophiles (the vinyl was mastered straight from tape) as well as for the rest of us who don't care and will be listening on awful headphones and Radio Shack speakers.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 8/10 September 14, 2010

By Uthor

Format:Audio CD

I was worried about this album after being disappointed by the last one, but I'm really happy to see that it's a solid work from one of my favorite groups. While it still is lacking the raw energy present in the first two or three albums, the songs return to simple, catchy lyrics and the music complements them perfectly. The songs remind me most of the Hutch and Kathy duo album that came out a few years ago, but with a full band instead of an accoustic sound.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal Life = great! December 2, 2010

By Garn

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

A bit more solid than Now We Can See, but not reaching the heights of The Body, The Blood, The Machine...that said, this is a great record. I can't take it out of my daily rotation!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thermals will warm your Heart November 12, 2010

By BraMaster

Format:Audio CD

Well, actually maybe they won't warm your heart, but they just may rock your socks off. I picked up this bad boy CD at one of their shows, and would highly recommend. It is a bit different from their previous albums though as it isn't as high energy (with the exception of "I Don't Believe You). I read somewhere else that this album is a "grower", and I would agree with that as I started to like the songs more the more I listened to them. Left this in the car cd player for a few weeks. If you like alternative music, give The Thermals a shot. It's one of the two CDs I've bought all year, and I can't wait to see what they do next.