Customer Reviews

Plants & Birds & Rocks & Thing

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok I suppose I am a bit biased because Zachary Smith is my father. I hope you all know he played lead guitar on this CD. I mean I grew up with this band. I was in the recording studo when probably some of this CD and "the tape of only linda" were recorded. I love this music. It has very interesting lyrics to analyze. Also Scott has an amazing voice. He has such a unique sound. Buy this album whoever hasn't.

If you like musical and lyrical complexity along with your hooks, then this is the CD for you. Not everyone loves Scott Miller's work (Loud Family, like Game Theory before them, is 99% his creation), finding it too cerebral/pretentious or dissonant/experimental, but this is his most consistent and accessible work. Aimee Mann puts it in her top 5 all time. If this is your thing, the biggest problem is that it'll ruin you for all others. In my opinion, this is the apex of 20th Century alternative pop.

Scott Miller is one of my all time favorite lyricists. He pens great songs about nothing, or songs that are thought provoking. All the Game Theory(his previous group) albums are good, and all the Loud Family albums are good, but this one is the best. This album is full of hooks, and choruses, many of which will stay with you. My favorites are: "Jimmy Still Comes Around", "Idiot Son", "Inverness", and "Aerodeliria". This cd manages to be bizarre and yet somehow mainstream at the same time. Keep in mind you get 19 tracks too. A must have for serious pop fans.

I first read about this album in 1993 in Stereo Review of all places. It wasn't until late in '94 that I finally got around to buying it. Woah. This is a must must have. Scott Miller is an ingenious songwriter and lyricist. His chord progressions always have an extra little *something*, some quirk or trick it seems. The wordplay is a whole lot of fun and Scott's much maligned voice is, in my opinion, the perfect accompaniment for the hyper-melodic nature of the songs. It's a great listen beginning to end, with the exception of the one song not written by Scott. 'Interbabe Concern' is a "better" album, but this one is my perennial favorite.

I currently own 204 albums. This is my favourite, and, indeed, is the finest album I've ever heard.

I was a huge Game Theory fan, though I came late to the party. It was around late 87 - early 88 that I heard Lolita Nation and it was like heroin (not that I've tried that!) I was hooked. When Two Steps from the Middle Ages came out, I was in the fan club. I was writing Scott Miller irritating fan letters. I got a tape of the (one of) the last shows featuring the Michael Quercio line-up through Scott himself. Then, it all fell apart. Scott would send stuff out on occassion, insisting he was doing something.

Suddenly, in a weird turn of events, this album came out and just floored everyone I knew that heard it. It was louder and heavier than Game Theory, though it was the same for all intents and purposes. Almost every track is a classic (apart from the non-Scott songs ... sorry, they just don't hold up). "Sword Swallower", "Jimmy Comes Round" and "Last Honest Face" are songs that will remain in my head forever.

I hope Scott comes back with something ... another rebirth. "As if we'd ever let that hour of opportunity go by."

At one point in my life, my job consisted of listening to an ungodly amount of music: approximately 2,000 albums a year, plus 20-30 live sets a week.

I also worked directly with bands writing and recording their own music ...

... and then this popped up. I still listen to it, all the time - it is truly one of the best rock records ever recorded. The techniques and choices in recording could take up many pages of description, but at the end of the day, pop music boils down to a few things:
- melodies
- emotion
- vocal performance

The melodies are unforgettable, the feeling jumps out of the speakers (from despair to joy, and many more subtle and nuanced stops in between).

If it was ever possible to OD on music, or become jaded, I would qualify. This album still makes me feel excited to pick up a guitar, hell, to take it out of the jewel box.

Rumors were Aimee Mann was going to sing in re-mixed versions of Scott Miller's songs. The True Gamesters fansite has her covering "Inverness," but I have not heard any more about this planned re-make re-model. That song is closer to her style than Miller's. If you have heard his music, you know what I mean: hyper-clever, kinetic, intricate, arabesque, and sometimes either truly annoying or damned funny, usually in that sardonic way that Mark E Smith might share.

The Loud Family's apparently his attempt to shake off the new-wave power-pop tag that (see All Music Guide) still dogged Game Theory at the end of the 80s. All new line-up, which seems usual every few albums anyway (as with The Fall), under one consistently idiosyncratic and stubbornly lovable singer-songwriter who does not make that occupation an embarassment. Still, with Mitch Easter again manning the studio, there's a familiar obsession with building up layers of sound, found and invented. I like this bricolage.

The songs, when you have 19 (that last bit shows a typically annoying bit of Miller's impishness), will be uneven. Anyone who listens to this album or any Miller album honestly would probably agree. This one provides possibly the most accessible introduction to his later, post-college radio mid-80s, stage. He seeks to plunge you into his funhouse. Distortion's a given. But, with songs such as "Inverness," a lovely and straightforward detour (!) into pop, Miller shows he can play by the industry's rules and do well, also. But that's an uncharacteristic song.

However, the chugging "Idiot Son" sounds less ironic than usual, if only in its musical direction. It could be the more rocking counterpart to cheerier ditties like the assured "Give In World," the lyrically enigmatic but carefree "Take Me Down," or even the eccentric pop of "Second Grade Applauds." "Spot the Setup," contrarily, seems a ringer for the irritating tune pro forma, and an instrumental like "Rosy Overdrive" wanders without enough concentration across its relatively long allotted six minutes.

There's lots to pick and choose from among what remains, but that's for you to discover. While it does continue the Mitch Easter-directed studio trickery of GT's "Lolita Nation," it also furthers the last GT album, the overlooked "Two Steps," whose greater integration of a softer undertone can also be heard in the more accessible tunes among the expected experiments and extravagance. While not my favorite LF album, it's one I'd recommend if you are entering the world of Scott Miller and mates.

This is the definitive Scott Miller Loud Family moment; see Distortion of Glory for the definitive Scott Miller Game Theory moment. Great lyricist who pens great tunes; how can you go wrong. That there is substance behind the lyrics only adds to the intrigue. So many great songs on this cd. Start with Aerodeliria, Jimmy Still Comes Around, Idiot Son, Inverness, Slit My Wrists, Isaacs Law. This Cd doesn't literally rock; it rocks literally. Probably still one of my top 30-40 albums (of thousands I've bought or have). If you like to think while you're singing along; pick this one up.

I listen to this CD too much, even still. I was a bit of a fan of Game Theory (Scott Miller's earlier band which probably still gets more press than Loud Family), so I passed on this for a while. When I found it slightly reduced at the record store I worked at, I bought it. After listening to this, I immediately tried to find any other Loud Family albums, of which there was only one at the time. I still think this is the best of Scott Miller's work, and that is saying a lot. Interbabe takes a close second with Game Theory's Big Shot Chronicles following. Also, if you like Game Theory or Loud Family, go to the Loud Family home page and read the Ask Scott column (where fans can get answers from Scott Miller). You will find out just how amazing Scott Miller truly is. Plus, there is rumor this band might be calling it quits, so buy their collection.