Prog

The Bad Plus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Heads Up
• ASIN: B000NQQ4OC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,565 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Track Listing: 1. Everybody Wants to Rule the World 2. Physical Cities 3. Life On Mars 4. Mint 5. Giant 6. Thriftstore Jewelry 7. Tom Sawyer 8. This Guy's In Love With You 9. The World Is The Same 10. 1980 World Champion

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific album by The Bad Plus, May 14, 2007

By 

A music lover (Fremont, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prog (Audio CD)

These guys have a way with covers. But their own material is great, too. I don't agree with the Amazon reviewer that sees some of their covers as jokes that are funny once but not the second or third time. Music which functions only as a joke often falls flat, but the covers on this album are much more (if they are jokes at all) - I think they take themselves seriously as music, even if they do have fun with the tunes in the process. Anyway, art is in the eye of the beholder - one man's masterpiece is another man's headscratcher. If you like contemporary jazz, particularly jazz piano trios, and you like your music challenging yet communicative and highly listenable, get this. If you have an affection for the originals, it will only add to your enjoyment. There's a variety of approaches here, and they all work just fine.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop calling them "covers", May 29, 2007

By 

Brian Henderson "SeriousComposer" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prog (Audio CD)

I'm not going to make proclamations like, "The Bad Plus is the future of jazz music," or anything like that. However, concerning their "covers," as you reviewers enjoy calling them so much, might I point out that there is a long-standing tradition in jazz to play tunes you like that you (or anyone else on the recording session for that matter) did not write yourself. And what do we now call those tunes? Standards. But the process by which a song becomes a standard is not that of a committee sitting in a room, deciding what goes in the Real Book and what doesn't. It's a process by which artists play tunes they enjoy playing, and after numerous artists have put their voice to a tune, maybe it becomes a standard. I see what the Bad Plus does with their interpretations of more contemporary rock songs as a continuation of that same tradition. The Bad Plus play tunes they enjoy, as far as I can tell, and they kill each and every one of them. Even if they play it faithfully to the original, they still kill it and give it their own Bad Plus stamp. Would you ever confuse the Rush version of Tom Sawyer with the Bad Plus Version? I doubt it.

It is somewhat regrettable that there aren't more original compositions by the band on this record, since they're all great composers with their own individual voices. But, might I also remind you, that the jazz player composes in the moment, even if they didn't write the song itself.

The Bad Plus is a great presence on the musical scene today, especially in the Jazz idiom. They bring joy, exuberance, and incredible musicality to everything they do. You don't judge their music. It judges you.

28 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does anyone really LIKE listening to this music?, June 5, 2007

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prog (Audio CD)

I can't quite shake the feeling, after listening to this alien music for the past week or so, that I've been duped. And though I think Prog is somewhat of a recovery after Give and (esp.) Suspicious Activity, I can't bring myself to totally sign on.

I have thoughts like these as I listen: Wow, Dave King brings something to his kit that few jazz drummers ever have (although I could do with a little less bombast and heavy-handiness). Or, Ethan Iverson's displaying some awesome chops (although he still strikes me as awfully mannered). Or, Reid Anderson actually has some pretty attractive songs on this disc (although the band unnecessarily beats "Physical Cities" to a bloody pulp).

Bottom line--I can't convince myself that these boys aren't stuck in unwitting self-parody. That is, attitude trumps substance. To be expected, I suppose, when a band comes with this much hype--and apparently believes it.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty much bowled over by the covers (unlike some of the other reviewers), especially the laconic tumescence of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "This Guy's in Love with You." "Tom Sawyer" strikes me as funny, and "Life on Mars" as appropriately weird.

Actually, in a lot of ways, this is a pretty killer disc, although, it must be said, the vibe pretty quickly wears thin. Consequently, I find myself not picking it to listen to for the pure pleasure it gives, but to access its quirkiness. Which, unfortunately, tends to relegate it to novelty status.

That said, it's quite an attractive novelty. Somewhere between 3 and 5 stars.