RECONSTRUCTION SITE [Vinyl]

Weakerthans | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (October 1, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EPITAPH
• ASIN: B0000AGWJH
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,727 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Manifest

2. The Reasons

3. Reconstruction Site

4. Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call

5. Plea from a Cat Named Virtue

6. Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)

7. Time's Arrow

8. (Hospital Vespers)

9. Uncorrected Proofs

10. A New Name for Everything

11. One Great City!

12. Benediction

13. The Prescience of Dawn

14. (Past-Due)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Boggling...they're getting BETTER, August 26, 2003

By 

Rob Tebeau (Quincy, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reconstruction Site (Audio CD)

This album has no business being this good. After Left and Leaving and Fallow, I was extremely wary about buying the newest Weakerthans album because I thought there was NO chance that it would be anywhere near as brilliant as those two albums. I've been disappointed lately by new albums from my old favorite bands, and I was setting myself up for a major disappointment.
That said, this is the best Weakerthans release yet. I don't say that flippantly. The first two albums were works of genius, and this one is BETTER than either of the first two. I defy anyone to name a bad Weakerthans song. The lyrics are clever, heartbreaking, and profound. I've heard them referred to as "literate". That's 100% appropriate.
The music is technically sound. The album exists as individual songs and as a unified whole.
And once again, John K Samson's vocals are AMAZINGLY good.
This album is smarter than emo or punk, but is more listenable than most intelli-art-rock garbage. It's punky, folsky, serious music that makes me laugh. I'm an English major, and very picky about literature, but I can unabashedly say that this is poetry set to music.
This album is perfect.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One great band, December 13, 2006

By 

RKR in FLA (Gainesville, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reconstruction Site (Audio CD)

They're my favorite band and I'm 50. They're my daughter's favorite band and she's 14. I'm not sure what that means but I'll bet it means something. Every Saturday we have to drive to another city ninety minutes away, and we listen to The Weakerthans both going and coming. Like just about every other reviewer here, I'm amazed by the wit and beauty of the lyrics. Many songwriters who are particularly gifted lyricists - Springsteen comes to mind - give the impression of writing the lyrics first and then jamming them into a melody as best they can. But in these songs everything fits; the words and music carry each other along perfectly, no matter how long or complex the sentences may be (e.g., "I don't want a second chance to turn my stuttering reluctance into romance, with these documents and kindergarten anthems, with my drunken liturgies"). There's lots about this album I have yet to understand, like why three of the songs, the ones in parentheses, share the same melody. Obviously they're connected, but how? I guess I'll have to keep listening to find out. Not the worst fate I can imagine.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The lyrics make it worthwhile, February 20, 2005

By 

Matilda (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reconstruction Site (Audio CD)

I must say, if this cd had completely different lyrics, I would not have bought it. The lyrics make the album. And I must also say, the music is not always spectacular, but I love the originality, humor, and intelligence in these lyrics. There are probably 3 or 4 great songs that I love on this album, the others having good lyrics but not spectacular music. Some songs have elements of country music, which I'm not a huge fan of, with slide guitars and what not. But when I listen to the songs, I just listen to the lyrics and I don't really care about the other stuff. If that bothers you, don't buy this album. But otherwise, I hope you appreciate the intelligence and originality that makes this album what it is.