Sainthood

Tegan & Sara | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 27, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / Wea
• ASIN: B002OHOECC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,186 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Tegan and Sara's sixth studio album - Sainthood - addresses secular themes of devotion, delusion, and exemplary behavior in the pursuit of love andrelationships. Inspired by emotional longing and the quiet actions we hope may be noticed by the objects of our affection, Sainthood is about obsession with romantic ideals.
In the service of relationships we practice being perfect. We practice our sainthood in the hope that we will be rewarded with adoration. As we are driven to become anything for someone else, we sometimes become martyrs for our cause.
Love, like faith, can never be held in an individual's hands. But the story of a great love affair - especially one that is unrequited or has ended too soon - can be woven like scripture or a bedtime story. And so the themes of Sainthood are tied together by this simple title, borrowed, with great respect, from the lyrics of the Leonard Cohen song 'Came So Far For Beauty.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant lyrics, yet the melodies leaves me cold., November 5, 2009

By 

M. Case "killmauskill" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sainthood (Audio CD)

I wanted to love this, I really did. I honestly feel that this is going to be one of those albums that will be fiercely debated among fans, and there may be a great divide.

I've been a longtime fan of Tegan and Sara since I first heard their album "If It Was You." I've dutifully collected their albums since 2003, and have loved the majority of their music. There has been great departures from album to album, as if they're leapfrogging sonically through various sounds and musical styles. I can respect this, as I'd hate for a band to get pigeonholed as a one-note...however, this album-while still brilliantly written with a poignant concept- is a musical disconnect for me. Their earlier albums had a warmth to the music that has slowly dwindled away with "The Con." While I still liked their last album (in a catchy, synth-pop way), "Sainthood" feels a little like those pop-punk studio recorded bands where the acoustic music is shined up and mechanized with digital samples and loops. I have no qualms with using layers of synthetic samples/loops/beats, but this feels like it doesn't fully devote itself to one side or the other. On top of that, I've never heard Tegan and Sara sound so divided. To me, it sounds as if they've given up trying to intertwine with one another and instead of collaborating as a unit, it's as if two split pieces are being held together for the sake of a studio album.

The album is fine. I don't regret buying it. Musically, I just don't feel the visceral passion that was apparent in their previous work. I'm sad to say that while their writing has become richer and more beautiful, I'm also feeling more alienated from the actual music and melodies they picked to accompany the lyrics.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tegan and Sara - Sainthood 7/10, October 27, 2009

By 

Rudolph Klapper "www.klap4music.com" (Los Angeles / Orlando) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sainthood (Audio CD)

With 2007's deceptively layered breakout record The Con, Tegan and Sara Quin, along with uber-indie producer Chris Walla, reveled in the darker recesses of indie pop, merging unconventional song structures and atypically diverse instrumentation with the kind of incisive, realistic lovelorn tales the two long ago perfected. Few would have expected the record to chart as well as it did, and it's probably no coincidence that this, their sixth record, capitalizes on this. It's perhaps the band's most accessible to date, but these identical twins are hardly the likeliest candidates to be mainstream sellouts. Rather, Sainthood is a full-bodied, meticulously crafted rock record, one that stands firmly on its bedrock foundation of guitar, drums, and bass and lets the duo's way with words and distinctive personalities shape the album into yet another uniquely Tegan and Sara album.

The two have always grounded their work in an essentially rock/pop mix, but never as blatantly as on Sainthood. Forgoing the quirky sonic soundscapes and expanded textures that characterized The Con, Walla beefs up the guitars and turns the amps up to 11, resulting in a thoroughly muscular record. From the jagged chords that open "Arrow" to the shiny keyboards and charging drum rhythm on closer "Someday," Walla and the twins pulls no punches, concocting a potent blend of post-punk and polished pop-rock that rarely lets off the gas pedal. It's perhaps Tegan and Sara's most direct record to date, one that shines the spotlight squarely on what has always been the two's strongest asset: their lyrics.

Tegan continues to play the role of designated hitmaker, penning catchy gems like propulsive first single "Hell" and the chiming alternative gem "The Cure." Her specialty is striking a Cyndi Lauper-like balance between straightforward pop structures and hooks that refuse to let go with lyrics like "screaming like no one might / call the cops and arrest you this time" or the authentic verisimilitude of want-you-back anthem "The Ocean." Sara, on the other hand, matches her oddball voice with suitably ambiguous lyrics and some of the more musically interesting tracks on the record. The funky Canadian (read: white) soul of "Alligator" finds her complaining of "alligator tears cried over you" and warns "run around on me / die without," while the surprisingly poppy "Red Belt" admonishes one to "slow it down, you have a tendency to rush back into your past / slow it down, you transfer all your weight and disappear / kneel, to condition all the feelings that you feel." For all their growth as lyricists and songwriters, Tegan and Sara repeatedly prove on Sainthood that not only do they work best when focusing on their everyday descriptions of love and broken relationships, but also when they continue their technique of writing songs separately. Each song here has a distinct Tegan or Sara identity, giving the album a well-thought-out sense of flow; in contrast, the one track written together, "Paperback Head," never really develops a discernible theme and comes off like one of the few half-baked efforts here.

On first listen Sainthood might even sound a bit bland to first-time listeners, as the similar production causes a few songs to blend together into generic punk-influenced alternative, particularly in the second half. But that comes off more as Walla's directive than the sisters', particularly when you consider how tightly wound the songwriting here is and how effectively the band delivers hook after delicious hook on top of consistently engaging lyrics. It's there on the stutter-step backbeat of "Don't Rush," it's there on the snarling faux-punk anthem "Northshore," and it's there in their enviable ability to make the listener care about their ubiquitous girl problems and obsessions. And really, who can't relate to girl troubles?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grows on you, and that's a good thing., March 15, 2011

By 

Jamie "himay333" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sainthood (Audio CD)

Many of the albums I absolutely love took me a few listens to really appreciate. Sometimes an album doesn't have that overwhelming feel that makes you go "Wow... what was that!?" Sometimes you listen to an album and you are ready to dismiss it because you don't instantly connect with it, but then you figure, "hey I spent money on this I guess I'll give it another chance." That's me with this album. My first time through I was so disappointed that it wasn't The Con part II I just about gave up on it. Then I listened to it a few more times and I realized something. This album really is just like every other T&S album: it's a departure from what they have previously done, though reminiscent of the past. Once I pushed The Con out of my head and listened to this album, in as much of a void as I could, I fell in love with it.

The Con overwhelmed me, it was an absolute force to be reckoned with. You hear a song like "Floorplan" and you have to decide if you like it or not. Sainthood is much more unassuming. Its consistency, melodies, and subtle intricacies wore me down and won me over. Again, if you are trying to draw comparisons between this album and The Con you will feel like somehow T&S abandoned their "sound." But if you are able to listen to Sainthood for what it is, you might be surprised how it's much closer to a heavier So Jealous. Both albums are much more straight ahead Pop.

I've seen many reviewers complain about the repetition on this album. I just thought I would point out that this is nothing new for T&S (especially Sara's songs and this is the first album she contributed more than Tegan). Look up the lyrics to Walking With a Ghost (no they didn't miss a verse). After all these are the gals that gave us song titles like Monday, Monday, Monday and I Know, I Know, I Know - they like repetition.

Overall, if you are a fan of Tegan and Sara (especially stuff off their last 2 albums) you will wind up loving this CD. Will it be love at first listen? Possibly, but even if it isn't, just give it a chance. Eventually, there's a good chance you'll come to love it as much as their others.