Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
That's a wrap, December 15, 1999
Marcy Playground: straight out of New York and into the rock scene. They made a ripple in pop and rock music with their surprise hit "Sex and Candy" and slightly successful "St. Joe on the Schoolbus" off their debut self-titled debut. Now the trio is back and in full force. Not only is this eclectic sophomore album catchy, but it also includes a hidden meaning. If you look hard enough, John Wozniak has made this his opus of 90's rock. Call it a decade review. Look at some examples of this: Take for instance the first single off of "Shapeshifter"--"It's Saturday". It shows the catchy pop song, while the offbeat "Pigeon Farm" suggests a hint of frat rock flippancy in care of Dave Matthews. The Pavement-esqueness of "Wave-Motion Gun" and the folksie "America" show the differences in Wozniaks musical home of the "Loser" decade. MP also takes the trademark riffs of the Smashing Pumpkins and exerts them on "When the Lights Go Out". The brilliantly collected works the boys of Marcy Playground have put together keeps the pop scene moving and leaves the radiation silent residue of a time capsule. Bravo, let the music roll Wozniak.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ahhh.. a light at the end of the tunnel, October 17, 2000
Let's say you're some Indie-savvy music snob who came across this cd by accident. Although ashamed of the 1 hit wonder status of the band, you can't help it. These songs will not get out of your head and you don't want them to. That's been my experience, and I'm certainly glad it was. Years of searching every area of music imaginable has produced very few albums as enjoyable as this one. I don't think I've ever had so many songs from one album continually stuck in my head. The songs are catchy, but not cheesy, melodic but not boring, and pensive, but not over-dramatic. For example "Wave motion gun", one of my favorites, takes the child-like notion of watching Starblazers, relates it to the loneliness and pain of addiction, and manages to keep it from being self-loathing dribble. There's something about the sound of John Wozniak's voice and the simplicity of the songs, it's almost as if they create this nice, comfotable setting, and you get to go hang out there with every listen. The first album had that same aura about it, but this one is much more interesting. "Secret Squirrel", "It's Saturday", great little groovy, sort of light-hearted numbers add that kick the debut was lacking. It's nothing revolutionary or experimental, it's just a great cd. Which, unfortunately, does in fact make it a rarity. don't pass this one up.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb! Amazing! Unbelievable!, November 22, 1999
MP are amazing. Their first CD was awesome and "Shapeshifter" is at least as good, possibly better. This is the first time in my life that I got two CD's of the same band and absolutely love every song on both of them! I cannot stop listening to them. Pretty much the same reaction from most of the people I know. If you liked the first album don't walk - run to the store now and get "Shapeshifter"! I'm not gonna repeat what other reviewers have already said. MP is the best live band I've ever seen and if they're playing near you definitely check them out. They hit the notes perfectly every time and John really does have an awesome voice. Also, as one industry exec said, "they're the hardest working band I've ever been around". They really work on being good unlike many other bands and it really shows. In their records and in concert.
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by Marcy Playground 
