Customer Reviews

Small Turn of Human Kindness

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

 

 

With A Small Turn of Human Kindness, Harvey Milk have once again made a sharp left turn in their musical direction, but still they maintain to deliver an incredible listening experience.

First off, this is not a continuation of their last two records. And, unlike several journalists have wrongly noted, neither is it a so-called "return to form" record. No. This is not like anything Creston and company have ever done before.

This record is a story album. It's meant to be listened to in its entirety in one sitting, and I find that this whole experience is better and much more enjoyable if the listener familiarizes themselves with the lyrics/story.

The story itself is about a young couple fighting over an unplanned pregnancy while on a camping trip. It reminds me of grimmer version of Hemingway's "Hill's Like White Elephants" with a Flanery O'Connor-style ending.

The music is one very harsh, painful dirge. Unlike other Harvey Milk records with odd, unpredictable shifts and contrasts in melody, dynamics, tempos, meter, and mood, this one stays pretty constant. There is one pivotal dynamic change when the characters in the story each have their moments of grace. But other than that, the band has held back their proclivities for strange contrasts for this record. But still, they do an excellent job of complementing the story since it is clearly the main focus.

With all this being said, Kindness is really going to confuse and possibly even alienate some folks. It, like several Harvey Milk records, takes a few listens to really sink in. And even then, it could still be seen as difficult and pretentious. However, I find it to be a fantastic milestone in heavy music. Harvey Milk have effectively proven that it's possible combine the great, grim storytelling of southern literature with the slow, heavy bliss of sludge metal.

Dear Product Description Guy-"Where to display this fine album if I have no mantle-piece? My dumpy apartment has no such thing."

I'm not much into rape cinema either, but as far as rape goes, each day you interact with another, time will be stolen from you. You will say things you don't mean, you will pretend to care about things others say, and you will see things you wish you never did.

So I stay home and listen to this record instead. It's pretty much the same thing as living, just the contents of the fridge are always there to pad the blows.

This is the sound of the blues for suburban white kids, those of us who had all the breaks in the world, yet somehow we blew it on purpose...and it feels good.

And after hearing it several times from the CD...seeing it live was one of the most prefound musicaly experiences of my life. Get this CD and listen to it 5 times from start to finish. You will be glad you did and you will be one of the few who "get" it.

I've been seeing HM since 1992 and they continue to put out music that is years ahead of everyone else.

Another reviewer said it: this is a fantastic milestone in heavy music. It is indeed. If you are into heavy music, you owe it to yourself to add Harvey Milk to your playlist--and this is a great record to start with (then you can start working backward). The melodic shifts and warps that appear about 2/3 the way through "I Alone Got Up and Left" never fail to startle me--that song produces chills every time. The opening bars of "I Did Not Call Out" do that too. Brilliant songwriting and playing all around. Kyle Spence has to be the most underrated rock drummer working today. Time is his plaything, in a way that reminds me of a slow, heavy Tony Williams (a great jazz drummer who could treat time in a very elastic fashion). Harvey Milk will not fit into any of your existing boxes. It's worth the time to listen long enough to make a new box for them. I saw the band play this album live twice, straight through. One time was at the very beginning of the tour, once at the very end (both in Atlanta). At the end of the first show, they played a cover of "Hey Jude" that would make you just cry. At the second show, nearly a year later, the performance of the record had evolved, but all the emotion and tension were still there in the music. They captured that energy and tension on this studio recording as well.

Harvey Milk's return to a more doom oriented sound is their second best album. The production is crisp, the music is crushing, and the lyrics are emotional and poetic. When the music becomes more optimistic sounding in the end, the lyrics are at their most harrowing, so the climax is fantastic.

While I don't like it as much as Courtesy & Goodwill Toward Men (Bonus CD), it's more consistent overall as the lyrics and music move together to tell a story.

The most depressing and exciting record of the 2000s.

This album just dosen't go anywhere. I keep thinking its going to build up to a great song but, it dosen't. The first time i listened to it I thought its going to go somewhere anytime soon but, then realized its already on the third song. So, if your hoping this going to be anything like the last two albums youll be disapointed.