Customer Reviews

Together We're Heavy (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Whatever happened to the concept album? It seemed in the 70s and 80s that you couldn't escape them, that every band with any pretension of artistry released one, if not more, and this fueled the creation and increasing importance of Album Oriented Rock radio, which often featured special shows that would play these discs in their entirety (usually carefully preceded and followed by enough silence that home tapers could be sure of getting a clean copy in an early example of file sharing). Rock operas like the Who's Tommy and Pink Floyd's The Wall shared the time with thematically connected collections like Alan Parson's I, Robot. Songs ranged out of the perfect pop three-minute mark to sometimes covering entire sides of LPs, like Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, or would merge seamlessly from one track to the next such as Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory. Such grandiosity seemed to go the way of the dodo in the 90s, as grunge and indie rock strove to return to rock's roots in the 1950s, as if Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis were fighting back against Sgt. Pepper. A few bands, now labeled "art rock" or progressive, continued to hold the candle, but radio ditched them for the new kids on the block.

Proving that things always go in cycles, The Polyphonic Spree act like they've been handed Sgt. Pepper's baton, sounding like nothing more than the second coming of that era-Beatles combined with the song structures of Yes or early Genesis and a larger band than Funkadelic at its most extreme. Their first album, The Beginning Stages of..., was extremely uneven: a series of demos that proved the concept of 20-plus members creating music in a communal style was viable and not a disaster. Released basically unedited and unproduced, it shows glimpses of possibilities, the best moments being in the song "Night and Day" that fully harkened back to concept albums of the past with its enigimatic story and alternating passages of whisper-quiet sweet melodies and bombastic fanfares. Based on that album, word-of-mouth and some high-profile festival appearances (including a personal invite from David Bowie, himself not a stranger to outre concepts, for an early English gig), the Polyphonic Spree landed a contract with a larger label and enough money and time to furnish the second album with a production to match their vision.

Together We're Heavy actually continues the themes brought forward in the first album. In fact, the first song is titled "Section 11 (We Sound Amazed)," indicating that the ten songs of The Beginning Stages of... were sections one through ten. The lyrics are optimistic to an Candide-like extreme, celebrations of life and its possibilities. They worship growth, nature, the sun, and dreams. The sounds match this positivism with bright horn sections, tinkling keyboards, flowing harp sections and ethereal flute intersections.

The group itself is the brainchild of one man, Tim DeLaughter, a veteran of the more usual rock four-piece, a band called Tripping Daisy. In 1999, his friend and band guitarist Wes Berggren died to a drug overdose, which seemed to have initiated a road to Damascus conversion for DeLaughter, who emerged next on a musical stage with his three former bandmates, his wife, and nine other friends, calling themselves The Polyphonic Spree. Since then, they've added another ten members, made robes their on-stage garment (initially white with individual color fringes, now with one piece solid colors, so that on stage they look like a living, moving rainbow), and become one of the most talked about new acts of the 21st century. The robes and celebratory aspect of their music have led to some naïve questions about whether they constitute a cult, met with laughter by DeLaughter, who instead compares the group and their energetic stage show to a theatrical event (think Godspell or Hair).

While the songs on Together We're Heavy can be listened to individually (in fact, my first experience with it was a single on a sampler disc in Paste magazine), listening to all ten straight will take you back twenty or thirty years. DeLaughter's slightly whiny lead vocals resemble Roger Waters, even if his lyrics are the antithesis of Waters' angst, despair and loathing, while the music harkens to Genesis' style right after Peter Gabriel's departure. The repetition of bits and pieces owes as much to 70s progressive rock as it does to the sampling and mixing of the 90s, and, like their stage show, infuses the listener with a silly grin on their face. I'm fondest of the way that the Spree incorporates a multitude of voices in a choir-like backing for DeLaughter (something prefigured in, for example, the kids choir of "Another Brick in the Wall part 2").

I like this much more than I ever would have expected, even though I consider my fondness for art rock predisposes me to it. I guess I thought I had grown out of that phase of my listening life, but there's something about the Spree's version of it--be it a perceived genuineness behind their eternal optimism or how they have updated the concept with current production values--that never fails to elicit a silly smile on my face. I urge you to give "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)" a try and see if you don't also find yourself humming along and pulling out the incense burner.

Maybe they should have called it "The Middle Stages Of...," since this CD literally picks up where the last one left off. Feel-good band Polyphonic Spree are in fine form on their sophomore CD, "Together We're Heavy" -- it presents pretty much the same sound as in their debut, but more relaxed, polished and panoramic than before.

A chorus of very faint voices and a harp explode into an orchestral psychedelic roar. And that's just the first minute of the rippling opener "Section 11 (A Long Day Continues/We Sound Amazed)." They're on more solid footing with the guiltily upbeat "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)," the quivery poppy ballad "Section 13 (Diamonds/Mild Devotion To Majesty)" and the string-laden "Section 15 (Ensure Your Reservation)."

The Polyphonic Spree manage to expand their horizons a little with the startlingly catchy "Section 14 (Two Thousand Places)" and the bouncy "Section 18 (Everything Starts At The Seam)." The climax of it all is "Section 19 (When The Fool Becomes A King)," a sprawling 10-minute epic that barely avoids being bloated by constantly changing song styles.

Together We're Heavy proves the old saying about how if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Polyphonic Spree won their fans with their psychedelic feel-good pop, not to mention songs about how the "trees wanna grow," and assuring you that the world is a nice place and that "everything... will be fine." Here, they stick with that formula -- they just smooth out the sound and make the music a bit richer and deeper.

The saggiest point would be the opener, which overstays its welcome by about three minutes. But after that, things even out nicely. The instrumentation has a lushness and richness that is rarely seen in most music -- lots of piano, the occasional guitar, swollen strings, ghostly synth, some harp and, of course, lots of horns. Even if the don't-worry-be-happy songwriting is too sugary for you, the panoramic sweeps of swirling melody will keep you happy.

The feel-good lyrics are still EXTREMELY simple, somewhere between a complex lullaby and a simple pop song. Not to mention perky. "Stranger to the sun/you see the light!" the chorus announces over and over in the penultimate song. But they do expand on their songwriting, as they do in the more melancholy story-song "Section 16 (One Man Show)."

The Polyphonic Spree refine and reflect on "Together We're Heavy," but don't lose the swirling orchestral medleys and upbeat tone that make people like them. Fun and upbeat.

Years ago, I was under the impression that I didn't like the Beatles. Then I got over it.
Having enjoyed both Polyphonic Spree records and attending a recent show of theirs, I can now honestly say that the Spree is one of those rare bands that, if you see them live and you don't have a good time, I feel sorry for you. If the sight of 25 blissed-out, multicolored-robe-clad musicians jumping around like a dancing rainbow and pretending to watch a sunrise as if they drank the Kool-Aid an hour ago doesn't turn you into a giggling retard, I don't know what will. The Spree have an ethereal quality--performing in front of an enormous banner emblazoned with the word "HOPE" in simple block lettering--at times they look like a bunch of friendly aliens who landed on our planet to teach us a thing or two. If this creeps you out, get over it.
The reason i'm going on about the live show is that I don't think this or their other album can be properly enjoyed without imagining the music in the context of their live show. Fortunately, for the uninitiated, Together We're Heavy comes with a bonus DVD, containing one particularly frenzied performance at a small club in Chicago, and one performance at a stadium in Tokyo, where, amazingly, the band manages to win over a crowd of thousands.
Watch the DVD, or, if you're still skeptical, go to www.thepolyphonicspree.com, under "video" and watch one of their live clips. Then listen to this album. It really is a knockout. The orchestrations, the childlike voices, the psychadelic interludes...it's totally satisfying for anybody who likes music. Listen to it when you're down, and it will bring you back up. Listen to it when you're up, and it will take you higher. The world needs this defiantly happy band, and with this album, they prove that they're here to stay.

To attempt to describe this album is an almost impossible task. I have met many fans of the Polyphonic Spree, and a lot of people that just can't stand the music. It's very much a "you either 'get it' or you don't" type of music.

Well, I get it. Boy, do I get it. This music has great harmonies, and childlike choir backup, and amazing uses of instruments like the theramin and harp. The lyrics are simple, and yet twist and turn in the most unlikely of places. There are pieces that will make you want to jump up and down with glee (the "marching section" in King), and others, such as "Diamonds" that made me weep when I first heard them because they were so beautiful.

Keep an open mind when listening to this music, and it could seriously change your life. This band, this music has changed my life. It has made me see the beauty around me. It has turned me into a more positive, happy person. It has made me dream again. I have met friends and shared with them the beauty of this music.

It's amazing stuff. It's also light years better than the first album, and the first album was beautiful. This one has layer upon layer of musical complexity and sound, and each song is a complex mix of inspired lyrics and inspirational messages.

There is a big backlash against Tim Delaughter and his Polyphonic buddies these days, and I think it's because people are listening to them without understanding what they're listening to. See, those into prog rock (mid-period Pink Floyd, Yes, Alan Parsons) are expecting to be thrown into mind-numbing fantasies coupled with twenty-odd-minute-long organ solos. Wrong crowd. The indie-rockers want someone to champion, but the Spree are too happy to be indie-rockers (go for Bright Eyes if you're looking for mainstream-acceptable indie rock nowadays). And a lot of people are getting duped into believing that the Spree are doing something akin to Mercury Rev or the Flaming Lips. Well, that's a little closer, but it's the other dichotomy to what I've come to call the "Pet Sounds" revolution, which perfected Phil Spector's Wall of Sound by making it melancholic.

Essentially, Delaughter & Co. are making records using Spector's original format. I mean, what exactly does "Da Do Ron Ron" mean? But it's a heckuva song. And the sound in the background is gorgeous. The Polyphonic Spree are likewise; think of them as a living, breathing, and touring Wall of Sound for the digital-recording age.

And then there are the robes. This part I kind of understand, as (with first the white, then the multi-colored) cultish as it may seem. However, Delaughter brings up a good point in an interview on the DVD schlupped together with this record: what exactly would it look like if everybody in the band was wearing street clothes? You can't get a bunch of people up on stage wearing the same uniforms, either, because then it really DOES become the Brady Bunch (the music's pure '60s bubblegum, which the Brady Bunch also tried to do, but remember, '60s bubblegum also included the Beach Boys, the Spector stable, Tommy James, the Monkees...the list of brilliant pop artists goes on).

But none of this means anything if the music sucks. So strip down the music. Does it do anything?

The answer, resoundingly, is yes. For those who absolutely love that '60s semi-psychedelic pop sound (something like what Mercury Rev went for on "Opus 40," although with a much more "Godspell" attitude), this is the record for you. For those who love the Lips and Mercury Rev and the Apples in Stereo and all those other psych-revival bands, check these guys out, too. But if you're looking for another Yes, look more to bands like Mellow or or Sigur Ros or Grandaddy.

And please, those of you who love this record as much as I do, stop recommending it for fans of the Beatles! This is not Beatles stuff. Beatles fans need to check out the Chamber Strings. This is more for people who can't get "A Rose for Emily" out of their heads.

Being a huge Spree fan since i got a single for "Light & Day" before the first album came out, i first thought that it couldnt get much better than their debut. Boy was I wrong. "Together We're Heavy" is an astounding achievement of majestic proportions. It is a vast improvement from their first album on every level. The song writing has grown by leaps and bounds... structurally and lyrically. Most of the songs in "The Beginning Stages.." were 2 or 3 line choruses repeated over and over. However, without a followup offering to compare these first songs to, the repeated choruses were simple but intoxicating experiances that stirred the love in your soul. The songs on "Together We're Heavy" bring that feeling to a whole new level. Especially the longer songs: "Section 11", "Section 17" and "Section 19". They are truly inspiring epic musical experiances. They bring so many brilliant and joyful musical ideas into one song and it never really feels as long as it is. It builds you up and you get really into everything that is going on without being let down once. Thats not to say that the other songs are not beautiful and amazing.
What I love about these songs and the Spree's style of song writing is that they seem to come in sections, and on a larger scale its also as if the whole album is one song in 10 movements. As soon as you start to fall in love with the first section of a song it breaks into a another wonderful verse or chorus that relates to its predecesor but expands and moves foward into something else within the same song. Very little of it is repeated, so it doesnt necesarily go Verse Chorus Verse at all. There are so many emotional highs and peaks on this album, it makes it exciting to continue it from beginning to end without stopping.
I've listened to this CD at least 30 times since the day it came out, and I'll continue listening to it every day. It makes you happy, it consumes you in warmth. It brings out the best of everything. And where the first album did that as well, this album brings you in deeper with actual story lyrics and meaningful subject matter that is easier to connect with than simple 'the sun makes me shine' kind of stuff. But it is chock full of that too, which makes it a perfect balance and a perfect album.
It comes with a bonus DVD with some fantastic Live footage, an interesting interview with Tim Delaughter and some other little gems like the strange but delightful vgnette "The Tramp" which is some kid (probably a band members son) dancing around like Charlie Chaplin.
This album is truly a blissed out occasion, I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a little light in their life or anyone who appreciates the pure happiness music can bring you.

The Polyphonic Spree is brilliant as a conception, in fact, it's one of the most original, fun, and interesting ideas to hit music in the last 15 years.

The songs are no where close to being genius (no where near "Beyond the Beatles") and the arrangements are fairly standard rock-band-attempts-lush-hippy-orchestration fare (to give them credit, they do have a few inspired moments). Perhaps in a few years, the Spree will use their instruments and choir to their full potential and make a classic album.

While the Spree haven't made music all of their own--the brilliance is in the execution. And the joy is contagious.

i loved 'the beginning stages....' but alway felt it lacked a few things. Any problems with the first album have been well and truley ironed out leaving us with this amazing album.
The tunes are as strong as ever, but the arrangements are so much more controlled, you almost forget the novelty factor of 22 band members playing flutes, trumpets and trombones as the structure of every song on here is always greater than the sum of its parts.
The album as a whole is uplifting, but does dip into dark parts not expected from this band, this just adds to the diversity that is welcome over 58 glorious minutes.
Forget what this band look like or the instruments they play.
This is a happy album, but not stupidly happy, not silly, it makes you smile, this sounds like you smiling so much you almost cry.

Chances are, you didn't really hear of The Polyphonic Spree until 2004 and if that, you know them as some sort of hippie choir backing up potential rock music zealot and former Tripping Daisies frontman, Tim DeLaughter.

And while that may to be true to an extent, it has absolutely no bearing on this album and the music it exudes. This album is like a trek--and as the different sections pass, you find yourself feeling perhaps accomplished, perhaps satisifed, but mostly like you want to listen to it again and again.

Bulstered mostly by the second track and single "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)" -- I must admit, it is the highlight of the album, but what an awesome highlight. If it weren't for the choir and the tendency to insert orchestral instruments into the songs as if they were oft-used in commercially successful music, you'd never question their involvement in the music scene. That said, David Bowie loves them, so shall you.

I often find myself disliking a band because while the music is good enough to get lost in, the lyrics are cheese and you cannot delve any deeper. The Spree however, are inspiring and motivating--"you gotta be good, you gotta be strong, you gotta be two thousand places at once" in "Section 14(Two Thousand Places) --and really, when you're on your way home from work, or using this as background music, it seems especially profound without being too cliche.

Other highlights include "Section 16(One Man Calling)," "Section 17(Suitcase Calling)," and the last and title track, "Section 20 (Together We're Heavy)" which is more lyrically there than any other song. The band clearly likes to keep the messages simple but worth saying--the one downfall is that some of the songs are perhaps longer than they should be--the first track "A Long Day Continues/We Sound Amazed" goes on for a clean 8:32, and near the end, "When The Fool Becomes a King" clocks in at 10:38. Keep in mind, a lot of these songs are chock full of instrumental pieces with the voices of The Spree woven in between repeting the chorus line. And while it's not all bad, it's just not for everyone.

The Bonus DVD is pretty awesome--it features live performances of "A Blissed Out Summer Occasion" and "Air Near the Ground" -- a clear testament to their impact, the stage is small, and the people are rocking. An interview with DeLaughter, a link to Quest for the Rest--apparently a flash game that I've yet to experiment with. It also includes two versions of the "Light and Day" video from their first record, "The Beginning Stages..."--that you may know from the soundtrack of "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

In the end, The Polyphonic Spree is an awesome band. They're not for everyone--so take a listen to the audio samples--but they're not going to charge you extra, even with the attached DVD.

What a very interesting album. And for that much, what an interesting concept and idea for a band. You take a psychedelic rock singer, mix it with every instrument from a harp to trombone, throw in some choir robes, give it a gospel choir, sing songs about love and happiness, look like a Broadway review, and call it a band! I think it is more a movement, or event than simply a band.

I first heard of the spree when I was searching for what ever became of one of my favorite bands from college (Tripping Daisy)and saw that ex-front man Tin DeLaughter had a new project in the works. This project became the Polyphonic Spree.

The album will fill your ears with an unbelievable array of sound. The chorus is rife with power and happiness. Tim's voice, still very much in the Wayne Coyne vain, strikes a strangely pleasant chord against the trippy musical background.

While definately not for everyone, I love the record and cannot get enough. Every listen reveals new layers and new dimensions. Every listen brings out new points in the quite simplistic, yet somehow poignant lyrics.

And the best thing about the album is you also get a free DVD. The concert footage makes it abundantly clear that you haven't truly experienced the Spree until you have seen them live!

This is by far the most original thing you will hear for a long, long time. I dare to to try somethig new.....chances are you will like it!