Customer Reviews

Trading Snake for Wolftickets

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This album makes you wonder why truly talented artists don't achieve widespread success while some of the more superficial pop singers are the top searched phrase on Google!

Gary Jules, best know for soulful remake of Tears For Fears "Mad World" from the Donnie Darko soundtrack, is one such artist. He plays, writes a sings a folky form of mellow rock that is infectious. Once you start listening, you're hooked. Everyone I've played this CD for evidenced suprise they hadn't hear it before and found it really good. These were people across a broad age group too, from 17 to near 50.

If you enjoy quality, thoughtful music, then Gary is your man. Be aware that if all you've hear from him is the Mad World remake, then his style is a bit different...more "rocky." I'm happier with this purchase moreso than any other in a long while. Oh, I picked mine up at CDBaby.com...non-import version.

Enjoy!

The pull to this CD, for me, was the "Mad World" track ... such a great cover of the Roland Orzabal/Tears For Fears tune ... lyrically, the songs seems to fit better with this slower, piano-driven version ... even the effects on the vocals add a mesmerizing quality. But don't expect other songs of this sort on this CD. I was at first disappointed that the other tracks consisted mostly of acoustic-guitar-driven singer-songwriter (somewhat country-ish twang in places) pieces ... and as a child of the 70s (I've now lost all respect) I immediately heard influences such as America, Cat Stevens, and Seals and Crofts (er, who?). Track 3 "Downtown LA" could easily be mistaken for a Matthew Sweet tune (not that Matthew Sweet is the end of the line as far as who-sounds-like-who). I'm sure "Mad World" helps to boost sales, but it is such an odd-man-out on this CD ... and because this song seems to be getting the most airplay (XPN in Philly) and is pushed on Gary's garyjules.com website (along with the "Downtown LA" song), I expected to get an album filled with (if not similar song-writing, considering "Mad World" is not his tune) at least songs produced in a similar way ... not so. Putting all that aside, however, I dig this CD ... just think of "Mad World" as an out-of-place bonus.

I bought this CD because of his rendition of Mad World. What a great cover song! Track 13 (the Untitled Track) is also very very good. The more I listen to it the more I like it. It's actually stuck in my head RIGHT NOW. Be advised that if you want to listen to this song you have to deal with a long pause before it comes on. I just fast forward the CD until the song starts. As far as the rest of the CD is concerned it's very relaxing and I can definitely close my eyes and hear some Simon & Garfunkel influences in his music. I have an appreciation for his song writing abilities. And I think anyone with a deep appreciation for "real music" and songwriting would appreciate this CD.

I found out about Gary the same way most people find out about Gary, through the film Donnie Darko. I'd have to disagree with the previous reviewer as none of the songs on this CD are forgettable. I didn't give them much thought when I first bought the CD as I bought it specifically for the song "Mad World." It wasn't until I actually gave the whole album a listen that I realized what a great CD this is. Nice catchy tunes that stay in your head long after the last song has ended. It's a little over-priced here so you might want to try CDBaby.com which is where I bought my copy. Thank me later ;-)

I'll admit I bought "Trading Snake Oil For Wolftickets" for Gary Jules' version of the classic Tears For Fears song "Mad World". If you saw the 2001 film "Donnie Darko" from which the song gained most of its exposure, then you know how powerful his version is. Even Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears has stated that he though Gary Jules did a brilliant re-working of the song. Gary's album sounds nothing like Tears For Fears though, and his musical influences are great and apparent. His music sounds like early Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, The Eagles, 1975-era Fleetwood Mac and The Band. Acoustic guitars and folk-driven soundscapes are set against urban lyrics of love and loss from an intelligent perspective. I'll admit that I think Duncan Sheik is wittier, but there's something about Jules' music that works very well on his debut (which was originally released a few years ago to no notice). I particularly liked the wordplay on songs like "Broke Window", "No Poetry", "Something Else", "Umbilical Town", "Barstool" and the hidden track. Jules' still has room to grow and develop as a budding new talent, but his debut is strong enough to earn four stars. I'm just surprised to see that only 12 other reviews are listed here. I thought there'd be more since there was a lot of buzz about this album before it was released. "Mad World" went in the UK Top 10 at Christmas 2003, and I've heard the song played on my local radio station. Ah well, I've never had much faith in the American public to reconize quality pop music, so if "Trading Snake Oil For Wolftickets" remains an alternative, underground cult favorite, more power to Gary Jules!

Normally, I hate the sound of the guitar; it's my least favorite instrument. Jules puts the guitar at the musical center of his CD and does so very well, in fact the guitar, under Jules' control, becomes an instrument of great beauty as opposed to an instrument of eardrum destruction as most American performs use it.

Listening to the CD, one is no longer in their car or their living room but in a small venue filled with the smells of cigarette smoke, an old bar and a floor worn from decades of use. Jules' music creates the environment of an intimate concert venue through the absence of an overly studioed sound. Clearly this is a professional recording, but Jules' talents and style make it feel as if it's a private concert.

Jules' work is very mellow. The least mellow song is DTLA (DownTown Los Angeles) and yet it flows smoothly and at a relaxed pace. Even the short (1:45) Unlucky stands out as a memorable song for it is mostly guitar until the end when there is a verse and it's over, leaving the listener wanting more. Currently, my favorite song is Mad World, which I feel bad saying because it is the only song on TS-OFW-T not written by Jules. It appeared on the Donnie Darko soundtrack, so if you have that and are thinking you might like all of Jules' CD, you may. I got the CD because of Jules' Mad World perofrmance on Conan O'Brien and figured I would like the rest, and I was right. Even though the songs given for samples on Amazon are not the best of the CD, give them a listen as they are representative of the rest of the CD's style.

For those of you who like mellow rock, folksy, indie-style rock, give this CD a look, or at least listen to the Amazon samples.

Gary Jules has created an especially haunting selection. The album inspired me to hear him live in San Francisco at the Inderpendent. Very impressed with his style and sound. His Darko soundtrack is equally fantastic. Highly recommend them both.

I bought this CD for the reason that most people probably did... because I fell in love with his version of Mad World. When I listened to the whole album the first time, I was a little disappointed because none of the songs really did anything for me. One thing I did notice is that some of the tracks sound very Simon and Garfunkle-ish, and his voice is so similar to Cat Steven's that you think these are lost recordings. I popped it into my car during horrid traffic, and it grew on me. You listen to these songs over again, and they develop, and you hear things you didn't catch the first time.
Also, the untitled "hidden" track 13 is really very good. Although I do think the reason I like it so much is soley for the drums.

All in all, he's definitly not as great as Simon & Garfunkle, or Cat Stevens... although you can tell he's trying to be. His songs are not bad, but not outstanding either. The best track on the album remains Mad World... so don't buy it thinking every song will be that good.

if you like the tears for fears remake but arent open to new things, you may not like the rest of the cd...
but if you enjoy briliant song writing....
his other songs are filled with compassion and thought i hadnt expected. his voice will give you chills and goosebumps. the beauty of jules story is that his own songs are stronger than the cover, and for once the scent of pop leads directly to art.

"No Poetry"- a delicate acoustic guitar meander down a broken, lonely miracle mile delivered in jules hushed cat stevens mewl. and "Something Else"- with its briliant lines: "They never tell you/truth is subjective/they only tell you not to lie/they never tell you there's strength in vulnerability/they only tell you not to cry."

Yep, you finally found the song that is in the gears of war commercial. I'm sure you had to search for it like me. It's called Mad World and is originally by tears for fears. Although this version is better, you probably wont take to the rest of the cd. The reviewer who said he sounds like simon and garfunkle is absolutely correct. It does. I just ain't into that kind of stuff, and expected the cd to be heavier than that. I'm not saying its bad by any means, just not my cup of coffee. So, you've got some choices. This song was put out on two seperate singles. One with a blue cover, and one with a red cover. The one with the blue cover is this version, the one with the red cover ain't so good. (GO BLUE). You can also get the song on the Donnie Darko movie soundtrack, which is what I'd recommend. That way you can hear more styles of music and maybe find other artists you might enjoy. Anyway, the song Mad World is a great song and I have to give it up to Mr. Jules for singing it, but the rest of this cd is not even close to the style of that one song and you're better off with the soundtrack. Hope this helps you.