Customer Reviews

Ultimate Alternative Wavers

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would have to rate this album toward the bottom of my favorites with respect to all of the Built To Spill Albums. It is better than "The Normal Years" and just about ties with "Keep it Like a Secret" the 1999 release. If this is your first Built To Spill purchase, I would recommend either, "Nothing Wrong With Love" and secondly, "Perfect From Now On." "Perfect.." is less accessible than "Nothing.." but a more innovative album all around.

Built to Spill ROCKS! These are creeper hooks. The guy who listened once, fast forwarded then returned - big mistake buddy!! The music is more complex than a 1-listen decision. This is like your favorite buds. It creeps up on you, then you are so hooked you can't get it out of your head.

the first full length recording by this sometimes one man sometimes band, always amazing artist. Doug Martsch is the master of the macking melody, and if you have any doubts as to the validity of this statement, play a BTS album for your girlfriend and see if she doesn't sigh &her eyes don't get all far-away looking. "the first song" is. "three years today" will make you want to stand up and go back to sleep. The uninitiated will undoubtedly mutter "Dinosaur" comments, but soon, you'll see that J couldn't mack this well if his sex life depended on it. In short, this man knows what he is doing, which is weaving glory, us & soundscapes into my mind's ear for what may as well be the end of time. B T S is on tour as we speak so look for them and go see 'em, they don't move east of Idaho too much anymore.

BUILT TO SPILL RULES. REVOLVING GUITAR RIFFS THAT CAN PUT YOU IN A TRANCE. I SAW THEM A FEW YEARS AGO AND THE LAST SONG THEY DID WAS JUST TRANCE MUSIC. I LOOKED AROUND THE BAR AND HALF THE PEOPLE WERE HEAD BOBBIN AND FALLIN ASLEEP. IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

This album is VERY cool. More in the style of 'There's Nothing Wrong With Love'. Less polished than the newer ones, but in my opinion, just as good as those. I hesitated a long time to buy this one. I even saw it in the stores when it was still in print. Too bad I waited, but it is a nice one to have while we're waiting for the new one to come out (Fall 2005). However, don't spend the inflated prices you see from greedy music dealers unless you just can't wait.

If you're new to Built to Spill, best ones to start with are "Keep it Like a Secret", "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" or "Ancient Melodies". "Perfect From Now On" is indeed PERFECT, but not for the uninitiated.

Built to Spill is one of the best bands on the planet right now !

Just to let everyone know, Ultimate Alternative Wavers was NOT released after Perfect From Now On. Ultimate Alternative Wavers was Built to Spill's first album, released on C/Z Records in 1993. Perfect From Now On was their first major label release on Warner Brothers in 1997. Both are incredible. Ultimate Alternative Wavers is where it all began, and with songs like "Get a Life" and "Built to Spill," it is sure to please any fan, plus it's fun to hear what the band was doing in the beginning.

well, it's not that old i suppose, but it certainly is good! verily different from the later built to spill albums, 'ultimate alternative wavers' is mostly comprised of longer drawn-out songs, with a stronger emphasis on instrumentals. if you're already a built to spill fan you might be a little irked by this album. if you're new to the band, this might not be the best place to start. it's almost the antithesis of 'there's nothing wrong with love' in that it's not very..."pop"-like. it's very fitting for the period of the 90's it was recorded during, i guess that's the best way to put it. the lyrics are still as witty as ever.

After Treepeople, then BTS, then Halo Benders, it seems shockingly clear that Doug has talent. This first album by BTS changed the sound of rock the world over. I attended their first show, having just returned to Seattle and never having heard Treepeople, and I was floored. This is the only BTS album I'll never, ever grow tired of, because it's a bit less polished than his others, and it better reflects the transition between the angry Treepeople sound and the sweet lament of BTS's later work. Go buy it, then buy God Don't Make No Junk (the first Halo Benders album), and then go back and buy K Records re-release of Guilt Regret And Embarassment (Treepeople). If you're lucky, you'll be able to find a Toxic Shock release of this Treepeople album, as it has about three times as many tracks as the K release.

This is my fourth Built to Spill album, and it has really grown on me. I bought it a few weeks ago and was not too sure what to think of it at first. Now I love it. It is not an easy album to listen to, but many of the songs are brilliant with some great hooks and creative musicianship.This album is most definitely alternative. I'm giving it only four stars because it is not the best of the best, but it is good, although not everyone will like it.

Most of the people reviewing this record seem to be under the impression that this is a later BTS release. It is, in fact, their first record, and it is obviously so. This came out before the Car 7", which I remember hearing on the radio when I was, like, 9. You have to take into consideration the whole hair-band backlash that went on in the Northwest, particularly Seattle, at the time...we're talking like 93-ish. This record is a really stripped-down, kind of folkish grunge. In retrospect, it's kind of funny that it took bands like Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie sooooooooo long to rip these dudes off. Unlike all other BTS, yet still pure brilliance.