Under the Western Freeway [Import]

Grandaddy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 24, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Spectrum Audio UK
• ASIN: B000024VHZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,013 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Import pressing of their 1998 album that's out of print domestically. V2. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best, May 9, 2002

By 

George (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Under the Western Freeway (Audio CD)

I ran across Sophtware Slump after hearing two songs on the BBC's Later with Jools Holland. Since I started listening to Rock in the 60's, this band seemed to have taken a half century of music and made everything work. It reminds me of a lot of 60's bands, but the construction of the music is remarkable. Moving backwards, I picked up this album. It may be better, but it is different.

Sophtware Slump has kind of a theme, but it's not trying to make a pompous point. It just contains a lot of extended explorations on a theme of detached emptiness. The songs are complex, with songs within songs and miscellaneous 'noises'. The Bonzo Dog Band explored 'dada' music, and their last songs push rock music to some kind of limit. This music is more 'impressionist'. The words are creating moods, not just saying 'something'. The clever lyrics and mystical chants in several songs are beautiful, in SS. This is a less complex CD, and it's more of a 'flat out', pedal to the metal straightaway, kind of rock. Heck, buy both albums.

UWF has less 'content', perhaps. It includes songs like "Poisoned at the Hartsy" that are very cute and endearing, but a little limited. Some of the songs are absolutely haunting, and that is the strength of this album versus SS. "NonPhenom" is so unique that it is almost hypnotic. The message is obvious, and it is delivered with precision. It's a depressing theme, but it's kind of an inspiring song. It's like, "Oh, well. Yeah, that's what happens... I guess it's not really my problem." It's beautiful.

"Laughing Stock" is an incredible piece of rock music. It's just a very clean wall of sound that pulses out and then retreats. This is very polished rock music. "Freeway" is a melody with no lyrics. It evokes several things, but much of their music seems to be about feeling emptiness without being overwhelmed by it. "Summer Here Kids" is, again, a lot of musical power under complete control, with a definite mood.

JLytle can create art with his music. He can move me without being trite or doing much of anything that anybody has done before, exactly. The way the tracks are put together is wonderful, although this album has songs that open in fairly distracting ways. It's complex music, and the execution of SophSlump is more polished. This album has a more raw 'hard rock' quality. "Broken Appliance" on SS, with a kind of edgy uncontrolled rawness, doesn't work as well as "Summer Here Kids", which goes in the same direction.

"Why Took Your Advice" is a melancholy song about relationships, but it IS impressionist. It's about radios and microscopes, but, of course, it isn't. The song is doing everything it can to make you feel, well, what you might feel in a relationship. A fairly sour relationship. Don't worry about the birds. You'll wonder why everyone doesn't use birds.

It's silly to say he redefines rock, but he uses fairly simple themes to create music that completely involves the listener. These are songs about being left out, or left behind, or not liking being where you are, or wishing you could get back to something, somewhere, but you aren't sure quite where. Lytle makes a compelling case that this is what music should do.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Album, January 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Western Freeway (Audio CD)

I've noticed that lately my music tastes have gravitated towards bands that aren't commercially successful, but have constantly produced quality music. I consider Under the Western Freeway one of the best albums that I own because its just great music. Grandaddy experiments with different sounds and styles, but they play their music with emotion, great intensity in some songs and a sweet sadness in others. I can see how this experimental nature may turn some listeners off from their music, but I think it's great that the band just plays what it wants to. Nowadays it seems some bands and singers seek to use music to create an image so it's refreshing to hear a group that displays sincerity and passion for their music.

Some songs I like on the album
AM180 - Great song, catchy tune
Nonphenomenal Lineage - I love the guitar in this
Everything beautiful Is Far Away

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a compliment to my life, September 8, 2001

By 

Brian Dougher (Denton, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Western Freeway (Audio CD)

Dare I say that this is one of the finest pieces of art I have ever put in my ears? I do! Radiohead who?? These guys are something else. If reading through the rave reviews on this album don't convince you to give this album a listen, then you will truly miss out on something special. I have purchased 2 copies of this album and copied one on minidisk so that I can listen to it wherever I am. If this sounds pathetic, don't worry - you will soon understand. These songs are perfect, achingly beautiful melodies sung by a man with the voice of an angel. Grandaddy is pure paradox. They have this way of capturing raw, genuine emotion and vivid imagery in songs that sometimes seem so simple that they are almost childlike. But these songs are anything but simple, as repeated listens clearly unveil its incredible depth like the turning of each page in a narrative. The rythmic little bleeps and bloops from the casio keep it playful and light, like tiptoes on a frozen lake. Raw noise guitar keeps the album grounded just enough to keep you from floating away. The album in a whole is much, much more than just a sum of its parts. I have never listened to just one or two songs - if I put it in the player, I am always prepared to go along for the entire ride. The entire album works because all these elements balance perfectly with each other to create a zen-like experience. Even those little things that might seem like flaws at first profoundly transcend into greatness after they sink into your scull. And man, are they there to stay. I can't get these damn catchy songs out of my head! Grandaddy has just moved in and they found a cozy little corner to snuggle up into. Thank God they won't be leaving.