Customer Reviews

Weird Tales

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like one of the other reviewers here, I bought this CD on a whim back in 2001, attracted to it because of its interesting cover. I gave it a listen and liked it quite a bit, but was not entirely sure about it. I kept listening to it--and it improved on each listen. With Gary Louris, Jeff Tweedy, and others, Golden Smog combined several considerable talents who proved, in some respects, to be superior to either the Jayhawks or Wilco. On this CD (which is some respects different from the other Golden Smog CDs), the influence of the Byrds, the Beatles, and Dylan can be heard--but there are some heavier rocking songs, including the powerful "White Shell Road" with its intense guitar work (and strange, brilliant lyrics).

I don't want to shortchange any of the songs on this great CD, but I think that three in particular deserve mention. In the order of their appearance, the first is "Until You Came Along," which was long my favorite on the CD. This is an anthemic song about love found at long last, and it calls out to be played loud loud LOUD. The second (in order of appearance) is "Fear of Falling," which features extraordinarily fine lyrics. It opens with the lovely, plaintive lines "I am not a shadow; I am flesh and blood. / Meet me in the middle if you think you could, / If you think you could." This is a song of great tenderness. Finally, "Jennifer Save Me" joins sad, gentle lyrics and a lovely melody to interesting sonic textures.

But I can't really shortchange the other songs on this CD. I've been listening to it as I write this review, and I wonder how I can avoid writing about the great guitar in "If I Only Had a Car" or the anguish of "Making Waves" or the sad vision of a relationship falling apart in "Reflections on Me." These are all great songs.

Here's a testament to how fine this CD is: I'm 47, typically a fan of the blues (Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James, J. B. Hutto, Lil' Ed Williams, and the like). I love this CD. So does my 20-year-old daughter, who's a fan of Nirvana, Modest Mouse, Sleater-Kinney, and the like. If we both like the CD, it has to be doing something right!

Rock and Roll "supergroups" rarely live up to the sum of their parts. Usually the egos involved sabotage the seemless musicianship needed to make good music (for proof, I direct you to most of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer's dreary output). Not so with Golden Smog's superb "Weird Tales." The two heavy hitters among the the Smog's lineup are Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and The Jayhawks' Gary Louris, and it is to them that many of the best moments on the album can be attributed.

Tweedy's contributions include the very Wilco-like "Lost Love" and "I Can't Keep From Talking," as well as the traditional folk number "Please Tell My Brother," that is one of the best things he's ever written. For his part, Louris answers with the very Jayhawks-esque "Until You Came Along" and "Jane" as well as the surprisingly rocking closing track "Jennifer Save Me," that is the CD's best song. Other highlights include onetime Jayhawk Kraig Johnson's "Looking Forward to Seeing You" and the Johnson/Louris collaboration "If I Only Had a Car."

Overall, an excellent collaboration that greatly exceeds its side project expectations.

I've been a fan of this kind of music since I picked up a copy of Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne" at Amoeba Records in Berkeley some years back. Since then, I've amassed a collection including music by Wilco, Tupelo, Son Volt, Old 97s, Jayhawks, My Morning Jacket, Alejandro Escovedo, and more. I have to say that this disc gets nearly the most play out of all of them.

I can't define exactly what qualities make this disc so appealing to me. Something in the harmonies, the fact that the musicians are obviously enjoying themselves, the similarity in sound to some of the better 80s "college rock" (like REM and the Replacements) as well as Big Star and Teenage Fanclub's later work, and also the time the disc came into my life, right when I needed it. It's kind of an anchor in my huge music collection, and I am always seeking more discs that will have this kind of an impact on me.

IMHO, "to call my own" is one of the best songs I have ever heard. If I were ever to write an equivalent to Nick Hornby's "Songbook," this track would be chapter one.

If you made it this far, and are still reading this review, you really owe it to yourself to take that next step and just buy it. It's that good.

I usually review books here. But I Can't Keep From Talking about this CD. It's addicting in its catchy hooks. I swear, you cannot help get sucked into this CD.
Long ago I decided that Jay Ferrar had won the post-Tupelo battle over Tweedy. I've always gravitated to the gravelly Sonvolt over the poppy Wilco, (with the exception of "Being There," a truly fine album), but I am a huge Jayhawks fan, yeah I know, as poppy as they can be, but it's different, OKAY?
Well Tweedy wins some brownie points here. I don't mean to give him too much credit, for this is a product of the collaborative efforts of some big-time players. No one wants to call them "alt-country" as if it is an anachronism, but I can't come up with another name, so, this is essentially a CD of the alt-country all-stars. Perhaps "all-stars" is wrong, and should be replaced with "Pioneers."
There is subdued stuff, poetic stuff, and just flat out good music here. Looking Forward To Seeing You is a nice ride, Jennifer Save Me could probably save you if you truly needed saving, and Until You Came Along is going to explain to you that you didn't know a good song until this one "came along." I can't think of a better sing-along that gets the juices flowing.

If you like hip-hop or Mariah Carey, forget it. If you are jonesing for some fantastic music, and I tell you, the first time you hear this CD you will remember the moment, a good true moment, all the way up to the last spectacular track, then you better buy this for your own good.

A great CD cover lives up to the coolness...

I don't even know what year I bought this CD, it's like I've had it forever. I can't even remember the motivation behind the purchase.

Suffice to know that if you enjoy the "Americana" music style, or pop with hints of country and blues and rock... Really it's everything beautifully concocted in a tonic so delicious you won't care what to call it.

This is such a marvelous CD I will simply say, if you're here reading this review and poking about wondering "what to buy" this is a guaranteed winner. It's probably better than the derivatives (bands) that created it. It includes a few different vocal styles (each wonderful) and a few song style approaches that vary (modestly) and are exquisite in execution.

Wow that's a wordy little explanation but it moves me and I hope you'll give it a try too. This is a worthy CD and a beautiful addition to any varied collection of Americana music.

The songs range from beautiful, soaring, poignant, alluring ... Even the worst songs are pleasant to listen to and have several good hooks.

This album comes across to me as a sort of "Greatest Hits of Alt Country". It says something that all of the artists put their best songs (IMHO) onto this album. Many of the songs contains harmony singing and the harmonies never fail.

My fave songs:
To Call My Own (#1) -- Strangely uplifting. I don't know what the singer is singing about, but this song sounds like a "redemption song" with hook upon hook upon hook.
Until You Came Along (#3) -- Gospel song disguised as a love song (if that makes sense). This song (with slight rewording) would fit into a contemporary Gospel service. I'm 'feeling it'. Definitely waiting for a Christian rock group to cover this.
Jennifer Save Me (#15, Finale) -- As beautiful as rock music gets IMHO. Sort of an 'alt-country' version of ELO's great 70's hit "Telephone Line".
Making Waves (#10) -- Weird song about suicide that I have not figured out, other than to say that this is quite a moving song.
Please Tell my Brother (#12) -- Hits home pretty hard. I better go think about calling my mother. Bye.

Having listened to Wilco for a while, I decided to pick up this CD. Let me tell you, I have grown to like it even more than Wilco. Why? Because here you have four excellent singer/songwriters (Kraig Johnson of Run Westy Run, Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, and Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum) taking their turns. With that in mind, you may listen to this and think of it as somewhat of a new Byrds album. A number of people I played this for even thought it was The Byrds before I told them it was a new band called Golden Smog. Excellent harmonies, 12-string jangly guitars, great songs. What more could you want?

As a fan of Wilco, I've followed the boys back to Uncle Tupelo (I'm currently infatuated with Anodyne) and forward to this one. Very enjoyable, particularly if you like Jeff Tweedy's songs, and really you ought to. "Fear of Falling" and "Lost Love" are great songs, and "Please Tell My Brother" is so beautiful that I got my guitar out immediately to learn it. Not every song is great, but the good ones really stick in your head.

This is the best Golden Smog cd yet. All the other reviews are right. Jennifer save me is the byrds meet the beatles meet big star. Please tell my brother will have you crying in your beer. The cd starts out strong, then keeps getting better and better. Just when you think you've heard the most beautiful cd ever, Jennifer save me comes on and your mouth drops open and your brain shuts down and you think you've died and gone to music heaven.

Golden Smog's Weird Tales is so much better than the self-indulgent stuff Jeff Tweedy has been putting out with Wilco lately. He's excellent in the alt. country genre, and it shows with this recording. Weird Tales makes me wish that Golden Smog was a full-time effort for all the members of this band.