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Track Listings
| 1. Options |
| 2. I Will Take You There |
| 3. Whatever's on Your Mind |
| 4. Just as Lost as You |
| 5. The Place and the People |
| 6. Our Goodbye |
| 7. Song in My Heart |
| 8. Equalize |
| 9. That Wolf |
| 10. X-Rays |
Editorial Reviews
Deep in the woods of Virginia, Gomez have conspired to make the most compelling, direct album of their 15 year career. The members reside across two continents (in Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Brighton, England) and after several months of sharing ideas through every facet of technology available to them, they came together with their longtime friend, Sam Farrar (Phantom Planet), to create their first self-produced offering since 2001 s In Our Gun. Their seventh studio album, Whatever s On Your Mind, will be released on ATO records on June 21, 2011.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Five musicians, four songwriters, three vocalists - one would think that over the course of nearly a decade and a half the differing creative pulls would have torn Gomez apart already. Yet Whatever's On Your Mind continues the trend that 2006's How We Operate started for a band remarkably consistent in its power-pop output: another great record, chock full of five-part harmonies and crunchy guitar melodies considerably brightened up by the band's trademark eclecticism. It's this willingness to play with different genres that has served the band well since they took home the Mercury Music Prize with their 1998 debut, but it's also experimentation that has been considerably softened over time as the group has turned more and more towards "forward-thinking" pop music that tends to occasionally veer towards Dave Matthews Band-inspired adult contemporary.
Gomez's continued growth, then, or lack thereof, is a bit disappointing for a band that once showed so much promise with a bastardized version of Britpop that culled its influences from everything from old delta blues to psychedelic folk to jam band noodling. The essential ingredients are all right there and kicking - Whatever's On Your Mind evenly splits up vocal duties between Ian Ball and Tom Gray's more soothing vox and Ben Ottewell's gravelly howl, and tracks like the complicated pop of "I Will Take You There" and groovy first single "Options" exemplify the best of what make Gomez such an exciting listen, albeit still a defiantly pop outfit. The way instruments drop in and out of the mix, the occasional horn and dub breakdown adding just the right spice to a tune, the fuzzy Sleigh Bells-ish bass thump of "Equalize," or how "Just As Lost As You" turns a standard power-pop frolic into a surging wave of brass and organ; the band's songwriting chops have undeniably aged well. If there's a disappointment here, it's that the band's biggest strength in Ottewell's distinctive pipes has been shackled with more weepy string-laden ballads like the schmaltzy "Our Goodbye" rather than the more in-his-wheelhouse rock of "Equalize."
For all the studio tricks and bits of stylistic flair the band brings to the table, however, Whatever's On Your Mind is still fundamentally the same record the band have been making for quite a while. "Options" is right up there with the strongest singles Gomez have ever penned, but Whatever's On Your Mind fails to leave much of a lasting impression aside from the hooks and the impressive way the band can make a straightforward pop tune sonically adventurous. They've settled into that sweet spot where they really don't have to do anything drastic to their sound: they put on a wild live show, and the band's intimate knowledge of the many ways a pop song can go from being merely serviceable to unique and exciting is something to marvel at after fourteen years. There's just something vaguely frustrating about a band as intrinsically talented as Gomez seemingly content to live out the rest of their days releasing albums that no one will remember in a few years time, rather than the genre-busting freshness that their debut promised.
Gomez's continued growth, then, or lack thereof, is a bit disappointing for a band that once showed so much promise with a bastardized version of Britpop that culled its influences from everything from old delta blues to psychedelic folk to jam band noodling. The essential ingredients are all right there and kicking - Whatever's On Your Mind evenly splits up vocal duties between Ian Ball and Tom Gray's more soothing vox and Ben Ottewell's gravelly howl, and tracks like the complicated pop of "I Will Take You There" and groovy first single "Options" exemplify the best of what make Gomez such an exciting listen, albeit still a defiantly pop outfit. The way instruments drop in and out of the mix, the occasional horn and dub breakdown adding just the right spice to a tune, the fuzzy Sleigh Bells-ish bass thump of "Equalize," or how "Just As Lost As You" turns a standard power-pop frolic into a surging wave of brass and organ; the band's songwriting chops have undeniably aged well. If there's a disappointment here, it's that the band's biggest strength in Ottewell's distinctive pipes has been shackled with more weepy string-laden ballads like the schmaltzy "Our Goodbye" rather than the more in-his-wheelhouse rock of "Equalize."
For all the studio tricks and bits of stylistic flair the band brings to the table, however, Whatever's On Your Mind is still fundamentally the same record the band have been making for quite a while. "Options" is right up there with the strongest singles Gomez have ever penned, but Whatever's On Your Mind fails to leave much of a lasting impression aside from the hooks and the impressive way the band can make a straightforward pop tune sonically adventurous. They've settled into that sweet spot where they really don't have to do anything drastic to their sound: they put on a wild live show, and the band's intimate knowledge of the many ways a pop song can go from being merely serviceable to unique and exciting is something to marvel at after fourteen years. There's just something vaguely frustrating about a band as intrinsically talented as Gomez seemingly content to live out the rest of their days releasing albums that no one will remember in a few years time, rather than the genre-busting freshness that their debut promised.
By Adam Laceky
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Still not as good as their first four albums, but a pleasant return to what made them so amazing back in the day. Honestly, I haven't given it many listens yet, but I remember being glad that it was a deviation from "Split The Difference" and "How We Operate," which, while better than 90% of the pop music today, were still pretty disappointing.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Andrew Moore
Format:Audio CD
I listened to this first on a pair of cheap headphones and decided to write how disappointed I was that they'd made their first poor album in my opinion.
It turns out I was just a poor listener.
I decided to listen again in my car and speaker system. So much better. It's music designed to be heard loud and needs a few repeat plays to get used to, much like I had to do with Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons. This album rewards the patient listener who enjoys pop music that isn't manufactured.
It turns out I was just a poor listener.
I decided to listen again in my car and speaker system. So much better. It's music designed to be heard loud and needs a few repeat plays to get used to, much like I had to do with Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons. This album rewards the patient listener who enjoys pop music that isn't manufactured.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Up To Gomez's Standards
I'm of two minds about this album: on the one hand, it's miles better than most of the bland, interchangeable pop getting released today. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Kevin L. Nenstiel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better With Every Listen
With the vocal work shared between the three key songwriters in Gomez, Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball and Tom Gray, listening to any of their records straight through can often be a bit... Read more
Published 20 months ago by J. Loudon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it!
Gomez has created yet another amazing album. I am extremely satisfied with this purchase and would have spent at least twice as much on it.
Published 21 months ago by April Decker
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disapointing
Gomez have always had at least one really strong song on prior releases to make you want to buy, but on this release the songs are just lacking. Read more
Published 22 months ago by LIF
4.0 out of 5 stars
Back On Track
Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of this band. That being said the last effort, A New Tide, left me flat. This album is a much better album from a VERY talented band.
Published 23 months ago by Thomas A. Horan
