Without Feathers

The Stills | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vice Records
• ASIN: B000F3AAVG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,277 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. In the Beginning

2. The Mountain

3. She's Walking Out

4. Helicopters

5. In the End

6. Oh Shoplifter

7. Outro

8. Halo the Harpoons

9. It Takes Time

10. Destroyer

11. Baby Blues

12. The House We Live In

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars without interest, November 3, 2006

By 

peetawonkus (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without Feathers (Audio CD)

The majority of the reviews here seem to be a referendum on change. Some people seem to be defending the differences between this disc and the first one as growth and evolution. I don't think anyone who seriously loves music questions whether any band worth its salt ought to grow and change over time. But sometimes, well, "changes are no good.". If Picasso started painting like Norman Rockwell, that's not progress.

"Without Feathers" is not a bad album. If this was their first disc, I think reviewers would treat it with moderate kindness and probably say that the work shows promise. But, really, as a follow up recording to a masterpiece it's a C+ at best. They had a vibe and they lost it.

I was a fan of the original lineup and talent placement and I make no apologies for that. This is simply not the same band. In their personnel shift they lost their heart and soul. That happens with bands. You could find one example after another over the last 40 years. Great Bands make dumb decisions, or egos just get caught up in the craziness of the music business. Admittedly, "Logic Will Break Your Heart" is a hard act to follow and the pressures of the recording industry and critical expectations probably just took its toll. "Without Feathers" is going to be one of those $2.29 discs that clutters cut-out bins. Just watch and see.

We fall in love with a recording and it defines a time for us. Some people love a band so much that they just can't let go even when the band is clearly--and I mean clearly--on a downhill slide. They want to keep clinging to that magic, every little tiny scrap and chord. I'm not going to hang on to the ghost of something that was really good. Goodbye, Stills, it was nice. We'll always have "Logic Will Break Your Heart".

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Logic????? Don't listen to those 1 star naysayers..., August 15, 2006

By 

austin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without Feathers (Audio CD)

I actually think it is. You see, just like many of you who have given this album bad reviews, I would have rated this as 1 star after my first listen. It was just not what I was expecting from the freaking Stills. After Logic, I was anticipating this next album to be more of the same sad-emotional-pop-rock, and I was greatly disappointed at first. Did they get happier and forget how to rock out? But I put aside my memory of what once was, and decided to listen to the album as if it was a completely different band. After a few listens, I can say that I love this album. I find myself listening to it more than Logic now.

Random thoughts on Without Feathers:
1. The catchy pop hooks are still here, just in folk rock form now :)
2. I disagree with people saying that Logic was original and that WF isn't. I thought Logic was catchy, and that you could rock out to it, but they sounded just like a ton of other post punk bands out there at the time. WF doesn't sound like anything i've heard.
3. Listen to "In The Beginning", "The Mountain", and "Oh Shoplifter". The layers and arrangements are amazing. "It Takes Time" is also ridiculously catchy.
4. I love their new uses of percussion and how the organ is central to their new sound. I love the rotary sounds they use (that whirring sound an organ makes).
5. Yes, there are some dud songs, like "Outro". The out of tune guitar in "Baby Blues" annoys me to no end.
6. Yes, if I was in control of the band, I would have Tim sing lead again. Dave's voice works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't
7. The new drummer Julien Blais is an upgrade from Dave's drumming.

Overall, I give WF 4 stars. But since people are giving it 1 star just because its not Logic: Part 2, I'm giving WF 5 stars to counter it :)

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Remember I told you not to buy this, June 28, 2006

By 

nlog (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without Feathers (Audio CD)

The Stills' first album was a work of genius--one of those rare CDs that you can play over and over again and never tire of. Now, somehow, they've managed to make a second album that is so astoundingly bad that it inspired me to write my first Amazon review. I read these other reviews here before I bought my copy and I thought these people must be fairweather fans or something and ordered it anyway. I figured their first disc was so good that even if their second wasn't half as good, it still had to be worth a few listens.

WRONG! These reviewers are not joking--this really is a turkey. I have an open mind. I listened to it a good 12 times over the course of two weeks, and did not find a single song that is more appealing than the sound of my car engine. And the flow of the album (such that it is) sure doesn't make up for the absense of any outstanding songs. This sounds like four people who wanted to be doing something else were locked in a room and told not to come out until they had recorded 12 songs.

This is not The Stills you think you like. There is no sense of melody, no interesting guitar chords, no inspiring bass line, no catchy lyrics. Releasing this under the name "The Stills" has got to be a trademark violation or something.