World Waits

Jeremy Enigk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 17, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reincarnate Music
• ASIN: B000HT3KJW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,415 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forever Dreams Of A Better Day, October 21, 2006

By 

UltraJoeBot (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Waits (Audio CD)

The most striking thing about Jeremy Enigk's World Waits, the much-anticipated follow-up to his 1996 solo album Return Of The Frog Queen, is its constant and seamless stylistic shifts. Even the brief opener "A New Beginning" evolves from ambient guitar picking punctuated by the cyclical panning of ethereal female voices, to the grandeur of what sounds like a fully orchestrated rock opera overture, in about a minute and a half. The other nine tracks that make up World Waits range from thoughtful folk-tinged pop ("River To Sea") to quirky, deliberately restrained indie rock ("Canons"), all held together by Jeremy's trademark voice, often stacked on top of itself and drenched in reverb.

Along the way, his experimental nature is still evident, though it comes out in very different ways than the psychedelic orchestrations and spastic vocal outbursts that made Frog Queen so adventurous. "City Tonight" is a mid-tempo rocker laden with Depeche Mode synths underneath a chorus of call-and-response vocal layering, while "Wayward Love" pits lush strings and 70s prog vocal harmonies against classical guitar and swelling keyboard pads, propelled through a brief two-minutes by distant hand drums. Meanwhile the unresolved arpeggios of "Dare A Smile" sound at once sweet and anxious against the constant pedal tone, as the song slowly churns with its soothing but nightmarish beauty.

For all the instrumentation and full orchestrations found on World Waits, the production wisely never gets in the way of Jeremy's vocals, which are as strong as ever at both extremities of his range. The most memorable moments are those when everything gives way to allow as much space as possible to showcase his voice, such as in "Damien Dreams," which ranges from his lowest raspy hum, to a screeching, tortured cry. An especially moving moment is the soaring vocal melody of the first verse of "Burn," made all the more effective by its sparse accompaniment, a simple piano/organ drone.

As with Return Of The Frog Queen, the biggest (and perhaps only) complaint that can be made about World Waits, is that it's over far too quickly. In 36 minutes, Enigk manages to effortlessly combine a myriad of genres and bend them to his whim, while stretching his voice from a rich, low growl, to an airy falsetto. His longtime fans will surely cherish the album as an instant classic that holds up against his earlier work, even Sunny Day Real Estate's 1998 masterpiece "How It Feels To Be Something On." I only hope that there is enough good press to get this album the attention it deserves, so that the insatiable appetite of his adoring public might be able to see a follow-up without waiting another ten years.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Classic By Jeremy Enigk, October 19, 2006

By 

Stephen B. Wright "music lover" (asper,AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World Waits (Audio CD)

I remember hearing and seeing Sunny Day Real Estate when they released Diary and seeing the video for In Circles on 120 minutes every Sunday night on MTV. I loved the song but was skeptical about the band for a while. I remember seeing several musicians later on telling how much they loved Jeremy Enigk's first solo album Return Of The Frog Queen and seeing it on a bunch of lists for the best albums of 1996. I decided to give it a try and when I listened to it I was hooked and then I became a huge fan of Sunny Day Real Estate and saw them when they toured for How It Feels To Be Something On and they were amazing and his voice is as good live as it is recorded. If you are looking for a redux of Return Of The Frog Queen then this is not for you. Jeremy continues in the direction that he has been going in the past few years as he has been with Sunny Day and The Fire Theft. It is heavily influenced by progressive but it is very majestic and very uplifting. There is not a weak song on here. A New Beginning is definitely what he seems to be trying to say and prove on this album and he is still the one with that magical voice. Yes, he is the man who helped launch the bands who profess their elegance to emo and rule MTV and the teen magazines but what some of these bands don't seem to get is that it is more about the music than it is about what you are wearing and who you are seen with and how you present yourself. Listen up Pete Wentz and Panic! At The Disco.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great surprise, January 7, 2007

By 

Personal Robot (Always here, sometimes there) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: World Waits (Audio CD)

I didn't expect that much from Enigk's second solo album and it wound up pretty much blowing me away. If you're familiar with Sunny Day Real Estate, you already know what to expect - I'm loathe to apply the term "emo" but SDRE was at the heart of the genre before it become corrupted by what it's become today, but this really is emotional rock, full of heartfelt declarations and grandiose movements. However, there are moments on this album that approach prog-rock excesses and for that I'm appreciative - Enigk clearly allowed his muse to take him where he needed to go and the end result is one of 2006's most beautiful rock albums. Don't miss it.